Cost Per Mile to Own a Car Calculator
Enter annual fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation, and either loan interest or lease payments. The calculator adds them into yearly ownership cost and divides by miles driven. For financed purchases, do not enter principal repayments because depreciation already represents the vehicle value consumed; for leases, enter lease payments and set depreciation to zero.
Variable costs
Fixed costs
For a financed purchase, enter interest only: depreciation already captures the vehicle’s loss in value. For a lease, enter lease payments and set depreciation to zero.
Usage
True cost per mile
$0.78
$9,400.00/yr ÷ 12,000 miles
Fixed per mile
$0.50
Variable per mile
$0.28
Cost breakdown
Annual cost by component
Compare scenarios
Run the same calculation with two or three input sets side by side. Differences are highlighted; every number comes from the same tested formula as the calculator above.
| Input | Scenario A | Scenario B |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | ||
| Maintenance | ||
| Insurance | ||
| Depreciation | ||
| Financing Or Lease Cost | ||
| Annual Miles |
How it works
Your total annual cost of ownership is the sum of fuel (or charging), maintenance and repairs, insurance, depreciation, and financing interest or lease payments. Loan principal is excluded because it converts cash into vehicle equity; counting it alongside depreciation would count part of the purchase twice. Cost per mile is the total divided by annual miles.
The calculator separates fixed costs from variable costs. Fixed costs — insurance, depreciation, and financing interest or lease payments — are largely locked in whether you drive 5,000 miles or 25,000 miles a year. Variable costs — fuel and maintenance — scale roughly with how much you drive.
Because the divisor is your annual mileage, driving more miles lowers your cost per mile (the fixed costs are shared across more miles), while driving less raises it. The result is a screening estimate built entirely from the numbers you enter — it is only as accurate as your inputs, and it does not attempt to forecast future repair bills, fuel prices, or resale values, all of which vary widely by vehicle and region.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my cost per mile higher than the sticker price suggested?+
The purchase price is only the entry fee. The real cost of ownership includes fuel, maintenance, insurance, and — usually the biggest line — depreciation, the value the car loses each year whether or not you sell it. When you add every recurring cost and divide by the miles you actually drive, the per-mile figure is often far higher than people expect, especially in the early years when depreciation is steepest. This tool is a screening estimate to help you see the full picture, not financial advice.
Why do fixed costs make low-mileage driving so expensive per mile?+
Insurance, depreciation, and loan or lease payments are largely fixed: you owe roughly the same amount whether you drive 6,000 or 16,000 miles a year. Because cost per mile divides those fixed dollars by your mileage, driving fewer miles spreads them over a smaller base and pushes the per-mile cost up. That is why a car parked most of the week can cost more per mile than one that commutes daily, even with identical bills — the fixed costs simply have fewer miles to absorb them.
Is this the same as the IRS standard mileage rate?+
No. The IRS standard mileage rate is a single flat figure the tax authority publishes each year for deducting business driving; it is an average meant to approximate typical costs across many vehicles, not a calculation of what your specific car costs. This calculator instead builds a per-mile number from your own fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation, and payment figures. They answer different questions, so the two numbers will usually differ — check the current IRS rate on the IRS website if you need it for taxes.
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