How much does it cost to drive a car per mile?

What is included in the cost per mile of a car?

The cost per mile of a car is everything you spend on it in a year divided by the miles you drive that year. AAA's 2026 Your Driving Costs splits that spending into six categories, averaged over five years and 75,000 miles for five top-selling models in each of seven vehicle categories, with a weighted average price of $39,376.

Fixed costs, which AAA calls ownership costs, are paid whether the car moves or not: depreciation, insurance, finance charges, and license, registration and taxes. They add up to $8,506 a year, or 56.7 cents a mile at 15,000 miles. Variable costs, which AAA calls operating costs, grow with every mile: fuel plus maintenance, repair and tires come to 29.04 cents a mile together, according to the AAA brochure.

Depreciation is the largest single cost: the difference between what the car costs new and what it is worth as a trade-in after five years, $4,422 a year in AAA's 2026 average. Fuel, the cost most drivers watch, is about a fifth of the total.

Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2026 fact sheet and brochure (September 15, 2026). AAA gives fuel and maintenance per mile and the other costs per year; the remaining columns are computed at 15,000 miles and may not add exactly because of rounding.

How do you calculate the cost per mile to drive a car?

To calculate the cost per mile to drive a car, add up a year of fixed costs and a year of variable costs, then divide by the miles you drove in that year: cost per mile = (fixed costs + variable costs) ÷ miles driven. Use a full year, because insurance, registration and tires arrive as a few large bills rather than every month.

Example calculation, with invented figures: a car bought for $28,000 and expected to sell for $13,000 after five years loses $3,000 a year. Add $1,800 of insurance, $250 of registration, $900 of loan interest, $900 of maintenance and the fuel for 12,000 miles at 30 MPG and the EIA's $4.284 a gallon ($1,713.60). The total is $8,563.60, or 71.4 cents a mile.

In that example the fixed costs are 49.6 cents of every mile and the variable costs 21.8 cents. That split is why the fuel price alone says little about what a car costs: halving the fuel bill in the example saves 7.1 cents a mile, about a tenth of the total.

Example values. Gasoline price from the EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update, US average for regular, week of October 19, 2026.

• Fixed costs: insurance premiums, registration and taxes, loan interest, and depreciation.
• Depreciation: the price you paid minus what the car will likely sell for, divided by the years you keep it.
• Variable costs: fuel or charging, oil changes and scheduled service, tires, and repairs.
• Miles: the odometer reading at the end of the year minus the reading at the start.

How much does gas cost per mile?

Gas cost per mile is the price of a gallon divided by your car's miles per gallon. At the EIA's US average of $4.284 a gallon for regular in the week of October 19, 2026, a 30 MPG car spends 14.3 cents a mile on fuel and a 20 MPG vehicle 21.4 cents. The guide on how to calculate gas mileage shows how to measure your MPG tank to tank.

Two national averages are worth knowing, and they measure different things. New model year 2024 vehicles averaged a record 27.2 MPG in real-world use, according to the EPA Automotive Trends Report, which puts fuel at 15.8 cents a mile. The whole light-duty fleet on the road averaged 23.4 MPG in 2024, per FHWA Highway Statistics, or 18.3 cents a mile.

In metric units the formula is: cost per kilometer = liters per 100 km × price per liter ÷ 100. As an example, a car using 7 L/100 km at €1.80 a liter spends €0.126 per kilometer on fuel.

Computed from the EIA weekly price released October 20, 2026; fuel economy averages from the EPA and FHWA.

Why does a car cost more per mile when you drive less?

A car costs more per mile when you drive less because its fixed costs, depreciation, insurance and finance charges above all, are spread over fewer miles. AAA's 2026 figures put the average new vehicle at about $1.10 a mile at 10,000 miles a year, 86 cents at 15,000 and 74 cents at 20,000, even though the yearly total rises with the miles.

On average, cars in the US are driven well under AAA's 15,000-mile assumption. The average light-duty vehicle in the US covered 10,787 miles in 2024, according to FHWA Highway Statistics, which puts the typical car much closer to AAA's 10,000-mile column than to its headline figure.

The example car above shows the same effect. Driven 8,000 miles a year instead of 12,000, its fixed costs stay at $5,950, fuel falls to $1,142.40 and maintenance, scaled with the miles, to $600: $7,692.40 in total, or 96.2 cents a mile instead of 71.4.

Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2026 (September 15, 2026).

What is the average cost per mile by vehicle type?

The average cost per mile ranges from about 62 cents for a small sedan to about $1.10 for a half-ton pickup in AAA's 2026 study, at 15,000 miles a year. AAA puts the gap between the two at 48 cents a mile, or about $7,191 a year.

A medium SUV, at 96.32 cents a mile, costs more to own and operate than a midsize pickup in AAA's 2026 figures. Each category is an average of five top-selling models, so a specific model can sit well above or below its category.

Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2026 brochure (September 15, 2026).

Is an electric car cheaper per mile than a gas car or a hybrid?

An electric car is cheaper per mile to fuel but not always cheaper per mile overall. In AAA's 2026 study, a medium electric sedan costs $0.911 a mile against $0.705 for the gas version and $0.680 for the hybrid, at 15,000 miles a year. AAA says the electric sedan costs 29.1% more a year, $3,080, citing higher depreciation, fees and finance costs.

Fuel is where the electric car wins. AAA's medium sedan figures give $712.50 a year of charging for the EV at 18 cents per kWh, $2,215 of gasoline for the gas car and $1,436 for the hybrid: 4.75, 14.77 and 9.57 cents a mile. Depreciation goes the other way, $6,786 a year for the EV against $3,330 for the gas sedan.

The gap is smallest in SUVs: AAA's medium electric SUV costs $0.955 a mile against $0.962 for the gas one. The hybrid costs less than the gas version in all four categories AAA compared. For the charging side alone, see what it costs to charge an electric car at home and in public.

Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2026 brochure (September 15, 2026).

Is the IRS mileage rate the same as the cost to drive a car per mile?

The IRS mileage rate is not the same as your cost to drive a car per mile, although both include fixed and variable costs. The IRS business standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile from January 1 to June 30, 2026, and 76 cents from July 1, 2026; the IRS raised it midyear, citing recent increases in the price of fuel.

The IRS says the business rate is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile, while the medical and moving rate, 20.5 cents and then 23.5 cents a mile in 2026, uses only the variable costs. AAA's 2026 averages are 86 cents in total and 29.04 cents for fuel and maintenance alone.

Use the IRS rate to deduct or reimburse business miles, and your own figure to budget. Keeping the log the IRS asks for is covered in the guide to an IRS compliant mileage log.

Sources: IRS standard mileage rates (reviewed July 28, 2026); AAA Your Driving Costs 2026 fact sheet and brochure.

How can you lower your cost per mile?

The biggest levers are the fixed costs, because they are most of the bill: in AAA's 2026 average, depreciation, insurance, finance charges and registration are $8,506 of $12,863 a year. Fuel and maintenance are the smaller share, and they are the part you control every day.

• Choose the category with care: AAA's small sedan costs about 62 cents a mile and its half-ton pickup about $1.10, a gap no driving style can close.
• Finance less: AAA counts $1,184 a year of finance charges on a five-year loan with 15% down.
• Shop the insurance: full coverage is $2,098 a year in AAA's average, the largest fixed cost after depreciation.
• Raise your MPG: at $4.284 a gallon, going from 25 to 30 MPG saves about 3 cents a mile; the guide on how to improve your gas mileage covers what moves it.
• Know your maintenance figure: AAA budgets 11.7 cents a mile for maintenance, repair and tires; logging each job with its cost shows whether your car runs above or below that.

How do you track your own car's cost per mile?

AAA's figures describe an average new car, so your own cost per mile comes from your own records: every fill-up or charge, every service and repair, every insurance and registration bill, and the odometer at the start and end of the period. A spreadsheet of a year of receipts works; the hard part is not missing the irregular bills.

WrenchTime, a car log for iPhone, keeps every cost with the vehicle it belongs to: fill-ups, charging sessions, care work and dues such as insurance renewals, finance instalments and road tax, which it keeps apart from workshop bills. Its Total Operating Cost and Cost Breakdown charts add them up for any period, and a fuel cost per mile chart tracks the variable part.

The odometer history gives the miles to divide by, and a recurring entry for a yearly insurance renewal or a monthly loan payment never needs re-entering. WrenchTime does not track depreciation, so add your own estimate from the formula above.

Key takeaways: the cost to drive a car per mile

The figures on this page, each with its source.

• Average: about 86 cents a mile for a new vehicle in 2026, $12,863 a year at 15,000 miles (AAA).
• Fuel is about a fifth: 17.3 cents of the 86; depreciation, at $4,422 a year, is the largest single cost (AAA).
• Formula: cost per mile = (fixed costs + variable costs per year) ÷ miles driven per year.
• Mileage matters: AAA's average is about $1.10 a mile at 10,000 miles a year and 74 cents at 20,000; the average US light-duty vehicle covered 10,787 miles in 2024 (FHWA).
• Gas only: price per gallon ÷ MPG; at the EIA's $4.284, a 30 MPG car spends 14.3 cents a mile.
• IRS rate: 76 cents from July 1, 2026, a deduction rate for business miles, not your actual cost (IRS).

Find your own cost per mile

Log a few months of fill-ups, care work and dues in WrenchTime and your own totals replace AAA's average. The free version covers 1 vehicle with 3 fill-ups and 2 care or dues entries a month, 1 chart and CSV and PDF export, and WrenchTime Pro removes those limits. The car expense tracker guide shows how it organizes every cost.