How much does a pool pump cost per month in California?

About $42.84 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 8 hours a day, 180 days a year at 29.75¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a pool pump use?

Roughly 1,728 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 1.20 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

California has the 4th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $314 a year.

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Cost to run a pool pump in California (August 2026 rates)

At 29.75¢ per kilowatt-hour — California's average residential price in August 2026 — running a pool pump costs $514 a year. That is 64% more than the national average of $314. California's residential rate is down 3.8% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $534 to $514 a year.

Per hour: 35.7¢
Per day of use: $2.86
Per month: $42.84
Per year: $514

Assumption: 1,200 W, 8 hours a day, 180 days a year — 1,728 kWh a year. A single-speed 1.5 HP pump. Variable-speed pumps running longer at low speed use a fraction of this. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

Related calculators: see what running slower for longer saves.

How California compares

California pays 29.75¢/kWh, the 4th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $200 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same pool pump costs $220 a year in Nevada and $815 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $595 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
New York	28.65¢	$41.26	$495
Alaska	29.41¢	$42.35	$508
California	29.75¢	$42.84	$514
Massachusetts	30.48¢	$43.89	$527
Maine	32.11¢	$46.24	$555

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

What else costs about the same in California

Electric baseboard heater$402 a year in CA Heat pump$643 a year in CA Central air conditioner$700 a year in CA

Cutting the number down

Pump power rises roughly with the cube of speed, so running at half speed for twice as long uses about a quarter of the energy.
Most pools are turned over more often than they need. Cutting an hour a day is free money all season.
A variable-speed pump is one of the few upgrades that routinely pays back within two seasons.

Questions

How much does a pool pump cost per month in California?: About $42.84 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 8 hours a day, 180 days a year at 29.75¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a pool pump use?: Roughly 1,728 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 1.20 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: California has the 4th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $314 a year.