Cost to run a laptop in Pennsylvania (June 2026 rates)
At 21.73¢ per kilowatt-hour — Pennsylvania's average residential price in June 2026 — running a laptop costs $26.08 a year. That is 18% more than the national average of $22.01. Pennsylvania's residential rate is up 10.4% from June 2025, which moves this appliance from $23.63 to $26.08 a year.
- Per hour
- 1.3¢
- Per day of use
- 10.4¢
- Per month
- $2.17
- Per year
- $26.08
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 Pennsylvania compares
Pennsylvania pays 21.73¢/kWh, the 15th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $4.07 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same laptop costs $15.73 a year in Nevada and $63.26 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $47.53 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 19.56¢ | $1.96 | $23.47 |
| Illinois | 19.89¢ | $1.99 | $23.87 |
| Pennsylvania | 21.73¢ | $2.17 | $26.08 |
| Maryland | 21.84¢ | $2.18 | $26.21 |
| Michigan | 22.99¢ | $2.30 | $27.59 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a laptop.
What else costs about the same in Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania?
- About $2.17 a month, assuming 60 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 21.73¢/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?
- Pennsylvania has the 15th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $22.01 a year.