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

About $5.85 a month, assuming 200 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 17.55¢/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?

Virginia has the 20th 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 Virginia (July 2026 rates)

At 17.55¢ per kilowatt-hour — Virginia's average residential price in July 2026 — running a desktop computer costs $70.20 a year. That is 4% less than the national average of $73.24. Virginia's residential rate is up 11.2% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $63.12 to $70.20 a year.

Per hour: 3.5¢
Per day of use: 28.1¢
Per month: $5.85
Per year: $70.20

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 Virginia compares

Virginia pays 17.55¢/kWh, the 20th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $3.04 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
Colorado	17.00¢	$5.67	$68.00
Minnesota	17.45¢	$5.82	$69.80
Virginia	17.55¢	$5.85	$70.20
Delaware	18.48¢	$6.16	$73.92
Wisconsin	19.06¢	$6.35	$76.24

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

What else costs about the same in Virginia

Refrigerator$70.20 a year in VA Air purifier$76.87 a year in VA Electric oven$58.41 a year in VA

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 Virginia?: About $5.85 a month, assuming 200 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 17.55¢/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?: Virginia has the 20th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $73.24 a year.