Illinois propane prices

Illinois carries two propane loads that peak at different times. Grain dryers run in October and November across the central and northern counties, then home heating follows through the winter in the rural areas outside the Chicago gas system. The state sits at the northern end of the pipeline network that moves Gulf Coast barrels into the Midwest and has refinery and gas plant output of its own, which leaves it better supplied than states farther up the line.

EIA builds this number by calling retail dealers in Illinois each week of the October to March heating season and averaging what they report, published Wednesday afternoon. The survey stops for the summer and picks back up in October. Two lines run on the chart because EIA surveys Illinois dealers on both sides of the sale: what they pay at the rack and what they charge a residential customer. The lower line moves first, and the retail line follows it with a lag measured in weeks. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey, on five-year estimates, puts propane as the main heating fuel in 4.2% of occupied Illinois homes, below the national middle.

For context beyond one state, Illinois sits in the Midwest district: regional prices and Midwest propane stocks. The propane usage calculator will estimate your fill cost at this price: gallons per burner-hour from an appliance's rating, gallons a year, and how long a tank of a given size lasts between deliveries.