EIA May 2026 · 50 States + DC

EV Charging Cost by State
A 4.2× Gap Across One Country

Where you live sets your charging cost more than anything else you choose. Residential power runs from $0.1235/kWh in Idaho to $0.5200/kWh in Hawaii — the same car and the same miles costing 3.5¢ a mile in one and 14.9¢ in the other. The national average is $0.1844/kWh, or 5.3¢ a mile.

See all 51 ranked → Main charging calculator

What charging costs where you liveCompare any two states side by side

Your state—

Compare against—

Your EV—

Miles a year—

Charging, per year

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per mile

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full charge

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cheapest rank

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saved vs gas

Gas comparison uses your state's AAA average where published, otherwise the national figure.

The Short Answer

Why One Number
Cannot Cover 51 Markets

EV charging cost by state is your state's residential electricity rate divided by your car's efficiency. At the national average of $0.1844/kWh and a typical 3.5 mi/kWh, that is 5.3¢ a mile. But the national average is an arithmetic mean almost nobody pays: Idaho households charge at 3.5¢ a mile, Hawaii households at 14.9¢. Over 12,000 miles a year the difference is about $1,359.

Three structural forces set the spread: what a state burns to make power, how far that power travels to reach customers, and what its regulator lets utilities recover. States sitting on their own hydro, wind or coal and consuming it locally land at the bottom. Islands, import-dependent grids and states carrying large transmission programmes land at the top.

All 51 Ranked

Charging Cost in Every
U.S. State, Ranked

Cheapest first. Tap any column heading to re-sort. Figures assume a typical EV at 3.5 mi/kWh driving 12,000 miles a year.

Residential rates: EIA Electric Power Monthly, May 2026. Gas comparison: AAA, August 6, 2026, at 28 MPG. † marks states priced against the national gas average because AAA publishes no separate figure for them.
# ↕	State ↕	¢/kWh ↕	¢/mile ↕	Charging / yr ↕	Saved vs gas ↕	YoY ↕
1	IdahoMountain · Hydroelectric	12.35	3.5¢	$423	$1,441	+4.0%
2	UtahMountain · Natural gas	12.96	3.7¢	$444	$1,420	+2.9%
3	OklahomaWest South Central · Wind	13.38	3.8¢	$459	$1,101	+3.4%
4	NebraskaWest North Central · Coal	13.59	3.9¢	$466	$1,274†	+3.3%
5	NevadaMountain · Natural gas	13.60	3.9¢	$466	$1,582	+2.3%
6	North DakotaWest North Central · Coal	13.61	3.9¢	$467	$1,273†	+3.9%
7	MissouriWest North Central · Coal	13.68	3.9¢	$469	$1,271†	+5.1%
8	New MexicoMountain · Wind	14.12	4.0¢	$484	$1,256†	-2.6%
9	IowaWest North Central · Wind	14.14	4.0¢	$485	$1,255†	-0.1%
10	LouisianaWest South Central · Natural gas	14.15	4.0¢	$485	$1,066	+6.7%
11	ArkansasWest South Central · Coal	14.36	4.1¢	$492	$1,085	+8.9%
12	TennesseeEast South Central · Nuclear	14.47	4.1¢	$496	$1,051	+5.4%
13	MontanaMountain · Hydroelectric	14.67	4.2¢	$503	$1,237†	+13.9%
14	WyomingMountain · Coal	14.80	4.2¢	$507	$1,233†	+7.1%
15	WashingtonPacific Contiguous · Hydroelectric	14.95	4.3¢	$513	$1,690	+9.5%
16	KentuckyEast South Central · Coal	14.98	4.3¢	$514	$1,042	+8.2%
17	North CarolinaSouth Atlantic · Natural gas	15.09	4.3¢	$517	$1,223†	+5.4%
18	KansasWest North Central · Wind	15.13	4.3¢	$519	$1,221†	+2.7%
19	FloridaSouth Atlantic · Natural gas	15.17	4.3¢	$520	$1,220†	+1.3%
20	ArizonaMountain · Natural gas	15.23	4.4¢	$522	$1,355	-3.1%
21	South DakotaWest North Central · Wind	15.73	4.5¢	$539	$1,201†	+9.8%
22	GeorgiaSouth Atlantic · Natural gas	15.84	4.5¢	$543	$1,197†	+5.7%
23	ColoradoMountain · Natural gas	16.16	4.6¢	$554	$1,186†	+3.7%
24	MississippiEast South Central · Natural gas	16.16	4.6¢	$554	$1,002	+8.9%
25	South CarolinaSouth Atlantic · Nuclear	16.18	4.6¢	$555	$992	+5.0%
26	OregonPacific Contiguous · Hydroelectric	16.27	4.6¢	$558	$1,444	+2.3%
27	TexasWest South Central · Natural gas	16.44	4.7¢	$564	$988	+5.9%
28	AlabamaEast South Central · Natural gas	16.77	4.8¢	$575	$1,002	+3.8%
29	West VirginiaSouth Atlantic · Coal	16.80	4.8¢	$576	$1,164†	+3.8%
30	MinnesotaWest North Central · Coal	16.95	4.8¢	$581	$1,159†	+7.0%
31	VirginiaSouth Atlantic · Natural gas	17.61	5.0¢	$604	$1,136†	+15.4%
32	IndianaEast North Central · Coal	18.15	5.2¢	$622	$895	+7.4%
33	District of ColumbiaestSouth Atlantic · Natural gas	18.30	5.2¢	$627	$1,113†	+4.6%
34	DelawareSouth Atlantic · Natural gas	19.38	5.5¢	$664	$1,076†	+6.9%
35	OhioEast North Central · Natural gas	19.52	5.6¢	$669	$1,071†	+14.2%
36	WisconsinEast North Central · Coal	19.74	5.6¢	$677	$1,063†	+4.2%
37	PennsylvaniaMiddle Atlantic · Natural gas	21.55	6.2¢	$739	$1,001†	+11.7%
38	MarylandSouth Atlantic · Natural gas	21.77	6.2¢	$746	$994†	+14.6%
39	MichiganEast North Central · Natural gas	22.01	6.3¢	$755	$985†	+8.8%
40	New JerseyMiddle Atlantic · Nuclear	23.27	6.6¢	$798	$942†	+13.6%
41	IllinoisEast North Central · Nuclear	23.85	6.8¢	$818	$1,025	+28.4%
42	VermontNew England · Hydroelectric	24.89	7.1¢	$853	$887†	+4.8%
43	New HampshireNew England · Nuclear	27.33	7.8¢	$937	$803†	+13.8%
44	ConnecticutNew England · Natural gas	27.37	7.8¢	$938	$802†	-13.4%
45	AlaskaPacific Noncontiguous · Hydroelectric	28.23	8.1¢	$968	$1,076	+8.2%
46	MaineNew England · Natural gas	28.63	8.2¢	$982	$758†	+2.6%
47	MassachusettsNew England · Natural gas	28.82	8.2¢	$988	$752†	-3.6%
48	Rhode IslandNew England · Natural gas	29.46	8.4¢	$1,010	$730†	+1.6%
49	New YorkMiddle Atlantic · Natural gas	29.93	8.6¢	$1,026	$714†	+12.1%
50	CaliforniaPacific Contiguous · Solar	33.25	9.5¢	$1,140	$1,269	-0.1%
51	HawaiiPacific Noncontiguous · Petroleum	52.00	14.9¢	$1,783	$553	+26.7%

EIA state averages are revenue per kWh — total residential revenue divided by total residential sales — so they blend every tariff, tier and tax rather than quoting one utility's posted rate. Treat them as a ranking, not a bill. The national average is $0.1844/kWh, up 6.2% on the same month last year.

The Two Ends

Cheapest Ten,
Most Expensive Ten

Cheapest to charge

3.5¢

per mile in Idaho

Idaho 12.35¢ · Utah 12.96¢ · Oklahoma 13.38¢ · Nebraska 13.59¢ · Nevada 13.60¢ · North Dakota 13.61¢ · Missouri 13.68¢ · New Mexico 14.12¢ · Iowa 14.14¢ · Louisiana 14.15¢

Most expensive to charge

14.9¢

per mile in Hawaii

Hawaii 52.00¢ · California 33.25¢ · New York 29.93¢ · Rhode Island 29.46¢ · Massachusetts 28.82¢ · Maine 28.63¢ · Alaska 28.23¢ · Connecticut 27.37¢ · New Hampshire 27.33¢ · Vermont 24.89¢

Hawaii is the one place where charging costs more than the $4.06 national gasoline average would — $1,783 a year against $1,740. Local pump prices there run near $5.45 though, so a Hawaii driver still saves roughly $553 a year against the gas cars actually on sale in the state.

Twelve Months of Movement

Which States Got
More Expensive This Year

Charging cost is not a fixed feature of a state. 6 states are cheaper than a year ago; the rest moved up, several of them sharply.

Biggest increases

+28%

Illinois

Illinois +28.4% · Hawaii +26.7% · Virginia +15.4% · Maryland +14.6% · Ohio +14.2%

The states that fell

-13.4%

Connecticut

Connecticut -13.4% · Massachusetts -3.6% · Arizona -3.1% · New Mexico -2.6% · Iowa -0.1% · California -0.1%

By Census Division

Charging Cost
Follows Geography

State lines matter less than the grid underneath them. Grouped by EIA census division, the pattern is clean: interior states with local generation at the bottom, coasts and islands at the top.

Division	Avg ¢/kWh	¢/mile	vs U.S.	States
Mountain	14.24	4.1¢	-23%	AZ CO ID MT NV NM UT WY
West South Central	14.58	4.2¢	-21%	AR LA OK TX
West North Central	14.69	4.2¢	-20%	IA KS MN MO NE ND SD
East South Central	15.60	4.5¢	-15%	AL KY MS TN
South Atlantic	17.35	5.0¢	-6%	DE DC FL GA MD NC SC VA WV
East North Central	20.65	5.9¢	+12%	IL IN MI OH WI
Pacific Contiguous	21.49	6.1¢	+17%	CA OR WA
Middle Atlantic	24.92	7.1¢	+35%	NJ NY PA
New England	27.75	7.9¢	+50%	CT ME MA NH RI VT
Pacific Noncontiguous	40.12	11.5¢	+118%	AK HI

Go Deeper

Your State,
In Full

Cost per mile in each state at 3.5 mi/kWh. Each one links to its full breakdown: utilities, EV rate plans, public charging prices.

The Other Variables

Your State Is One
of Four Inputs

Where you plug in

Home charging cost

Home, public or workplace — the plug sets the price

What you drive

Charging cost by car

Battery size sets the bill, efficiency sets the mile

What it replaces

EV vs gas calculator

Charging cost only matters next to the pump

Cutting the cost

Time-of-use rate plans

The same kWh, bought cheaper

Questions People Ask

State Charging Costs,
Answered

Which state is cheapest for charging an electric car?

Idaho, at $0.1235/kWh, which works out to about 3.5 cents a mile in a typical EV rated at 3.5 mi/kWh. Charging 12,000 miles a year there costs roughly $423. The rest of the cheapest tier sits in the Mountain and West North Central states, where hydro, wind and coal generation are close to the customers using them.

Which state is most expensive for charging an electric car?

Hawaii, at $0.5200/kWh, about 14.9 cents a mile or $1,783 a year at 12,000 miles. Hawaii makes most of its electricity from imported petroleum, so its power price tracks oil. It is the one state where charging costs more than the national gasoline average would, though local pump prices near $5.45 mean Hawaii drivers still save about $553 a year against the gas cars actually sold there.

How much does your state change what charging costs?

By a factor of 4.2. The same car, driven the same miles, costs 3.5 cents a mile in Idaho and 14.9 cents in Hawaii — a gap of roughly $1,359 across a year of average driving. No other single input moves the answer that far, not battery size, not efficiency, not driving style.

Do these rates include time-of-use or EV-specific plans?

No. These are statewide residential averages: total residential revenue divided by total residential sales, which is how the EIA builds the figure. They blend every tariff in the state, including tiered rates and taxes. If your utility offers an overnight or EV rate, your real charging cost is usually 35 to 45 percent below the state average here, because nearly all home charging already happens inside the off-peak window.

Model an off-peak plan →

Why did rates rise so much in some states this year?

Capacity market prices, transmission investment and gas-fired generation costs moved together over the past year. The steepest increases landed in states exposed to the PJM capacity auction and in states carrying large grid upgrade programmes. A few went the other way as earlier fuel-cost adjustments unwound. Because state averages are revenue-weighted, they can also shift when consumption patterns change, not only when tariffs do.

Is home charging still cheaper than gas in every state?

Against each state's own pump prices, yes, in all 51 jurisdictions. Against the $4.06 national gasoline average, Hawaii is the single exception, because its electricity sits far above the national norm while the comparison uses a gas price it does not pay. Nationally, home charging runs about 5.3 cents a mile against 14.5 cents for a 28 MPG gas car, a ratio near 2.8 to one.

Full EV vs gas comparison →

EV Charging Cost by StateA 4.2× Gap Across One Country

Why One NumberCannot Cover 51 Markets

Charging Cost in EveryU.S. State, Ranked

Cheapest Ten,Most Expensive Ten