Cost to run a microwave in Alaska (June 2026 rates)
At 28.21¢ per kilowatt-hour — Alaska's average residential price in June 2026 — running a microwave costs $30.89 a year. That is 54% more than the national average of $20.08. Alaska's residential rate is up 5.0% from June 2025, which moves this appliance from $29.42 to $30.89 a year.
- Per hour
- 33.9¢
- Per day of use
- 8.5¢
- Per month
- $2.57
- Per year
- $30.89
Assumption: 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year — 110 kWh a year. Draw while cooking; the 1,100 W on the label is delivered power and the wall draw is a little higher. Assumes 15 minutes a day of actual use. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.
How Alaska compares
Alaska pays 28.21¢/kWh, the 7th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $10.81 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same microwave costs $14.36 a year in Nevada and $57.73 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $43.37 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 24.95¢ | $2.28 | $27.32 |
| New Hampshire | 27.01¢ | $2.46 | $29.58 |
| Alaska | 28.21¢ | $2.57 | $30.89 |
| Rhode Island | 29.23¢ | $2.67 | $32.01 |
| New York | 29.49¢ | $2.69 | $32.29 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a microwave.
What else costs about the same in Alaska
Cutting the number down
- Reheating in a microwave is close to the cheapest way to put heat into food, because nearly all of it lands in the food rather than the air.
- The clock display draws a couple of watts around the clock, which over a year is a meaningful share of a lightly used microwave's total.
Questions
- How much does a microwave cost per month in Alaska?
- About $2.57 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 28.21¢/kWh.
- How many kilowatt-hours does a microwave use?
- Roughly 110 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 1.20 kWh for every hour it runs.
- Is that expensive compared with other states?
- Alaska has the 7th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $20.08 a year.