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Where the money goes each year
The sticker price is only the start. AAA’s 2026 Your Driving Costs study adds up everything a new car costs over five years and 75,000 miles, and the average comes to $12,863 a year. The study uses a sales-weighted average price of $39,376 and regular gas at $4.152 a gallon.
| Expense | Per year | Per month* | Share of total* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depreciation | $4,422 | $369 | 34% |
| Fuel (17.32¢ per mile) | $2,598 | $217 | 20% |
| Insurance (full coverage) | $2,098 | $175 | 16% |
| Maintenance, repairs and tires (11.73¢ per mile) | $1,760 | $147 | 14% |
| Finance charges | $1,184 | $99 | 9% |
| License, registration and taxes | $802 | $67 | 6% |
| Total | $12,863 | $1,072 | 100% |
Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2026, via the AAA fact sheet and CarPro, Oct 2026. *Monthly amounts, shares, and yearly fuel and maintenance (per-mile rate times 15,000 miles) are our calculation. Rows may not add exactly due to rounding.
Two things stand out. First, more than a third of the cost is depreciation, money you never see leave your account but lose when you sell or trade in. Second, fuel and maintenance together come to about $4,356 a year, so the “running” costs are a smaller share than many people expect.
AAA changed its method in 2026 and added hybrid and electric models, so it says the new figure should not be compared directly with its 2025 estimate of $11,577.
Cost per month and per mile
AAA’s own monthly figure is $1,071.92, or about $35 a day. To get the monthly cost of any category, we divide the yearly number by 12, as in the table above.
Per-mile cost depends on how much you drive, because depreciation, insurance and registration stay mostly fixed.
| Miles per year | Average cost per mile |
|---|---|
| 10,000 | $1.10 |
| 15,000 | 86¢ |
| 20,000 | 74¢ |
Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2026 fact sheet.
Per-mile cost is handy for trips. Fuel alone is about 17 cents a mile, which is what our road trip cost calculator helps you estimate for a specific route.
Cost by vehicle type
Bigger vehicles cost more in every category: price, fuel, tires and insurance.
| Vehicle type | Per mile | Per year | Per month* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small sedan | 61.73¢ | $9,259 | $772 |
| Medium sedan | 70.37¢ | $10,555 | $880 |
| Subcompact SUV | 71.68¢ | $10,752 | $896 |
| Compact SUV | 77.80¢ | $11,670 | $973 |
| Midsize pickup | 87.26¢ | $13,089 | $1,091 |
| Medium SUV | 96.32¢ | $14,447 | $1,204 |
| Half-ton pickup | $1.10 | $16,449 | $1,371 |
Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2026, at 15,000 miles a year, via CarPro, Oct 2026. *Monthly cost is our calculation.
A half-ton pickup costs about $7,190 a year more than a small sedan, which is about $599 a month (our calculation).
Gas vs hybrid vs electric
For 2026, AAA compared powertrains within the same class. Hybrids had the lowest cost per mile in every class shown.
| Vehicle class | Gas | Hybrid | Electric |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium sedan | $0.705 | $0.680 | $0.911 |
| Compact SUV | $0.777 | $0.747 | $0.793 |
| Medium SUV | $0.962 | $0.913 | $0.955 |
| Pickup truck | $1.108 | $1.074 | $1.161 |
Source: Kelley Blue Book, reporting AAA Your Driving Costs 2026, Sep 2026. Cost per mile at 15,000 miles a year.
EVs are cheap to fuel: AAA estimated charging at 66% to 70% less than gasoline, with home electricity at 18 cents per kWh. But faster depreciation wipes out that gain in the first five years. We go deeper in our electric vs gas car cost guide.
Insurance and maintenance: your numbers may differ
AAA’s insurance figure assumes full coverage for an experienced driver under 65 with no accidents, and its maintenance figure covers a new car’s first five years, including an extended warranty and one set of tires. Your own costs can move a lot.
Insurance. NerdWallet’s October 2026 analysis puts full coverage at $2,361 a year on average and minimum coverage at $648. One at-fault crash raises the full-coverage average to $3,524, a DUI to $4,437, and poor credit to $3,954. Shopping your policy every year or two is one of the few ways to cut a fixed cost.
Maintenance. For cars already on the road, ConsumerAffairs, cited by Newsweek, puts the average expected annual maintenance cost for cars on the road at $900, with typical prices like:
| Service | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Oil change | About $164 |
| Brake pads (per wheel) | About $342 |
| Battery replacement | About $414 |
| Shop labor | $75-$130 per hour |
Source: Newsweek, citing ConsumerAffairs and AutoLeap, updated Apr 2026.
How to lower the true cost of owning a car
- Buy with depreciation in mind. It is the largest cost, so the price you pay and the value the car keeps matter more than fuel economy alone.
- Choose the right size. A small sedan costs about $7,190 a year less than a half-ton pickup in AAA’s data (our calculation).
- Consider a hybrid. In AAA’s 2026 comparison, hybrids beat gas and electric versions on cost per mile in every class shown.
- Put more down and shop the loan. Finance charges average $1,184 a year. A bigger down payment or lower rate shrinks that line.
- Compare insurance quotes and keep a clean record. In NerdWallet’s data, one speeding ticket lifts the full-coverage average to $3,028.
- Plan for repairs. Set aside a monthly amount for maintenance, and keep an emergency fund for big surprises like a transmission. A 50/30/20 budget can show what car payment fits your income.
See how we research every number on our method page, or browse more car costs.
Common questions
How much does it cost to own a car per month?
About $1,072 a month for a new vehicle, based on AAA's 2026 figure of $12,863 a year at 15,000 miles. A small sedan comes to about $772 a month and a half-ton pickup about $1,371 (our calculation from AAA data).
Why is depreciation the biggest cost of owning a car?
A new car loses value from the day you buy it. AAA measures depreciation as the purchase price minus the trade-in value after five years, and in 2026 it averaged $4,422 a year, about a third of the total (our calculation).
Are electric cars cheaper to own than gas cars?
Not in AAA's 2026 study. An electric medium sedan cost about $3,080 more per year than a comparable gas sedan, mainly because EVs depreciate about twice as fast, even though charging cost 66% to 70% less than gasoline. Hybrids had the lowest cost per mile in every class shown.
Does driving less make a car cheaper?
Your total bill goes down, but each mile costs more, because fixed costs like insurance and depreciation do not shrink much. AAA puts the average at $1.10 a mile at 10,000 miles a year and 74 cents at 20,000.
Sources
Every number above comes from these pages. We list the date each page showed when we checked it.
- AAA, Your Driving Costs 2026 Fact Sheet
- CarPro, AAA Study, New Vehicle Ownership Is Up to $12,863 per Year
- Kelley Blue Book, AAA, Hybrids Come Out on Top in 2026 Ownership Cost Study
- AAA Exchange, AAA's Your Driving Costs (methodology)
- NerdWallet, Average Car Insurance Cost
- Newsweek, Vehicle Maintenance Costs Going Into 2026
Estimates are for general information only. Get written quotes from licensed local pros before you decide.
- Passed Level II of the CFA® Program
- Canadian Securities Course (CSC)
- Conduct and Practices Handbook (CPH)
Sepehr Parsa is a financial planner and the founder and editor of DollarMap. He has passed Level II of the CFA Program and completed the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) and the Conduct and Practices Handbook (CPH) course. He writes and edits our guides on cars, home repairs, budgeting, saving and investing, and checks that every number has a source.
“In a slowing economy, a budget is what keeps you afloat.”
How we check every number
