Cost to run a microwave in Michigan (August 2026 rates)
At 22.99¢ per kilowatt-hour — Michigan's average residential price in August 2026 — running a microwave costs $25.17 a year. That is 27% more than the national average of $19.89. Michigan's residential rate is up 10.9% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $22.70 to $25.17 a year.
- Per hour
- 27.6¢
- Per day of use
- 6.9¢
- Per month
- $2.10
- Per year
- $25.17
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 Michigan compares
Michigan pays 22.99¢/kWh, the 13th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $5.29 more 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 21.40¢ | $1.95 | $23.43 |
| Pennsylvania | 21.77¢ | $1.99 | $23.84 |
| Michigan | 22.99¢ | $2.10 | $25.17 |
| Vermont | 23.84¢ | $2.18 | $26.10 |
| Connecticut | 24.51¢ | $2.24 | $26.84 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a microwave.
What else costs about the same in Michigan
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 Michigan?
- About $2.10 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 22.99¢/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?
- Michigan has the 13th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.