Cost per Mile Calculator
Calculate the true cost of driving per mile from fuel, insurance, maintenance, depreciation and other annual costs.
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Currency: Amounts are calculated in the currency you select; this site does not convert between currencies and does not use live exchange rates.
What this tool does
Calculate the true cost of driving per mile from fuel, insurance, maintenance, depreciation and other annual costs. All figures are your own estimates — no cost database is used. US gallons for the fuel line.
How to use the Cost per Mile Calculator
- Enter or select annual miles.
- Enter or select fuel efficiency (mpg us).
- Enter or select fuel price per us gallon.
- Enter or select annual insurance.
- Enter or select annual maintenance & repairs.
- Enter or select annual depreciation.
- Enter or select other annual costs (registration, parking, tolls).
- Read the calculated result; change any measurement to compare alternatives.
Formula
fuel = miles ÷ MPG × price; total = fuel + insurance + maintenance + depreciation + other; cost per mile = total ÷ miles
- miles
- Annual miles
- mpg
- Fuel efficiency (MPG US)
- gasPrice
- Fuel price per US gallon
- insurance
- Annual insurance
- maintenance
- Annual maintenance & repairs
- depreciation
- Annual depreciation
- other
- Other annual costs (registration, parking, tolls)
All figures are your own estimates — no cost database is used. US gallons for the fuel line.
Worked example
For cost per mile calculator, the following measurements illustrate the exact method: Annual miles: 12000; Fuel efficiency (MPG US): 30; Fuel price per US gallon: 3.5; Annual insurance: 1800; Annual maintenance & repairs: 900; Annual depreciation: 3000; Other annual costs (registration, parking, tolls): 600.
Inputs
- Annual miles12000
- Fuel efficiency (MPG US)30
- Fuel price per US gallon3.5
- Annual insurance1800
- Annual maintenance & repairs900
- Annual depreciation3000
- Other annual costs (registration, parking, tolls)600
Result
- Total cost per mile$0.64
- Total annual cost$7,700.00
- Annual fuel cost$1,400.00
- Fuel cost per mile$0.12
Results explained
- Total cost per mile
- Total cost per mile from the formula above. All figures are your own estimates — no cost database is used. US gallons for the fuel line.
- Total annual cost
- Total annual cost from the formula above. All figures are your own estimates — no cost database is used. US gallons for the fuel line.
- Annual fuel cost
- Annual fuel cost from the formula above. All figures are your own estimates — no cost database is used. US gallons for the fuel line.
- Fuel cost per mile
- Fuel cost per mile from the formula above. All figures are your own estimates — no cost database is used. US gallons for the fuel line.
Frequently asked questions
Add every annual cost — fuel (miles ÷ MPG × price), insurance, maintenance, depreciation and other fixed costs — and divide by annual miles. The worked example totals $7,700 over 12,000 miles ≈ $0.64 per mile.
Fuel is often only a fifth to a third of true driving cost. Insurance, depreciation and maintenance continue whether the car moves or not, and spreading them over your miles is the point of this calculator.
Enter your car's expected value loss per year (the Car Depreciation Calculator in this category projects it). For a paid-off older car it may be small; for a new car it is usually the largest single line.
The fixed parts (insurance, much of depreciation) spread thinner, so yes — per-mile cost drops with mileage even though total cost rises. The fuel and wear parts stay roughly constant per mile.
Tax authorities publish a standard per-mile rate meant to approximate average total cost; if your calculated figure is far from it, check you have included depreciation and insurance, the two lines people most often forget.