How much does a microwave cost per month in Alabama?

About $1.49 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 16.33¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a microwave use?

Roughly 110 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 1.20 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

Alabama has the 26th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.

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Cost to run a microwave in Alabama (August 2026 rates)

At 16.33¢ per kilowatt-hour — Alabama's average residential price in August 2026 — running a microwave costs $17.88 a year. That is 10% less than the national average of $19.89.

Per hour: 19.6¢
Per day of use: 4.9¢
Per month: $1.49
Per year: $17.88

Assumption: 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year — 110 kWh a year. Draw while cooking; the 1,100 W on the label is delivered power and the wall draw is a little higher. Assumes 15 minutes a day of actual use. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How Alabama compares

Alabama pays 16.33¢/kWh, the 26th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $2.00 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same microwave 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
Missouri	16.02¢	$1.46	$17.54
West Virginia	16.31¢	$1.49	$17.86
Alabama	16.33¢	$1.49	$17.88
New Mexico	16.51¢	$1.51	$18.08
Indiana	17.02¢	$1.55	$18.64

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a microwave.

What else costs about the same in Alabama

Electric kettle$17.88 a year in AL Incandescent bulb$17.88 a year in AL Box fan$18.37 a year in AL

Cutting the number down

Reheating in a microwave is close to the cheapest way to put heat into food, because nearly all of it lands in the food rather than the air.
The clock display draws a couple of watts around the clock, which over a year is a meaningful share of a lightly used microwave's total.

Questions

How much does a microwave cost per month in Alabama?: About $1.49 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 16.33¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a microwave use?: Roughly 110 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 1.20 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: Alabama has the 26th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.