Tool
Monthly fuel cost calculator
Your miles, your vehicle's MPG, and a gas price: monthly cost, annual cost, cost per mile, and what a $0.25 swing would mean. Inputs stay in the link for easy sharing.
Monthly Fuel Cost Studio
Estimate what your regular driving costs at a given gasoline price.
Totals multiply across vehicles with the same miles and MPG.
Results
Enter monthly miles, your vehicle's MPG, and a gas price to see monthly and annual costs.
What would a $0.25 price change mean?
Fill in the monthly calculator above to see how a $0.25 swing in gas prices would change your costs.
Formulas: gallons = miles ÷ MPG; monthly cost = gallons × price; annual cost = monthly × 12; cost per mile = price ÷ MPG. Estimates only; real costs vary with driving conditions and local prices.
A worked example
Driving 1,200 miles a month in a 30 MPG vehicle uses 40 gallons. At $4.00 per gallon that is $160.00 a month, $1,920.00 a year, and about $0.133 per mile. Improving to 36 MPG cuts the same driving to roughly 33.3 gallons, or about $133.33 a month.
Common questions
- What gas price should I use?
- Use the latest published U.S. national average with the button in the calculator, or type the price you actually pay locally. Local prices commonly differ from the national average by a wide margin, so your own price gives a more accurate estimate.
- Where do I find my vehicle's real MPG?
- Trip computers report a rolling average, and the window sticker or fueleconomy.gov lists the EPA rating. Dividing miles driven by gallons purchased over several fill-ups gives the most realistic figure for your own driving.
- Does this include maintenance, insurance, or depreciation?
- No. This calculator covers fuel only. Total cost of ownership also includes maintenance, tires, insurance, registration, financing, and depreciation, all of which fall outside published fuel-price data.
- Can I share or save my result?
- Yes. Your inputs are stored in the page address, so copying the link preserves them. The Copy Result and Share Link buttons produce a plain-text summary including the price source and its reported date.