Fuel Cost Calculator
Estimate the cost of fuel for a trip based on distance, fuel efficiency, and fuel price. Perfect for travel planning and budget management.
How the Fuel Cost Calculator works
Estimate how much fuel a drive will use and what it will cost, from the distance in miles, your vehicle's fuel economy in miles per gallon and the price per gallon.
- Enter Trip distance (miles). For a round trip, enter the total miles both ways.
- Enter Fuel efficiency (miles per gallon).
- Enter Fuel price ($ per gallon).
- Click Calculate Fuel Cost to see the Estimated fuel cost and gallons used. Changing any value clears the result until you click again, so the cost and gallons always match the inputs shown.
The formula
Gallons = distance ÷ miles per gallon.
Fuel cost = gallons × price per gallon.
The cost is shown to the cent and gallons to one decimal place. For example, 300 miles at 30 mpg uses 10.0 gallons, which costs $35.00 at $3.50 a gallon.
Limits
It works in miles, US gallons and dollars only, with no kilometers, liters or L/100 km option. It doesn't split the cost between passengers or add tolls and parking. Real-world fuel economy changes with speed, traffic, terrain, load and weather, so a car's rated mpg is usually a best case.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate gas cost for a trip?
Divide the distance by your car's miles per gallon to get gallons, then multiply by the price per gallon. A 1,200-mile road trip in a car that gets 25 mpg uses 48 gallons, which costs $186.72 at $3.89 a gallon.
How do I calculate the cost of a round trip?
Double the one-way distance before you enter it. The calculator treats the distance as the total miles driven.
How do I split gas money between passengers?
Calculate the total fuel cost, then divide by the number of people. The calculator doesn't do the split itself: $186.72 shared by 4 people is $46.68 each.
Can I use kilometers and liters?
Not directly; the fields are in miles, miles per gallon and dollars per gallon. Convert first: kilometers × 0.6214 = miles, 235.2 ÷ (L/100 km) = US miles per gallon, and price per liter × 3.785 = price per gallon.
Does it work for electric cars?
Yes, with a workaround. The math is the same, so enter miles per kWh in the efficiency field and the price per kWh in the price field. The cost will be right, but the result will still say gallons where it means kWh.
Similar Finance tools
Tip Calculator
Calculate the tip, optional tax and fees, and what each person owes when splitting the bill.
BMI Calculator
Calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) from your height and weight and see its category.
Date Difference Calculator
Calculate the difference between two dates in days, weeks, months, or years with our Date Difference Calculator. Perfect for planning events and schedules.