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Cost to run an electric water heater in Montana (June 2026 rates)
At 15.14¢ per kilowatt-hour — Montana's average residential price in June 2026 — running an electric water heater costs $530 a year. That is 17% less than the national average of $642. Montana's residential rate is up 2.2% from June 2025, which moves this appliance from $518 to $530 a year.
- Per day
- $1.45
- Per month
- $44.16
- Per year
- $530
Assumption: 3,500 kWh a year. A 50-gallon resistance tank for a household of three or four. This is typically the largest or second-largest electric load in a home without electric heat. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.
How Montana compares
Montana pays 15.14¢/kWh, the 16th cheapest residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $112 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same electric water heater costs $459 a year in Nevada and $1,845 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $1,386 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | 15.06¢ | $43.93 | $527 |
| Florida | 15.10¢ | $44.04 | $528 |
| Montana | 15.14¢ | $44.16 | $530 |
| Arizona | 15.18¢ | $44.27 | $531 |
| Wyoming | 15.24¢ | $44.45 | $533 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for an electric water heater.
What else costs about the same in Montana
Cutting the number down
- A heat-pump water heater does the same job for roughly a third of the electricity, which is why it usually pays back faster than any other upgrade in the house.
- Dropping the setpoint from 140 F to 120 F cuts standby losses and scalding risk at once.
- An insulating blanket on an older tank pays for itself in a season; check the manufacturer's guidance first.
Questions
- How much does an electric water heater cost per month in Montana?
- About $44.16 a month, assuming 3,500 kWh a year at 15.14¢/kWh.
- How many kilowatt-hours does an electric water heater use?
- Roughly 3,500 kWh a year under these assumptions.
- Is that expensive compared with other states?
- Montana has the 16th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $642 a year.