Cost to run a microwave in Arkansas (June 2026 rates)
At 14.12¢ per kilowatt-hour — Arkansas's average residential price in June 2026 — running a microwave costs $15.46 a year. That is 23% less than the national average of $20.08. Arkansas's residential rate is up 5.6% from June 2025, which moves this appliance from $14.64 to $15.46 a year.
- Per hour
- 16.9¢
- Per day of use
- 4.2¢
- Per month
- $1.29
- Per year
- $15.46
Assumption: 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year — 110 kWh a year. Draw while cooking; the 1,100 W on the label is delivered power and the wall draw is a little higher. Assumes 15 minutes a day of actual use. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.
How Arkansas compares
Arkansas pays 14.12¢/kWh, the 7th cheapest residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $4.62 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same microwave costs $14.36 a year in Nevada and $57.73 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $43.37 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | 14.07¢ | $1.28 | $15.41 |
| North Dakota | 14.12¢ | $1.29 | $15.46 |
| Arkansas | 14.12¢ | $1.29 | $15.46 |
| Kentucky | 14.26¢ | $1.30 | $15.61 |
| Oklahoma | 14.33¢ | $1.31 | $15.69 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a microwave.
What else costs about the same in Arkansas
Cutting the number down
- Reheating in a microwave is close to the cheapest way to put heat into food, because nearly all of it lands in the food rather than the air.
- The clock display draws a couple of watts around the clock, which over a year is a meaningful share of a lightly used microwave's total.
Questions
- How much does a microwave cost per month in Arkansas?
- About $1.29 a month, assuming 1,200 W, 15 minutes a day, 365 days a year at 14.12¢/kWh.
- How many kilowatt-hours does a microwave use?
- Roughly 110 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 1.20 kWh for every hour it runs.
- Is that expensive compared with other states?
- Arkansas has the 7th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $20.08 a year.