How much does a Wi-Fi router cost per month in California?

About $2.17 a month, assuming 10 W, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 29.75¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a Wi-Fi router use?

Roughly 88 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.01 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 $15.91 a year.

Home › Wi-fi router › California

Cost to run a Wi-Fi router in California (August 2026 rates)

At 29.75¢ per kilowatt-hour — California's average residential price in August 2026 — running a Wi-Fi router costs $26.06 a year. That is 64% more than the national average of $15.91. California's residential rate is down 3.8% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $27.09 to $26.06 a year.

Per hour: 0.3¢
Per day of use: 7.1¢
Per month: $2.17
Per year: $26.06

Assumption: 10 W, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — 88 kWh a year. Router plus modem. Mesh systems multiply this by the number of nodes. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

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 $10.15 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same Wi-Fi router costs $11.14 a year in Nevada and $41.33 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $30.19 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
New York	28.65¢	$2.09	$25.10
Alaska	29.41¢	$2.15	$25.76
California	29.75¢	$2.17	$26.06
Massachusetts	30.48¢	$2.23	$26.70
Maine	32.11¢	$2.34	$28.13

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a Wi-Fi router.

What else costs about the same in California

Ceiling fan$25.70 a year in CA Hair dryer$28.11 a year in CA Slow cooker$28.56 a year in CA

Cutting the number down

Small and always-on is the pattern worth understanding: 10 W around the clock is 88 kWh a year, more than a microwave.
Mesh nodes each carry their own around-the-clock draw, so an extra node is an extra annual line item.

Questions

How much does a Wi-Fi router cost per month in California?: About $2.17 a month, assuming 10 W, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 29.75¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a Wi-Fi router use?: Roughly 88 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.01 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 $15.91 a year.