Public EV Charging Cost by State (August 2026): What Fast Charging Costs Where You Live
Quick Answer
AAA's national average for public EV charging is 42.4¢ per kWh as of August 11, 2026, but the state spread runs from 31.1¢ in Kansas to 52.9¢ in West Virginia — a 1.7x gap. At 3.5 miles per kWh that is 12.11¢ per mile nationally, against 5.27¢ for home charging and 13.37¢ for a 30 mpg gas car at $4.0116 a gallon. In ten states, charging exclusively on public fast chargers already costs more per mile than driving a 30 mpg gas car. The national break-even is 33.1 mpg: if your alternative gas car beats that, public-only charging loses.
Written by Morgan Ellis, Editor at GearUp Insights | About the Editor | Last reviewed: August 11, 2026
The GearUp Result
Most EV cost comparisons quote one national public charging number and move on. That hides the thing that actually decides your bill. Public fast charging is priced by operators state by state, and the spread between the cheapest and most expensive state is wider than the spread in gasoline prices across most of the country.
We combined three primary datasets that are not normally published together: AAA's state-level public EV charging averages, AAA's state gasoline averages, and the EIA's state residential electricity rates. All three are converted to the same unit — cents per mile — so they can be compared directly.
The headline number. Nationally, public fast charging costs 12.11¢ per mile. Home charging costs 5.27¢ per mile. Public charging is 2.30 times more expensive than charging in your own driveway. That single ratio explains more about EV running costs than the make and model of the car.
The number nobody quotes. A 30 mpg gas car at today's national average costs 13.37¢ per mile. Public fast charging at 12.11¢ beats it by only 1.26¢ — a margin of about 9%. That margin disappears entirely in ten states, and it disappears nationally the moment your gas alternative gets more efficient than 33.1 mpg.
Calculated by GearUp using AAA and EIA data, accessed August 11, 2026.
What Public Fast Charging Costs in Your State
All figures are cents per mile at 3.5 miles per kWh for the EV columns and 30 mpg for the gas column. States marked (gas wins) are those where public fast charging costs more per mile than gasoline. The final column is the gas mileage your alternative vehicle would need to match public charging in that state — anything above it, and the gas car wins.
| State | Public rate | Public ¢/mi | Home ¢/mi | Gas $/gal | Gas ¢/mi | Break-even |
|---|
| Alabama | 41.7¢ | 11.91¢ | 4.79¢ | $3.61 | 12.04¢ | 30 mpg |
| Alaska | 50.4¢ | 14.40¢ | 8.07¢ | $4.78 | 15.94¢ | 33 mpg |
| Arizona | 44.3¢ | 12.66¢ | 4.35¢ | $4.35 | 14.51¢ | 34 mpg |
| Arkansas (gas wins) | 45.0¢ | 12.86¢ | 4.10¢ | $3.62 | 12.07¢ | 28 mpg |
| California | 47.8¢ | 13.66¢ | 9.50¢ | $5.59 | 18.62¢ | 41 mpg |
| Colorado | 38.8¢ | 11.09¢ | 4.62¢ | $4.25 | 14.16¢ | 38 mpg |
| Connecticut | 40.1¢ | 11.46¢ | 7.82¢ | $4.09 | 13.64¢ | 36 mpg |
| Delaware | 38.8¢ | 11.09¢ | 5.54¢ | $3.97 | 13.23¢ | 36 mpg |
| District of Columbia | 39.7¢ | 11.34¢ | 7.26¢ | $4.21 | 14.04¢ | 37 mpg |
| Florida | 41.3¢ | 11.80¢ | 4.33¢ | $3.90 | 13.01¢ | 33 mpg |
| Georgia | 41.5¢ | 11.86¢ | 4.53¢ | $3.78 | 12.62¢ | 32 mpg |
| Hawaii | 51.8¢ | 14.80¢ | 14.86¢ | $5.45 | 18.15¢ | 37 mpg |
| Idaho | 42.0¢ | 12.00¢ | 3.53¢ | $4.37 | 14.55¢ | 36 mpg |
| Illinois | 45.5¢ | 13.00¢ | 6.81¢ | $4.23 | 14.11¢ | 33 mpg |
| Indiana (gas wins) | 42.9¢ | 12.26¢ | 5.19¢ | $3.48 | 11.61¢ | 28 mpg |
| Iowa | 33.6¢ | 9.60¢ | 4.04¢ | $3.70 | 12.34¢ | 39 mpg |
| Kansas | 31.1¢ | 8.89¢ | 4.32¢ | $3.72 | 12.41¢ | 42 mpg |
| Kentucky | 40.0¢ | 11.43¢ | 4.28¢ | $3.56 | 11.88¢ | 31 mpg |
| Louisiana (gas wins) | 47.8¢ | 13.66¢ | 4.04¢ | $3.56 | 11.88¢ | 26 mpg |
| Maine | 41.1¢ | 11.74¢ | 8.18¢ | $4.04 | 13.46¢ | 34 mpg |
| Maryland | 34.5¢ | 9.86¢ | 6.22¢ | $4.00 | 13.34¢ | 41 mpg |
| Massachusetts | 39.4¢ | 11.26¢ | 8.23¢ | $4.04 | 13.46¢ | 36 mpg |
| Michigan | 40.0¢ | 11.43¢ | 6.29¢ | $4.12 | 13.72¢ | 36 mpg |
| Minnesota | 38.0¢ | 10.86¢ | 4.84¢ | $3.92 | 13.05¢ | 36 mpg |
| Mississippi (gas wins) | 42.1¢ | 12.03¢ | 4.62¢ | $3.59 | 11.96¢ | 30 mpg |
| Missouri | 32.8¢ | 9.37¢ | 3.91¢ | $3.68 | 12.27¢ | 39 mpg |
| Montana | 42.7¢ | 12.20¢ | 4.19¢ | $4.23 | 14.11¢ | 35 mpg |
| Nebraska | 36.0¢ | 10.29¢ | 3.88¢ | $3.87 | 12.90¢ | 38 mpg |
| Nevada | 42.6¢ | 12.17¢ | 3.89¢ | $4.76 | 15.87¢ | 39 mpg |
| New Hampshire (gas wins) | 47.3¢ | 13.51¢ | 7.81¢ | $3.99 | 13.29¢ | 29 mpg |
| New Jersey | 45.5¢ | 13.00¢ | 6.65¢ | $4.01 | 13.35¢ | 31 mpg |
| New Mexico | 38.2¢ | 10.91¢ | 4.03¢ | $3.95 | 13.16¢ | 36 mpg |
| New York | 41.2¢ | 11.77¢ | 8.55¢ | $4.15 | 13.85¢ | 35 mpg |
| North Carolina | 41.1¢ | 11.74¢ | 4.31¢ | $3.66 | 12.21¢ | 31 mpg |
| North Dakota | 44.8¢ | 12.80¢ | 3.89¢ | $3.86 | 12.86¢ | 30 mpg |
| Ohio | 43.0¢ | 12.29¢ | 5.58¢ | $3.91 | 13.02¢ | 32 mpg |
| Oklahoma (gas wins) | 42.7¢ | 12.20¢ | 3.82¢ | $3.57 | 11.89¢ | 29 mpg |
| Oregon | 40.1¢ | 11.46¢ | 4.65¢ | $4.67 | 15.56¢ | 41 mpg |
| Pennsylvania | 43.3¢ | 12.37¢ | 6.16¢ | $4.10 | 13.67¢ | 33 mpg |
| Rhode Island | 41.3¢ | 11.80¢ | 8.42¢ | $3.97 | 13.22¢ | 34 mpg |
| South Carolina (gas wins) | 43.9¢ | 12.54¢ | 4.62¢ | $3.53 | 11.78¢ | 28 mpg |
| South Dakota | 35.3¢ | 10.09¢ | 4.49¢ | $3.93 | 13.08¢ | 39 mpg |
| Tennessee (gas wins) | 42.6¢ | 12.17¢ | 4.13¢ | $3.57 | 11.90¢ | 29 mpg |
| Texas (gas wins) | 42.8¢ | 12.23¢ | 4.70¢ | $3.54 | 11.79¢ | 29 mpg |
| Utah | 34.3¢ | 9.80¢ | 3.70¢ | $4.33 | 14.45¢ | 44 mpg |
| Vermont | 36.2¢ | 10.34¢ | 7.11¢ | $4.12 | 13.74¢ | 40 mpg |
| Virginia | 42.9¢ | 12.26¢ | 5.03¢ | $3.80 | 12.67¢ | 31 mpg |
| Washington | 39.2¢ | 11.20¢ | 4.27¢ | $5.14 | 17.13¢ | 46 mpg |
| West Virginia (gas wins) | 52.9¢ | 15.11¢ | 4.80¢ | $3.84 | 12.80¢ | 25 mpg |
| Wisconsin | 42.6¢ | 12.17¢ | 5.64¢ | $3.84 | 12.79¢ | 32 mpg |
| Wyoming | 43.1¢ | 12.31¢ | 4.23¢ | $4.19 | 13.96¢ | 34 mpg |
Sources: AAA state EV charging averages and AAA state gasoline averages, both as of August 11, 2026; EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A, May 2026, residential. Per-mile conversions by GearUp.
The Ten States Where Public Charging Loses to Gas
These are the states where a driver who cannot charge at home is already paying more per mile than a 30 mpg gas car:
West Virginia. 15.11¢ per mile on public charging against 12.80¢ for gas — a penalty of 2.31¢ per mile. West Virginia has both the highest public charging rate in the country at 52.9¢ per kWh and below-average pump prices. A gas car only needs 25 mpg to beat public charging here.
Louisiana. 13.66¢ against 11.88¢, a 1.78¢ penalty. Break-even is 26 mpg, which almost any modern sedan clears.
Arkansas, South Carolina, and Indiana. Penalties of 0.79¢, 0.76¢, and 0.65¢ per mile respectively, all with break-even points of 28 mpg.
Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, New Hampshire, and Mississippi. Penalties between 0.07¢ and 0.44¢ per mile. These are close calls that could flip either way on a normal week of price movement, so treat them as parity rather than a clear loss.
The pattern is not random. Every state on this list except New Hampshire has below-average gasoline prices, and the low pump price is doing as much work as the high charging rate. This is a gasoline story as much as an electricity story.
What Actually Decides Your Cost: The Charging Mix
The state you live in matters. What matters more is what share of your miles come from a home outlet. Here is the same 15,000-mile year under three charging mixes, at national average rates:
| Scenario | Charging mix | Cost per mile | Annual fuel cost | vs 30 mpg gas |
|---|
| Optimistic | 100% home | 5.27¢ | $790 | −$1,216 |
| Baseline | 80% home / 20% public | 6.64¢ | $996 | −$1,010 |
| Conservative | 100% public | 12.11¢ | $1,817 | −$189 |
| Gasoline reference | 30 mpg, $4.0116/gal | 13.37¢ | $2,006 | — |
Calculated by GearUp using AAA and EIA data, accessed August 11, 2026. Model your own rates and mix with our EV Charging Cost Calculator.
Read the last column, not the third. Moving from a home-charging majority to public-only does not shave your savings — it deletes them. A driver with home charging saves $1,216 a year against a 30 mpg gas car. A driver without it saves $189, which is inside the margin of a bad month at the pump.
And that $189 assumes a 30 mpg comparison. Against a 35 mpg gas car the public-only EV driver is $98 a year worse off; against 40 mpg, $313 worse off.
What This Means by Driver Type
If you have a garage or driveway outlet. None of the state variation on this page should change your decision. You are paying 5.27¢ a mile at the national average, and public rates only touch the 15 to 20 percent of miles you charge on the road. Check your own utility rate rather than the national average — state residential rates range from about 12¢ to over 50¢ per kWh, a far wider spread than public charging.
If you rent, street-park, or otherwise cannot charge at home. This page is your decision. Look up your state in the table above, compare the break-even column to the mpg of the gas car you would otherwise buy, and be honest about the answer. In ten states the gas car already wins on fuel cost alone. In another dozen the margin is under 1¢ a mile, which is not a reason to buy an EV.
If you are moving states. The break-even column changes by more than 20 mpg between the cheapest and most expensive states. A driver relocating from Kansas to West Virginia sees their public charging cost per mile rise by roughly 70 percent with no change to the car or the driving.
If you are choosing between an EV and a hybrid. Fuel cost is one line of the ledger, and for a public-only charger it is now close to a wash. See When Is a Hybrid Cheaper Than an EV? for the full five-year comparison including depreciation, insurance, and maintenance, which move the answer considerably more than charging rates do.
The Assumptions Behind Our Numbers
Efficiency. 3.5 miles per kWh, a mid-size EV average in mixed driving. Electric trucks and large SUVs run closer to 2.0 to 2.5, which makes every figure on this page worse for them by 40 to 75 percent.
Charging losses. No separate factor. EPA efficiency ratings are measured from the wall and already include EVSE and on-board charger losses, so applying an extra loss factor would double-count. See our methodology page.
Gas comparison. 30 mpg, roughly the U.S. new-vehicle fleet average for non-hybrid gasoline cars. We give the break-even mpg for every state so you can substitute your own vehicle.
What AAA's public charging average includes. All commercial charging — Level 1, Level 2, and DC fast. Pure DC fast charging on a network's ad-hoc rate typically runs higher than the state average shown here, so treat these as a floor for road-trip charging rather than a ceiling.
What is excluded. Idle fees, session fees, network membership savings, and time-of-use residential rates. Memberships can move the public number meaningfully — see Is an EV Charging Membership Worth It? for the break-even math on each major network.
What this page is not. This is a state-level price reference. For the national-level question of when public charging beats gasoline in general, and the mechanics behind it, see Public Charging vs Home Charging: The Real EV Cost Difference.
Our Take
The EV cost conversation is still argued as though there is one electric car and one price of electricity. There isn't. There are two completely different vehicles hiding under the same badge: the one that sleeps plugged into a wall, and the one that doesn't. At 5.27¢ and 12.11¢ a mile they are not in the same cost class, and no amount of comparing badges fixes that.
The honest test before buying is not which EV. It is whether you will have a home outlet within the next five years. If the answer is yes, the state table above is trivia. If the answer is no, and you live in one of the ten states on this list, the fuel-cost argument for going electric has already expired and you should be buying on the other reasons — maintenance, noise, driving feel — not on this one.
What to watch. AAA updates these state averages daily. The number that would change the conclusion is not the charging rate but the pump price: gasoline has fallen from $4.0892 a week ago and the EIA now forecasts $3.72 a gallon for the fourth quarter of 2026. If that forecast holds, the list of states where public charging loses to gas gets longer, not shorter.
Sources
- AAA, EV Charging Prices, national and state daily averages, accessed August 11, 2026 — gasprices.aaa.com/ev-charging-prices
- AAA, State Gas Price Averages, accessed August 11, 2026 — gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, May 2026 (residential average) — eia.gov/electricity/monthly
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook, August 11, 2026 — eia.gov/outlooks/steo
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Fuel Economy and EV Range Testing — confirmation that MPGe ratings are measured from the wall and already include charging losses — fueleconomy.gov