Cost to run a laptop in Wisconsin (July 2026 rates)
At 19.06¢ per kilowatt-hour — Wisconsin's average residential price in July 2026 — running a laptop costs $22.87 a year. That is 4% more than the national average of $21.97. Wisconsin's residential rate is up 4.4% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $21.90 to $22.87 a year.
- Per hour
- 1.1¢
- Per day of use
- 9.1¢
- Per month
- $1.91
- Per year
- $22.87
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 Wisconsin compares
Wisconsin pays 19.06¢/kWh, the 18th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to 90.0¢ 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 17.55¢ | $1.76 | $21.06 |
| Delaware | 18.48¢ | $1.85 | $22.18 |
| Wisconsin | 19.06¢ | $1.91 | $22.87 |
| Illinois | 19.22¢ | $1.92 | $23.06 |
| Ohio | 19.45¢ | $1.95 | $23.34 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a laptop.
What else costs about the same in Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin?
- About $1.91 a month, assuming 60 W, 8 hours a day, 250 days a year at 19.06¢/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?
- Wisconsin has the 18th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $21.97 a year.