How much does a desktop computer cost per month in Alabama?

About $5.47 a month, assuming 200 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 16.40¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a desktop computer use?

Roughly 400 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.20 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

Alabama has the 24th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $73.24 a year.

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Cost to run a desktop computer in Alabama (July 2026 rates)

At 16.40¢ per kilowatt-hour — Alabama's average residential price in July 2026 — running a desktop computer costs $65.60 a year. That is 10% less than the national average of $73.24. Alabama's residential rate is up 3.0% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $63.72 to $65.60 a year.

Per hour: 3.3¢
Per day of use: 26.2¢
Per month: $5.47
Per year: $65.60

Assumption: 200 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year — 400 kWh a year. An office-class tower plus monitor, doing ordinary work. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How Alabama compares

Alabama pays 16.40¢/kWh, the 24th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $7.64 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same desktop computer costs $50.88 a year in Louisiana and $192 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $141 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
New Mexico	16.09¢	$5.36	$64.36
Georgia	16.27¢	$5.42	$65.08
Alabama	16.40¢	$5.47	$65.60
Indiana	16.73¢	$5.58	$66.92
Colorado	17.00¢	$5.67	$68.00

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

What else costs about the same in Alabama

Refrigerator$65.60 a year in AL Air purifier$71.83 a year in AL Electric oven$54.58 a year in AL

Cutting the number down

Sleep after 15 minutes idle is the default with the largest payoff and the smallest downside.
Screensavers do not save energy; a display running a 3D animation costs more than a blank screen.

Questions

How much does a desktop computer cost per month in Alabama?: About $5.47 a month, assuming 200 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 16.40¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a desktop computer use?: Roughly 400 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.20 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: Alabama has the 24th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $73.24 a year.