Average Heating Bill in the US (2026)
What EIA forecast US households would spend on heating this winter, and what one identical house would cost to heat in every state.
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EIA forecast that the average US household would spend $642 heating with natural gas over November 2025 to March 2026, $1,133 with electricity, $1,210 with propane and $1,390 with heating oil — roughly $128 to $278 a month. Those are forecasts published in October 2025, not measured outturn. Modelling one identical house in every state, the dearest winter month on gas is Maine at $382 and the cheapest with any heating load at all is Florida at $31.
What a Winter Month of Heating Costs in Your State
Modelled for an average-insulated 2,000 sq ft home over one winter month at California’s December–February average of 46.2°F, using that state’s own energy prices. Electric resistance heat in the same house would cost about $660 a month. “Lowest running cost” is our calculation, not a survey of what neighbours actually install. Actual bills vary with home size, insulation, thermostat settings and tariff.
Modelled Winter Month of Heating, by State
| State | Gas furnace / month | Heat pump / month | Electricity rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maine | $382* | $728 | 28.63¢/kWh |
| Massachusetts | $367 | $476 | 28.82¢/kWh |
| New Hampshire | $315 | $633 | 27.33¢/kWh |
| Alaska | $305 | $929 | 28.23¢/kWh |
| Minnesota | $297* | $470 | 16.95¢/kWh |
| Vermont | $279 | $599 | 24.89¢/kWh |
| Rhode Island | $265 | $435 | 29.46¢/kWh |
| New York | $254 | $658 | 29.93¢/kWh |
| Connecticut | $237 | $439 | 27.37¢/kWh |
| Wisconsin | $222 | $498 | 19.74¢/kWh |
| Maryland | $217* | $290 | 21.77¢/kWh |
| Washington | $202 | $210 | 14.95¢/kWh |
| Pennsylvania | $196 | $347 | 21.55¢/kWh |
| Oregon | $185 | $222 | 16.27¢/kWh |
| Delaware | $180 | $211 | 19.38¢/kWh |
| Missouri | $178 | $197 | 13.68¢/kWh |
| North Dakota | $174 | $379 | 13.61¢/kWh |
| Arkansas | $173 | $127 | 14.36¢/kWh |
| Virginia | $172 | $187 | 17.61¢/kWh |
| Wyoming | $172 | $342 | 14.80¢/kWh |
| New Jersey | $171 | $327 | 23.27¢/kWh |
| Michigan | $171 | $503 | 22.01¢/kWh |
| Iowa | $171 | $323 | 14.14¢/kWh |
| South Dakota | $169 | $378 | 15.73¢/kWh |
| Kansas | $165 | $220 | 15.13¢/kWh |
| California | $164 | $206 | 33.25¢/kWh |
| New Mexico | $162* | $154 | 14.12¢/kWh |
| Colorado | $158 | $278 | 16.16¢/kWh |
| Ohio | $157 | $305 | 19.52¢/kWh |
| Nebraska | $155 | $235 | 13.59¢/kWh |
| North Carolina | $153 | $130 | 15.09¢/kWh |
| Utah | $151 | $210 | 12.96¢/kWh |
| West Virginia | $150 | $238 | 16.80¢/kWh |
| District of Columbia | $150 | $241 | 25.40¢/kWh |
| Kentucky | $145 | $164 | 14.98¢/kWh |
| Montana | $144 | $339 | 14.67¢/kWh |
| Arizona | $142 | $123 | 15.23¢/kWh |
| Illinois | $141 | $385 | 23.85¢/kWh |
| Indiana | $141 | $284 | 18.15¢/kWh |
| South Carolina | $120 | $101 | 16.18¢/kWh |
| Nevada | $118 | $196 | 13.60¢/kWh |
| Texas | $117 | $93 | 16.44¢/kWh |
| Tennessee | $116 | $141 | 14.47¢/kWh |
| Alabama | $115 | $102 | 16.77¢/kWh |
| Oklahoma | $105 | $131 | 13.38¢/kWh |
| Idaho | $103 | $215 | 12.35¢/kWh |
| Georgia | $101 | $90 | 15.84¢/kWh |
| Mississippi | $96 | $98 | 16.16¢/kWh |
| Louisiana | $79* | $66 | 14.15¢/kWh |
| Florida | $31* | $28 | 15.17¢/kWh |
| Hawaii | $0 | $0 | 52.00¢/kWh |
Not a survey of actual bills — there is no published per-state average. This models the same average-insulated 2,000 sq ft home in every state, over one winter month at that state’s December–February average temperature, with a 92% AFUE furnace on the state’s winter gas price and a heat pump on the state’s electricity price at a seasonal COP that falls with the climate. Electricity prices are EIA Electric Power Monthly, May 2026 — a single month, not a 2026 annual average. Gas prices are EIA residential winter averages for December 2025–February 2026. An asterisk marks a state where EIA withheld the winter gas figure and a national fallback was used. Your own bill depends on house size, insulation, thermostat setting and your utility’s tariff.
Why Heating Bills Vary So Much Across the US
Two things drive the gap: how much heat the house loses, and what the state charges for energy. Climate does most of the work. Put the same average-insulated 2,000 sq ft home in Maine, where the December–February average is 16.8°F, and a winter month on a gas furnace models out at $382. Put it in Florida, at 59.4°F, and the same month costs $31.
Price does the rest. Residential electricity runs from 12.35¢/kWh in Idaho to 52.00¢/kWh in Hawaii — a factor of more than four — and winter gas prices vary nearly as widely. That combination is why a heat pump has the lowest running cost in 10 jurisdictions and a gas furnace wins in the rest: mild winters keep a heat pump’s efficiency high, while cold states with cheap gas favour the furnace. Hawaii sit above the 65°F base temperature that heating demand is measured from, so this model gives them no winter heating load at all.
Read the state figures as a like-for-like comparison rather than as a bill forecast. Every row holds the house, its insulation and the thermostat setting constant, which is the only way to isolate climate and price — but it also means the cold-state numbers sit well above EIA’s national forecast of about $128 a month for gas-heated households, which mixes in smaller homes, milder regions and lower thermostat settings. To see what changing the system would do, try our heat pump savings calculator or compare two states directly with the state comparison tool.