Cost Per Mile Calculator
Enter a gas price and your MPG to see what each mile costs in fuel, shown to a tenth of a cent, and what 100 miles costs. Add maintenance and insurance in dollars per mile to get a full cost per mile. The fuel part is simply price ÷ MPG: $3.50 ÷ 25 MPG = $0.14 per mile.
How to Use This Calculator
- 1
Use the MPG you actually get
Fill the tank, reset the trip meter, and at the next fill divide the miles driven by the gallons added: 330 miles on 11 gallons is 30 MPG. For mostly city driving, the city rating is closer than the highway one.
- 2
Enter maintenance and insurance per mile, not per year
Divide each yearly cost by the miles you drive in a year. A $1,200 yearly cost over 10,000 miles is $1,200 ÷ 10,000 = $0.12 per mile. Typing 1200 into the field would add $1,200 to every mile.
- 3
Replace the prefilled gas price with what you pay
The price field starts at an average price. Every 10 cents per gallon changes the cost of a 25 MPG car by 0.4 cents per mile, or $4 per 1,000 miles.
Formula and Logic
Fuel cost per mile is the gas price divided by MPG. Maintenance and insurance are added exactly as you enter them. Nothing else, such as depreciation or loan payments, is included.
Basic fuel cost per mile
Gas price ÷ MPG = fuel cost per mile
Example: $4.00 ÷ 20 MPG = $0.20 per mile
Cost per 100 miles
(100 ÷ MPG) × Gas price = cost per 100 miles
Example: (100 ÷ 20) × $4.00 = $20.00 per 100 miles
Full cost per mile (with advanced inputs)
Fuel per mile + maintenance per mile + insurance per mile = full cost per mile
Example: $0.127 + $0.06 + $0.08 = $0.267 per mile
Example Calculations
Example 1: Fuel cost only
Inputs
- Gas price$3.50/gal
- Vehicle MPG25
Outputs
- Fuel cost per mile$0.140
- Cost per 100 miles$14.00
$3.50 ÷ 25 = $0.14 per mile. 100 miles uses 4 gallons, so 100 miles costs $14.00.
Example 2: Less efficient vehicle
Inputs
- Gas price$4.20/gal
- Vehicle MPG18
Outputs
- Fuel cost per mile$0.233
- Cost per 100 miles$23.33
At the same $4.20, a 30 MPG car would cost $0.140 per mile, so this vehicle costs $0.093 more per mile, or $9.33 more per 100 miles.
Example 3: Full cost with maintenance and insurance
Inputs
- Gas price$3.80/gal
- Vehicle MPG30
- Maintenance per mile$0.06
- Insurance per mile$0.08
Outputs
- Fuel cost per mile$0.127
- Full cost per mile$0.267
Fuel is $3.80 ÷ 30 = $0.127 per mile, less than half of the $0.267 full cost once $0.14 of maintenance and insurance is added.
