How to calculate your cost per mile (step by step, with a worked example)
· 6 min read
Cost per mile = everything the car costs in a year / the miles it drives in that year. Eight numbers go into the top line, and you already have most of them: last year's fuel, your insurance renewal, your registration, your repair receipts, and what your car is worth today. This article walks through each one in order, works the sum on a typical US car ($11,276 a year over 13,476 miles = $0.84 per mile), then shows how the figure moves when you drive 5,000 or 30,000 miles instead.
Cost per mile calculatorRideshare driver cost calculator
The short answer
Add up what the car costs you in a year, divide by the miles you drove. The catch is the top line: most people count fuel and stop, and fuel is 20% of the typical car's cost. The other seven lines are below, in the order that is easiest to collect, with the starting value the cost per mile calculator uses for each and where it comes from.
Step 1: Miles per year
Two odometer readings a year apart, or the last two inspection reports, or the service book. If you have nothing, the FHWA average is 13,476 miles per driver; use it and replace it in a month with your own. Every other line is divided by this number, so a guess here moves the result more than a guess anywhere else.
Step 2: Fuel or electricity
Miles per year / mpg x price per gallon. The example car does 13,476 miles at 25.5 mpg, so it burns about 528 gallons; at $4.32 a gallon (EIA weekly average) that is $2,282 a year, or $0.169 per mile. Use the mpg your car actually shows, not the sticker. For an electric car it is miles / mi/kWh x price per kWh: at 3.47 mi/kWh and $0.1834 per kWh the same miles cost $712.
Step 3: Depreciation
What the car is worth today x the share of that value it will lose this year. Look up listings for your model, year and mileage for the value; for the share, a used car loses about 15% a year (CarEdge), a new one 20% in its first year. The example: a $27,028 car (Cox Automotive average used listing) x 15% = $4,054 a year, $0.301 per mile: the largest line, and the one nobody sees on a receipt. An older car worth $5,000 loses $750 at the same rate, 18% of the example's line.
Step 4: Insurance
The yearly premium from your renewal letter, or the monthly one x 12. Bankrate's national average for full coverage is $2,638; liability-only policies and older drivers with clean records pay far less, young drivers more.
Step 5: Maintenance, repairs and tyres
Every receipt from the last twelve months: oil changes, brakes, battery, the repair you did not plan, and the tyres, spread over the years a set lasts. If you keep no receipts, AAA puts maintenance, repair and tyres at 11.04 cents per mile; over 13,476 miles that is $1,251 of maintenance and repairs plus $237 of tyres. These two lines grow with the miles, unlike steps 3, 4 and 6.
Step 6: Tax, registration and inspection
Registration renewal, property or excise tax where your state charges one, the inspection fee. AAA's national average, with purchase taxes spread over the years of ownership, is $813 a year.
Step 7: Parking, tolls and loan interest
From your bank and toll statements, and from the loan statement: the interest paid in the year, not the repayments (see the FAQ). Both start at $0 in the calculator because they depend entirely on where you drive and how you paid; whatever you pay for either goes on its own line, added to the same yearly total.
Step 8: Add up and divide
| Line | Per year | Per mile | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel or energy | $2,282 | $0.169 | Grows with miles |
| Maintenance and repairs | $1,251 | $0.093 | Grows with miles |
| Tyres | $237 | $0.018 | Grows with miles |
| Depreciation | $4,054 | $0.301 | Fixed |
| Insurance | $2,638 | $0.196 | Fixed |
| Tax, registration, inspection | $813 | $0.060 | Fixed |
| Parking and tolls | $0 | $0.000 | Fixed |
| Loan interest | $0 | $0.000 | Fixed |
| Total | $11,276 | $0.837 | 67% fixed |
$11,276 / 13,476 = $0.84 per mile. Type your own eight numbers into the calculator and it returns this table for your car, keeps the inputs in your browser, and hands the figure to the rideshare driver calculator if you drive for a living.
How the figure moves with the miles you drive
67% of the example car's cost is fixed: it is paid whether the car moves or not, so every extra mile makes the fixed part per mile smaller while the variable part (fuel, maintenance, tyres) stays at $0.280. The table keeps the same car and prices and changes only the miles, scaling maintenance and tyres with them.
| Miles per year | Fixed per mile | Variable per mile | Total per mile | Total per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | $1.501 | $0.280 | $1.781 | $8,904 |
| 8,000 | $0.938 | $0.280 | $1.218 | $9,744 |
| 10,000 | $0.751 | $0.280 | $1.030 | $10,303 |
| 13,476 | $0.557 | $0.280 | $0.837 | $11,276 |
| 15,000 | $0.500 | $0.280 | $0.780 | $11,702 |
| 20,000 | $0.375 | $0.280 | $0.655 | $13,101 |
| 30,000 | $0.250 | $0.280 | $0.530 | $15,899 |
From 5,000 to 30,000 miles the cost per mile falls from $1.78 to $0.53 while the yearly bill rises from $8,904 to $15,899. That is why a car that sits parked is the dearest car per mile you can own, and why a rideshare driver's cost per mile is lower than a commuter's even though the driver spends more.
What to do with the number
Multiply it by a trip to know what the trip really costs (the guide on what 100 miles cost has fuel-only and all-in side by side). Set it against what you are paid per mile: a driver earning less per mile driven than the car costs is paying to work (the guide on what Uber drivers make after expenses does that sum for a typical week). Compare it with the $0.76 IRS rate if you are reimbursed per mile. And put it next to the yearly total in the guide on what a car costs per year before buying a second car: the 67% that is fixed is paid twice. All figures here are planning estimates from public starting values, listed with their sources on the calculator page, not a statement about your car.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the formula for cost per mile?
- (Fuel + maintenance and repairs + tyres + depreciation + insurance + tax and registration + parking and tolls + loan interest) per year, divided by miles per year. With the US starting values that is $11,276 / 13,476 = $0.84 per mile. Fuel alone is $0.17 of it.
- What is the average cost per mile to drive a car?
- $0.84 per mile for the typical US car built from public averages (a $27,028 used car, 25.5 mpg, $4.32 gas, $2,638 insurance, 13,476 miles a year). AAA publishes a yearly figure for new cars (linked from the calculator's source list); the example here is a used car, so the two are not the same number. Your own figure can sit anywhere from $0.53 for a paid-off car driven 30,000 miles to $1.78 for the same car driven 5,000.
- Should I include the car payment?
- Only the interest. The repayment buys the car, and the car's value is already counted as depreciation; counting both would charge you twice for the same thing. Take the interest from your loan statement (the yearly total, not the monthly payment) and put it on the loan interest line; the starting value is $0 because the example car is owned outright.
- Is my cost per mile the same as the IRS mileage rate?
- No. IRS standard mileage rate, business (Jul-Dec 2026) is $0.760 per mile, one figure for every car. The example car costs $0.84 per mile, above the rate; the same car driven 30,000 miles a year costs $0.53. If you are reimbursed per mile, the gap between the rate and your own figure is what you actually gain or lose on each mile. Information, not tax advice.
Cost estimates from published starting values (EPA, EIA, AAA, DESNZ, Ofgem, IRS/HMRC), each with its source and date, put through the same arithmetic as the calculators. Your car, prices and mileage move every figure. Information for planning, not financial or tax advice.