EIA residential propane, Massachusetts
Massachusetts propane prices: $3.65 a gallon
Latest EIA residential survey, week ending 30 March 2026, the final release of the 2025-26 heating season. Weekly updates resume in October; the wholesale benchmark below is live.
A high-cost Northeast market where propane is the minority fuel: the metro core runs on natural gas, the suburbs on heating oil, and propane heat concentrates in the Berkshires, the Worcester County hill towns, the South Coast and Cape Cod. There is no statewide dealer registry to check, so who you call and how you verify them matters more here than almost anywhere.
Latest EIA residential propane price
Source: EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program, Massachusetts residential series. Refreshed automatically every Tuesday in season; wholesale daily.
Massachusetts at a glance
Latest survey$3.65/gal
vs week before+5.8c
vs 4 weeks before+17.3c
vs same week last yearlevel
vs US ($2.67)36% above
Among 38 surveyed states29th cheapest
500-gal fill (400 usable)$1460
Week by week, 2025-26 season
Massachusetts against the US average
Every point is an EIA survey week. This season Massachusetts ran from a low of $3.31 (10 Nov) to a high of $3.65 (30 Mar), with the US average finishing at $2.67. Against the same week a year earlier it is level.
$3.31
Season low
10 November 2025
$3.65
Season high
30 March 2026
$3.66
Same week last year
31 March 2025, now level
$0.85
Wholesale today
Mont Belvieu spot, 15 September 2026, +17c vs a month ago
Source: EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program, residential propane, full-service delivery, published October to March. Wholesale is the Mont Belvieu, TX spot price; retail usually follows it by four to eight weeks, which makes it the best off-season signal of where Massachusetts prices are heading.
What a fill costs in Massachusetts at $3.65
Tanks fill to 80% of their stated size to leave room for expansion, so a 500-gallon tank takes about 400 gallons. The right-hand column is the difference against the same fill at the US average.
| Tank | Usable gallons | Fill at $3.65 | vs US ($2.67) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 gal | 80 gal | $292 | +$78 |
| 250 gal | 200 gal | $730 | +$195 |
| 500 gal | 400 gal | $1460 | +$390 |
| 1000 gal | 800 gal | $2919 | +$780 |
A Massachusetts home heating on propane through a typical winter burns 1,000 to 1,500 gallons, so fuel alone runs about $3649 to $5474 at this price, before tank rent or a service plan. The average is a benchmark, not a quote: enter your ZIP to ask up to three local dealers what they would charge you.
Massachusetts against its Northeast neighbours
The whole Northeast sits well above the national mark, all of it far from Gulf production and carrying long last-mile routes. Connecticut runs the highest in the region, while Pennsylvania, closer to Marcellus supply, sits at the low end and pulls the regional average down. Massachusetts lands in the middle of that expensive band, close to its own regional average.
| State | Price/gal | 500-gal fill | vs US ($2.67) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $3.08 | $1233 | +15% |
| Maine | $3.52 | $1409 | +32% |
| Massachusetts | $3.65 | $1460 | +36% |
| Delaware | $3.73 | $1492 | +40% |
| Vermont | $3.73 | $1493 | +40% |
| New York | $3.75 | $1499 | +40% |
| Rhode Island | $3.76 | $1503 | +41% |
| New Hampshire | $3.78 | $1512 | +41% |
| New Jersey | $3.82 | $1528 | +43% |
| Connecticut | $4.12 | $1646 | +54% |
| Northeast average | $3.69 | $1476 | +38% |
States marked regional est. are not surveyed individually by EIA and carry their PADD regional figure. Full table on prices by state.
Why Massachusetts runs 36% over the national average
Massachusetts pricing is structural, not seasonal. Geography, the fuel mix and where propane customers actually live all push the same way, and none of it normalises toward the national average without a real shift in regional supply or demand.
PADD 1A and distance from production.
Massachusetts sits in EIA PADD 1A (New England), roughly 1,500 miles from the Gulf Coast where most US propane originates, with no in-state natural-gas-liquids output, no refinery and no major bulk terminal of its own. Supply arrives by rail and pipeline into Northeast terminals and is bobtail-trucked the rest of the way. Every leg is a margin layer baked in before retail markup.
A gas-and-oil grid, not a propane one.
Greater Boston and the Route 128 belt run on natural gas, and the state is one of the most heating-oil-reliant in the country. That leaves propane as a smaller, more dispersed customer base with lower route density, smaller terminal storage and weaker procurement scale than supplier networks in propane-dominant regions. Less scale means higher per-gallon overhead, which retailers pass through.
Long rural routes, sparse stops.
Propane heat concentrates outside the gas-served metro core: the Berkshires, the Worcester County hill towns, the South Coast and Cape Cod. These are exactly the long-route, low-stop-density zones where each delivery costs a supplier more to fulfil. There is little of the dense agricultural anchor demand, the crop-drying and livestock load that pulls per-gallon pricing down in Midwest farm states, so Massachusetts routes stay thin.
Electrification compresses the base further.
The state Climate Roadmap and its 2050 net-zero target push residential heating toward electric heat pumps, and Mass Save funds some of the largest heat-pump rebates in the country plus 0% HEAT Loan financing. As propane households convert, the residual customer base shrinks and route density drops again, so the structural pressure on per-gallon overhead is upward, not downward.
Buying propane well in Massachusetts: four moves that change the bill
A good dealer is step one. In a high-cost state the gap between a careless account and a well-run one is a few hundred dollars a winter. Here is where that money is won.
01
Verify the right way
There is no statewide propane-dealer lookup in Massachusetts. Storage and delivery run under 527 CMR and NFPA 58, and the permit that matters for your home is issued by your municipal fire department. Ask any supplier for proof of liability insurance, confirm they will pull the local tank permit, and check PGANE membership as a credibility filter.
02
Lock summer, not autumn
Northeast wholesale bottoms in mid-summer when heating demand is near zero. Most Massachusetts suppliers run pre-buy or cap-price enrolment from roughly May through August, and it has beaten winter spot rates by a few hundred dollars a year on a 1,000-gallon burn. Choose a cap-price contract so you keep the saving if wholesale falls, and ask whether unused pre-paid gallons roll forward.
03
Quote three, mind the tank
Massachusetts has a real spread between national carriers, regional independents and local family operators, and per-gallon quotes inside the same county routinely differ by a few tenths of a dollar. Pull three written quotes. If you own your tank, say so first: it removes the swap-out delay and refill restriction that leased-tank customers face, and it is your single biggest piece of pricing leverage.
04
Check HEAP eligibility
Fuel Assistance (HEAP), run by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, pays a winter heating benefit toward propane for households at or below 60% of State Median Income, paid straight to your vendor. Apply from October 1 through your local agency, find yours at masscap.org/heatinghelpma, or call 1-800-632-8175.
Rated by customers
Massachusetts propane dealers worth calling first
A short, hand-checked list with strong public review scores, spread across the state. Ratings were read from the platforms named in August 2026 and move over time; a high score is where to start, not a guarantee. Get three written quotes whoever you call.
Central Massachusetts
Dileo Gas
Worcester, Massachusetts
4.8770+ reviews, Birdeye
Family-owned Worcester propane specialist since 1993, cited repeatedly for transparent per-gallon pricing and quick first-fill turnaround for switchers.
See the reviews ›South-central Massachusetts
Pioneer Oil and Propane
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
4.7690+ reviews, Birdeye
Established 1957, serving more than 30 towns across the Sturbridge and southern Worcester County corridor with propane, oil, and heating service.
See the reviews ›Pioneer Valley / Franklin County
Sandri Energy
Greenfield, Massachusetts
4.6140+ reviews, Chamber of Commerce
A Greenfield family fuel company operating for over 90 years, covering the western Massachusetts hill towns where propane heat is common and routes run long.
See the reviews ›Cape Cod / Outer Cape
Cape Cod Oil & Propane
Provincetown, Massachusetts
4.8350+ reviews, Birdeye
Outer Cape delivery operator praised for punctual fills and fast emergency response, a real advantage in a seasonal, second-home-heavy market.
See the reviews ›South Coast
Fall River Propane
Fall River, Massachusetts
4.9160+ reviews, Birdeye
South Coast independent with one of the strongest public review scores in the state, regularly described as more reliable than the national carriers nearby.
See the reviews ›The Berkshires
Lipton Energy
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
3.923 reviews, Birdeye
The long-established Pittsfield family fuel company covering the Berkshires. Its public score is more modest and mixed than the others here, so treat it as a real local starting point and compare its quote against a second supplier.
See the reviews ›Massachusetts propane, the questions people ask
Who are the best-reviewed propane dealers in Massachusetts?
This page carries a hand-checked shortlist of well-reviewed Massachusetts propane operators, one for each major region: Dileo Gas (Worcester), Pioneer Oil and Propane (Sturbridge), Sandri Energy (Greenfield), Cape Cod Oil and Propane (Provincetown), Fall River Propane (South Coast), and Lipton Energy (Pittsfield, Berkshires). Every star rating and review count is read from a public review page and linked so you can check it yourself. Unlike some states we cover, Massachusetts has no public per-dealer propane licensing registry to publish in full, so this is a curated starting point rather than a complete directory. To find every operator near your address, use the ZIP finder at propane-prices-near-me and the supplier hub, then get three written quotes.
Am I eligible for Massachusetts fuel assistance (HEAP / LIHEAP)?
Massachusetts runs the federal LIHEAP program as the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), also called Fuel Assistance. It is administered by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) through a network of local Community Action Agencies and the City of Cambridge, and propane is a fully eligible heating fuel. Households at or below 60% of the estimated Massachusetts State Median Income qualify. For the FY2026 heating season the maximum income was about $51,777 for a one-person household, $67,709 for two, and $99,573 for a family of four, rising with household size. Benefits are paid directly to your fuel vendor and cover heating bills from November 1, 2025 through April 30, 2026, with applications opening October 1. Apply through your local agency, find yours at masscap.org/heatinghelpma, or call the Massachusetts Heat Line on 1-800-632-8175. Apply early: propane households can face delivery cutoffs in deep winter and the application-to-first-delivery loop takes weeks.
How do I check a propane dealer is properly licensed in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts does not publish a single statewide "is this propane retailer licensed" lookup, so ignore any site that claims to point you at one. Propane storage, handling, and delivery in the state are governed by 527 CMR (the Massachusetts Comprehensive Fire Safety Code) and the national NFPA 58 standard. In practice, the permit that matters for a home fill is issued locally: your municipal fire department permits the tank storage and installation at your address. The state Department of Fire Services (DFS) licenses larger bulk-storage facilities (an aggregate over 2,000 gallons requires a state license under 527 CMR) and runs fuel-related exams and certifications, but it does not run a consumer directory of delivery companies. So verify a dealer this way: ask for current liability insurance, confirm they will pull the local fire-department tank permit, and check membership of the Propane Gas Association of New England (PGANE) at pgane.org, the regional trade body, as a credibility filter. Then compare written quotes before you sign.
Why is propane relatively expensive in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts sits in EIA PADD 1A (New England), roughly 1,500 miles from the Gulf Coast where most US propane is produced, with no in-state natural-gas-liquids output, no refinery, and no major bulk terminal of its own. Propane arrives by rail and pipeline into Northeast terminals and is then bobtail-trucked across the state, and each transport leg is a margin layer. Two structural factors compound that. First, Massachusetts is one of the most heating-oil-reliant states in the country and its dense metro areas run on natural gas, so propane is a smaller, more dispersed customer base with less route density and weaker procurement scale. Second, propane heat concentrates in rural pockets, the Berkshires, the Worcester County hill towns, the South Coast, and Cape Cod, where routes are long and stops are sparse. The current EIA average for Massachusetts is $3.65 a gallon against $2.67 nationally and about $3.69 across the Northeast, so the state pays roughly 36% above the national mark and sits close to its own high-cost regional average.
How do I switch propane suppliers in Massachusetts if my tank is supplier-owned?
The biggest constraint on price-shopping in Massachusetts is the supplier-owned tank. Most homeowners here rent their tank from their current supplier under a "free tank" arrangement that legally restricts who can refill it. To switch, your new supplier arranges a swap-out: they notify the existing supplier, pump out and credit the residual propane, pull the old tank, and set their own. The full cycle usually takes one to three weeks. If you own your tank, bought outright, inherited with the house, or paid off over time, any properly permitted local dealer can fill it, and that ownership is your strongest pricing leverage. Buying a tank from a supplier in Massachusetts typically runs $800 to $2,500 depending on size and whether it is above-ground or buried. At the current state rate a household that gains a few tenths of a dollar per gallon of shopping leverage by owning the tank recovers that purchase within several winters on a 1,000-gallon-a-year burn.
Should I switch between heating oil and propane in Massachusetts?
Because Massachusetts is so heating-oil-heavy, this comes up constantly. Propane carries about 91,500 BTU per gallon versus roughly 138,500 for heating oil, so you burn about 1.5 gallons of propane to match one gallon of oil. At current Massachusetts prices, with heating oil running roughly $4 to $5 a gallon, the per-BTU cost of the two fuels is broadly comparable, propane a touch dearer at the high end of the oil range and a touch cheaper at the low end. Propane wins on cleanliness and on fuel flexibility (range, dryer, generator, and pool heater all run on it) and lets you drop the indoor oil tank; heating oil wins on raw BTU density and the state's existing oil-delivery infrastructure. A full conversion, new boiler or furnace plus tank, typically runs $6,000 to $12,000 and takes many years to recoup at current spreads, so it usually only clears when your existing system is at end of life, you want propane for non-heating uses anyway, or you are pairing the change with a Mass Save heat-pump install. For new construction the state's climate policy now makes electric heat pumps the default.
When is the best time to fill a propane tank in Massachusetts?
Late spring and summer. Wholesale propane in the Northeast typically bottoms from June through August, when refinery output is high and residential demand is near zero, and peaks in January and February when a cold snap strains regional storage. Massachusetts suppliers that run pre-buy or cap-price programs in the May to August window have offered meaningful discounts to winter spot rates in recent years, on the order of a few hundred dollars a year for a 1,000-gallon household. A practical play: time a September top-up at shoulder-season pricing so you enter winter near full, then ride that tank as far into February as you can. Read the contract, a cap-price deal lets you keep the savings if wholesale falls, while a strict pre-buy locks the gallons and price either way, and ask whether unused pre-paid gallons roll over to the next season.
Keep reading
All Massachusetts dealers
Massachusetts propane dealers by city and ZIP.
Dealers near you
Enter a ZIP to see the closest dealers and ask up to three for a price.
Propane prices today
The daily wholesale benchmark and the live state summer surveys.
Prices by state
All 50 states side by side, with regional context.
What a fill costs
Tank sizes, the 80% rule and the national refill guide.
How to pay less
Pre-buy timing, switching, owned versus leased tanks.
Propane vs heating oil
Per-BTU economics and conversion costs for a heating-oil-heavy state.