How much does it cost to run an electric water heater?
EIA data · June 2026About $78.32 a month at the U.S. average price of 18.34¢ per kilowatt-hour — but that figure moves a long way depending on where you live. Set your state below.
427.1 kWh a month at the U.S. average, 18.34¢/kWh for June 2026. Excludes fixed charges, taxes and time-of-use rates, which vary by utility and are on your bill.
Typical 3,000–5,500 W. Use the figure on your own label if you have it.
13% duty cycle applied — it draws power for part of that time.
An electric water heater is #5 of 88 on this site by annual cost, so it is probably not the only thing worth checking. See what an electric water heater costs beside everything else you run.
Published figures for this appliance disagree by a wide margin. Why other sites price an electric water heater so differently.
How many watts an electric water heater uses
Standard US residential electric tank heaters use 4,500 W heating elements on a 240-volt circuit. Smaller tanks use 3,000 W elements; some larger tanks use 5,500 W.
- Low
- 3,000 W
- Typical
- 4,500 W
- High
- 5,500 W
What it costs across the country
Same appliance, same usage, different electricity price. Annual cost at 4,500 W and the default usage above.
| State | ¢/kWh | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 52.72 | $2,702 |
| California | 34.74 | $1,780 |
| Massachusetts | 29.61 | $1,517 |
| New York | 29.49 | $1,511 |
| Ohio | 19.19 | $983 |
| Texas | 15.94 | $817 |
| Florida | 15.10 | $774 |
| Utah | 13.37 | $685 |
| Nebraska | 13.25 | $679 |
| Nevada | 13.11 | $672 |
Worth knowing
- A tank heater’s elements only fire to reheat the tank, typically about 3 hours’ worth of run time spread across a day, which is why the duty cycle here is low even though the heater is 'on’ 24 hours.
- Water heating is usually the second-largest electricity use in an all-electric home, after heating and cooling.
- A heat-pump (hybrid) water heater does the same job for roughly a third of the electricity, because it moves heat rather than generating it.
Other appliances
Prices are statewide residential averages for June 2026 from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. They exclude fixed monthly charges, taxes and time-of-use rates. See how these figures are calculated.