Cost Per Mile Calculator for Your Car

This cost per mile calculator for a car shows what one mile of driving costs in dollars, based on your fuel economy, the gas price and any yearly costs you enter. Use it as a cost per mile fuel calculator by choosing “Fuel only,” or as a vehicle cost per mile calculator by choosing “Full cost of driving,” which adds insurance, maintenance and tires, registration, depreciation or lease payments, loan interest, and parking and tolls.

The tool also shows cost per year, cost per month, and the cost of a trip you enter. It gives the result in dollars per mile and dollars per kilometer. It runs in your browser, it is free, and there is no sign-up.

How to use the cost per mile calculator

1. Under “What to include,” choose “Fuel only” to see fuel cost alone, or “Full cost of driving” to include the yearly costs of owning the car.
2. Enter your car’s fuel economy in mpg in the “Fuel economy” box. For a 20 mpg car, type 20.
3. Choose a state in “Gas price: state.” The tool fills in the fuel price and shows the region and the EIA week beside it.
4. Set “Fuel type” to match your car. Choose Diesel for a diesel engine.
5. Check “Price per gallon or liter.” Change it if you know the price at your local station.
6. Enter “Distance driven per year” in miles or kilometers.
7. If you chose “Full cost of driving,” type a yearly amount in each cost box: “Insurance per year ($),” “Maintenance and tires per year ($),” “Registration and fees per year ($),” “Depreciation or lease payments per year ($),” “Loan interest per year ($),” and “Parking and tolls per year ($).” Enter 0 for any cost that does not apply to you.
8. Enter a “Trip distance” to see “Cost of the trip.”
9. Read “Total cost per mile” (or “Fuel cost per mile” in fuel only mode), “Cost per year,” and “Cost per month.” The table “Cost per year and per mile” shows the yearly amount, the per-mile amount and the share for each item.

To start faster, click a preset: “Full cost, 28 mpg car,” “Fuel only, 32 mpg,” or “Truck, 18 mpg, 15,000 mi.”

How do I calculate cost per mile?

Divide the cost by the miles driven. For fuel, divide the price per gallon by the mpg. For full cost, add your yearly costs divided by your yearly miles to the fuel cost per mile.

The tool uses three formulas. Fuel per mile is price per gallon ÷ mpg. Other costs per mile is the sum of your yearly costs ÷ miles per year. Total cost per mile is fuel plus other costs.

What does it cost to drive a car per year?

Multiply the total cost per mile by the miles you drive in a year. For example, $6,000 of yearly costs over 12,000 miles adds $0.50 per mile. With $0.12 of fuel per mile, the total is $0.62 per mile, which comes to $7,440 a year or $620 a month.

Yearly costs matter more when you drive less. The same $6,000 spread over 6,000 miles is $1.00 per mile. Use “Fuel only” to decide about one trip. Use “Full cost of driving” to judge the cost of owning the car.

Can I get cost per kilometer?

Yes. Divide cost per mile by 1.609344 to get cost per kilometer. For example, a car that uses 8 L/100 km with fuel at $1.00 per liter costs $0.08 per km, which is $0.129 per mile.

To convert fuel use in L/100 km to mpg, divide 235.2146 by the L/100 km value.

Why is my full cost per mile so much higher than fuel?

Because most of what a car costs does not depend on how far you drive. Insurance, registration, depreciation and loan interest are paid by the year, so the calculator spreads them over your yearly miles. In the example above, fuel is $0.12 a mile but the yearly costs add $0.50, so fuel is less than a fifth of the total.

Worked examples

Calculated by the tool above; open it with the same values to see each step.

Frequently asked questions

Does it include insurance and depreciation?

Only in “Full cost of driving.” Enter a yearly amount in “Insurance per year ($)” and “Depreciation or lease payments per year ($).” Depreciation is the drop in the car’s value over the year, and a lease payment goes in the same box. “Fuel only” leaves all yearly costs out.

Is diesel cost per mile different?

Yes. Choose Diesel in “Fuel type.” In the EIA weekly data for the week of Oct 5, 2026, the national diesel price was $6.199 and the national regular price was $4.354. At 20 mpg, diesel fuel costs $0.310 per mile, compared with $0.218 for regular. Prices change, so check the EIA website for current figures.

Which mileage rate does it use?

None. The tool does not use an IRS mileage rate or any average cost. It uses only the numbers you type, plus the fuel price for the state you choose.

Why are the yearly costs already filled in?

The example numbers are placeholders: insurance $1,800, maintenance $1,000, registration $150, depreciation $3,000, loan interest $700 and parking $300. Replace them with your own figures before you use the result.

What happens if I enter very low or very high miles?

Under 1,000 miles a year, the tool warns that yearly costs spread over so few miles make the cost per mile look high. Over 60,000 miles a year, it asks you to check the number and the unit. The result is still calculated in both cases.

Related tools

• Gas cost calculator: use it when you want the fuel bill for a set number of miles.
• Gas mileage calculator: use it when you want to work out your car’s mpg from fuel and distance.
• Road trip cost calculator: use it when you plan the driving costs of a specific trip.
• Travel budget calculator: use it when you want to plan total trip spending beyond driving.
• National park entrance fees: use it when you want to check the entrance fees listed for national parks.
• America the Beautiful pass calculator: use it when you want to compare the pass with the fees for your planned visits.
• Travel itinerary template: use it when you want to lay out the days and stops of a trip.