How much does a microwave cost per month in Virginia?

About $1.60 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 17.55¢/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?

Virginia has the 20th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $20.05 a year.

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Cost to run a microwave in Virginia (July 2026 rates)

At 17.55¢ per kilowatt-hour — Virginia's average residential price in July 2026 — running a microwave costs $19.22 a year. That is 4% less than the national average of $20.05. Virginia's residential rate is up 11.2% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $17.28 to $19.22 a year.

Per hour: 21.1¢
Per day of use: 5.3¢
Per month: $1.60
Per year: $19.22

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 Virginia compares

Virginia pays 17.55¢/kWh, the 20th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to 83.2¢ less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same microwave costs $13.93 a year in Louisiana and $52.56 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $38.63 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
Colorado	17.00¢	$1.55	$18.62
Minnesota	17.45¢	$1.59	$19.11
Virginia	17.55¢	$1.60	$19.22
Delaware	18.48¢	$1.69	$20.24
Wisconsin	19.06¢	$1.74	$20.87

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a microwave.

What else costs about the same in Virginia

Electric kettle$19.22 a year in VA Incandescent bulb$19.22 a year in VA Box fan$19.74 a year in VA

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 Virginia?: About $1.60 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 17.55¢/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?: Virginia has the 20th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $20.05 a year.