How much does an incandescent bulb cost per month in Massachusetts?

About $2.78 a month, assuming 60 W, 5 hours a day, 365 days a year at 30.48¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does an incandescent bulb use?

Roughly 110 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.06 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

Massachusetts has the 3rd most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.

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Cost to run an incandescent bulb in Massachusetts (August 2026 rates)

At 30.48¢ per kilowatt-hour — Massachusetts's average residential price in August 2026 — running an incandescent bulb costs $33.38 a year. That is 68% more than the national average of $19.89.

Per hour: 1.8¢
Per day of use: 9.1¢
Per month: $2.78
Per year: $33.38

Assumption: 60 W, 5 hours a day, 365 days a year — 110 kWh a year. A 60 W bulb producing roughly the same 800 lumens as a 9 W LED. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How Massachusetts compares

Massachusetts pays 30.48¢/kWh, the 3rd most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $13.49 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same incandescent bulb costs $13.93 a year in Nevada and $51.66 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $37.73 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
Alaska	29.41¢	$2.68	$32.20
California	29.75¢	$2.71	$32.58
Massachusetts	30.48¢	$2.78	$33.38
Maine	32.11¢	$2.93	$35.16
Hawaii	47.18¢	$4.31	$51.66

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for an incandescent bulb.

What else costs about the same in Massachusetts

Microwave$33.38 a year in MA Electric kettle$33.38 a year in MA Box fan$34.29 a year in MA

Cutting the number down

The comparison is the point: identical light, nearly seven times the electricity, for the whole life of the bulb.
Replacing the handful of bulbs that burn the most hours captures most of the available saving immediately.

Questions

How much does an incandescent bulb cost per month in Massachusetts?: About $2.78 a month, assuming 60 W, 5 hours a day, 365 days a year at 30.48¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does an incandescent bulb use?: Roughly 110 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.06 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: Massachusetts has the 3rd most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.