What It Costs to Heat a Home, by Fuel and State
2025–26 heating season average (latest complete season) · Updated July 07, 2026
Over the 2025–26 heating season, the cheapest common way to heat a U.S. home was natural gas, at about $16.4 per million Btu of delivered heat, with an electric heat pump close behind ($18.7). Electric resistance heat was the most expensive way to heat ($52.2), with heating oil ($33.7) and propane ($30.3) in between, per EIA prices. Which is cheapest for you depends on your state and whether a gas line reaches you: where natural gas is not available, a heat pump usually wins. Every figure below is dollars per million Btu (MMBtu) of heat actually delivered to the home.
Estimate your winter heating cost
Worked example: natural gas in Michigan averaged $10.87 per Mcf this season. One Mcf holds 1.037 MMBtu, and a 92%-efficient furnace turns that into about 0.95 MMBtu of delivered heat, so gas cost roughly $11.4 per MMBtu delivered — about $570 to supply a 50-MMBtu Michigan winter. These are fuel costs to run the system, not equipment or installation.
Every state, every fuel
Dollars per million Btu of delivered heat, 2025–26 heating season average. Lower is cheaper. A dash means EIA does not survey that fuel in that state.
| State | Heat pump | Natural gas | Propane | Heating oil | Electric resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $17.1 | $19.4 | $41.1 | – | $48.0 |
| Alaska | $27.3 | $13.8 | – | – | $76.5 |
| Arizona | $16.4 | $20.3 | – | – | $45.9 |
| Arkansas | $13.5 | $24.7 | $27.8 | – | $37.9 |
| California | $34.4 | $23.4 | – | – | $96.3 |
| Colorado | $17.2 | $11.7 | $26.4 | – | $48.2 |
| Connecticut | $29.6 | $18.3 | $45.5 | $33.3 | $82.8 |
| Delaware | $18.3 | $19.7 | $42.4 | $37.2 | $51.1 |
| District of Columbia | $25.0 | $18.3 | – | – | $70.0 |
| Florida | $16.2 | $27.3 | $55.4 | – | $45.5 |
| Georgia | $15.0 | $20.3 | $36.6 | – | $42.1 |
| Hawaii | $43.0 | $58.8 | – | – | $120.4 |
| Idaho | $13.0 | $7.7 | $28.1 | – | $36.3 |
| Illinois | $18.7 | $12.0 | $22.6 | – | $52.3 |
| Indiana | $17.6 | $12.2 | $29.4 | $29.7 | $49.2 |
| Iowa | $13.7 | $11.3 | $18.9 | $27.1 | $38.4 |
| Kansas | $15.6 | $15.3 | $22.6 | – | $43.7 |
| Kentucky | $14.5 | $16.2 | $31.7 | $27.7 | $40.6 |
| Louisiana | $13.5 | $21.9 | – | – | $37.7 |
| Maine | $30.7 | $20.5 | $39.1 | $31.3 | $86.0 |
| Maryland | $24.4 | $18.3 | $42.6 | $34.0 | $68.3 |
| Massachusetts | $32.3 | $26.2 | $40.5 | $34.6 | $90.5 |
| Michigan | $21.0 | $11.4 | $26.9 | $28.5 | $58.9 |
| Minnesota | $16.1 | $11.1 | $23.2 | $30.5 | $45.2 |
| Mississippi | $15.6 | $17.9 | $35.9 | – | $43.6 |
| Missouri | $13.2 | $18.1 | $24.9 | – | $36.8 |
| Montana | $13.9 | $9.7 | $24.0 | – | $38.8 |
| Nebraska | $12.9 | $13.9 | $19.1 | $24.5 | $36.1 |
| Nevada | $14.5 | $11.4 | – | – | $40.7 |
| New Hampshire | $28.0 | $20.7 | $42.5 | $32.8 | $78.5 |
| New Jersey | $24.1 | $15.5 | $43.1 | $36.1 | $67.4 |
| New Mexico | $15.7 | $11.3 | – | – | $43.9 |
| New York | $29.3 | $19.1 | $41.9 | $36.0 | $81.9 |
| North Carolina | $15.3 | $20.8 | $39.9 | $29.8 | $42.7 |
| North Dakota | $12.3 | $10.5 | $19.4 | – | $34.3 |
| Ohio | $18.6 | $14.9 | $30.6 | $31.5 | $52.1 |
| Oklahoma | $13.8 | $14.9 | $26.4 | – | $38.6 |
| Oregon | $15.9 | $17.4 | – | – | $44.4 |
| Pennsylvania | $21.3 | $16.2 | $34.8 | $31.5 | $59.7 |
| Rhode Island | $31.9 | $23.3 | $43.1 | $34.7 | $89.2 |
| South Carolina | $16.4 | $18.4 | – | – | $45.9 |
| South Dakota | $14.2 | $10.7 | $21.3 | – | $39.8 |
| Tennessee | $14.0 | $14.8 | $37.4 | – | $39.3 |
| Texas | $16.7 | $23.7 | $34.9 | – | $46.6 |
| Utah | $13.8 | $11.5 | $27.2 | – | $38.7 |
| Vermont | $24.9 | $19.1 | $43.8 | $32.8 | $69.8 |
| Virginia | $16.8 | $18.3 | $41.1 | $32.6 | $47.1 |
| Washington | $14.6 | $18.0 | – | – | $40.8 |
| West Virginia | $16.0 | $14.9 | – | – | $44.9 |
| Wisconsin | $19.2 | $11.8 | $22.7 | $27.8 | $53.9 |
| Wyoming | $14.2 | $13.1 | – | – | $39.7 |
Natural gas and electricity are surveyed in every state; EIA's heating-oil survey covers 21 states and its propane survey 38 (mostly the Northeast and Midwest), so warm-climate states show a dash for those fuels.
How this comparison works
- The method. Cost per MMBtu delivered = fuel price ÷ (heat content per unit × equipment efficiency). That puts every fuel on one scale: the cost of a million Btu of heat actually reaching the rooms.
- Heat content per unit (EIA): natural gas 1.037 MMBtu/Mcf, heating oil 0.1385 MMBtu/gallon, propane 0.0915 MMBtu/gallon, electricity 0.003412 MMBtu/kWh.
- Equipment efficiency (DOE): gas furnace 92% and oil furnace 86% (older units run lower, near 80%); electric resistance 100%; heat pump a seasonal coefficient of performance (COP) of 2.8, meaning 2.8 units of heat per unit of electricity. Cold-climate heat pumps range roughly 2.0 to 3.5; the calculator lets you set your own.
- Prices are the 2025–26 heating season averages of EIA's residential series: monthly natural gas and electricity, and the weekly heating-oil and propane survey (which runs October through March).
- We do not model your home's climate, insulation, or a time-of-use electricity rate; the calculator uses a heating load you enter (a typical single-family home needs roughly 50 MMBtu a winter) and average prices.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a heat pump so much cheaper to run than electric baseboard heat?
A heat pump moves heat rather than making it, delivering about 2.8 units of heat per unit of electricity, so it uses roughly a third of the power for the same warmth. This past season that made heat-pump heat about $18.7 per million Btu nationally, versus about $52.2 for electric resistance, roughly 2.8 times cheaper.
Is propane more expensive than natural gas for heating?
Almost always, per unit of heat. This past season propane delivered heat cost about $30.3 per million Btu nationally versus about $16.4 for natural gas, because propane is sold by the gallon and trucked in. Many rural homes use propane only because no natural gas line reaches them.
How do I compare a price per gallon of oil to a price per Mcf of gas?
Convert both to delivered heat. A gallon of heating oil holds about 0.1385 million Btu and a thousand cubic feet (Mcf) of natural gas about 1.037 million Btu; divide the price by the heat content times the furnace efficiency. This page does that for every fuel so the columns are directly comparable. One Mcf is about 10.37 therms.
See also electricity rates by state, gasoline prices by state, and why electric bills are rising.
Sources: EIA residential natural gas and electricity prices, EIA heating oil and propane survey, with EIA heat-content factors and DOE equipment-efficiency figures. Averages of delivered-heat cost, not a quote for your home. See methodology.