Cost Per Mile Calculator
The short answer: your car costs far more per mile than the fuel figure suggests — once insurance, maintenance, repairs, depreciation, and fees are counted, most drivers land between roughly $0.40 and $0.85 a mile. Enter your real numbers and get your own figure, with the fuel-only number shown beside it so the gap is impossible to miss.
The biggest lever on this page is insurance
It's often the largest single line after depreciation — and the most shoppable. Compare quotes for your exact car and record; insurance partners (Insurify / Compare.com) are the planned partners for this slot.
How this is calculated
Fuel per year = miles ÷ MPG × gas price. Total per year = fuel + insurance + maintenance + repairs reserve + depreciation + fees. Cost per mile = total ÷ miles. Worked example: 12,000 miles at 30 MPG and $3.50 is $1,400 of fuel; add $1,800 insurance, $900 of maintenance and repairs, $3,000 depreciation, and $200 of fees and the total is $7,300 — $0.61 a mile, against $0.12 a mile for fuel alone. Not sure what to enter for depreciation? Run the depreciation calculator on your car's value and divide by your ownership years.
Frequently asked questions
What is a typical true cost per mile?
AAA's annual driving-cost studies have put the all-in figure for an average new car in the rough neighborhood of $0.75–$0.85 per mile in recent years, with depreciation and finance charges included. An older paid-off car driven moderate miles often lands far lower — $0.35–$0.55 — because its depreciation is mostly behind it. Your number depends mostly on the car's value and how many miles you spread the fixed costs over.
Why include depreciation if no money leaves my account?
Because the value leaves the car. Every mile and month converts part of the car's worth into transportation you've consumed; ignoring it makes a $40,000 car look cheaper to run than a $15,000 car when the reverse is usually true. If you prefer a cash-only view, set depreciation to zero and the tool will show that instead — labeled as such by your own input.
How should I use cost per mile for gig or delivery driving?
Compare it against what the work pays per mile — including unpaid return and repositioning miles, which many drivers forget and which can halve effective pay. Also compare it with the IRS standard mileage rate for your tax situation; your true cost may be above or below it, and the difference is your real margin.
Does driving more lower my cost per mile?
It lowers the per-mile share of fixed costs (insurance, fees, much of depreciation) while fuel and wear scale with miles. So yes, cost per mile falls as miles rise — which is why the same car is "cheap to run" for a high-mileage driver and expensive per mile as a second car that mostly sits.