Cost to run a microwave in Arizona (August 2026 rates)
At 15.05¢ per kilowatt-hour — Arizona's average residential price in August 2026 — running a microwave costs $16.48 a year. That is 17% less than the national average of $19.89.
- Per hour
- 18.1¢
- Per day of use
- 4.5¢
- Per month
- $1.37
- Per year
- $16.48
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 Arizona compares
Arizona pays 15.05¢/kWh, the 16th cheapest residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $3.41 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 14.95¢ | $1.36 | $16.37 |
| Florida | 14.99¢ | $1.37 | $16.41 |
| Arizona | 15.05¢ | $1.37 | $16.48 |
| South Dakota | 15.15¢ | $1.38 | $16.59 |
| Kansas | 15.47¢ | $1.41 | $16.94 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a microwave.
What else costs about the same in Arizona
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 Arizona?
- About $1.37 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 15.05¢/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?
- Arizona has the 16th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.