Cost to run a microwave in New Mexico (August 2026 rates)
At 16.51¢ per kilowatt-hour — New Mexico's average residential price in August 2026 — running a microwave costs $18.08 a year. That is 9% less than the national average of $19.89. New Mexico's residential rate is up 3.3% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $17.50 to $18.08 a year.
- Per hour
- 19.8¢
- Per day of use
- 5.0¢
- Per month
- $1.51
- Per year
- $18.08
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 New Mexico compares
New Mexico pays 16.51¢/kWh, the 25th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $1.81 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Iowa | 17.06¢ | $1.56 | $18.68 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a microwave.
What else costs about the same in New Mexico
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 New Mexico?
- About $1.51 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 16.51¢/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?
- New Mexico has the 25th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.