Cost to run a laptop in Maryland (July 2026 rates)
At 21.41¢ per kilowatt-hour — Maryland's average residential price in July 2026 — running a laptop costs $25.69 a year. That is 17% more than the national average of $21.97. Maryland's residential rate is up 13.7% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $22.60 to $25.69 a year.
- Per hour
- 1.3¢
- Per day of use
- 10.3¢
- Per month
- $2.14
- Per year
- $25.69
Assumption: 60 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year — 120 kWh a year. Charging and working. Once the battery is full, draw drops toward 20 to 30 W for light work. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.
How Maryland compares
Maryland pays 21.41¢/kWh, the 15th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $3.72 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same laptop costs $15.26 a year in Louisiana and $57.60 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $42.34 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 19.22¢ | $1.92 | $23.06 |
| Ohio | 19.45¢ | $1.95 | $23.34 |
| Maryland | 21.41¢ | $2.14 | $25.69 |
| Pennsylvania | 21.72¢ | $2.17 | $26.06 |
| Michigan | 23.05¢ | $2.31 | $27.66 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a laptop.
What else costs about the same in Maryland
Cutting the number down
- A laptop typically uses a fifth to a tenth of what a comparable desktop does for ordinary work.
- The charger left plugged in with no laptop attached draws almost nothing on modern units.
Questions
- How much does a laptop cost per month in Maryland?
- About $2.14 a month, assuming 60 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 21.41¢/kWh.
- How many kilowatt-hours does a laptop use?
- Roughly 120 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.06 kWh for every hour it runs.
- Is that expensive compared with other states?
- Maryland has the 15th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $21.97 a year.