Cost to run a microwave in Ohio (August 2026 rates)
At 19.38¢ per kilowatt-hour — Ohio's average residential price in August 2026 — running a microwave costs $21.22 a year. That is 7% more than the national average of $19.89. Ohio's residential rate is up 10.4% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $19.22 to $21.22 a year.
- Per hour
- 23.3¢
- Per day of use
- 5.8¢
- Per month
- $1.77
- Per year
- $21.22
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 Ohio compares
Ohio pays 19.38¢/kWh, the 17th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $1.34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | 18.70¢ | $1.71 | $20.48 |
| Illinois | 19.32¢ | $1.76 | $21.16 |
| Ohio | 19.38¢ | $1.77 | $21.22 |
| Wisconsin | 19.41¢ | $1.77 | $21.25 |
| Maryland | 21.40¢ | $1.95 | $23.43 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a microwave.
What else costs about the same in Ohio
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 Ohio?
- About $1.77 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 19.38¢/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?
- Ohio has the 17th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.