Find out what a mile actually costs you to drive — including the part nobody counts.
Your cost per mile is everything the car costs you in a month divided by the miles you drove that month. Most drivers land between 45¢ and 80¢. The number almost nobody counts is depreciation — this calculator works it out for you by spreading what you paid for the car evenly across a 3, 5 or 7 year schedule, so you do not need to guess what it is worth today. Everything else is a monthly figure you already know. Compare the result to what you earn per mile and to the 2026 IRS rate of 76¢, which is itself an estimate of these same costs. This shows real-world cost, not a tax deduction — for that, use the mileage tax calculator.
Enter your miles and costs above to see what a mile really costs you.
TrakMiles Pro tracks every one of these numbers automatically while you drive.
Get TrakMiles Pro Free for 14 DaysAdd everything the vehicle costs you in a month, then divide by the miles you drove that month. The costs split into two groups, and the second one is where people go wrong.
The costs you pay. Gas or charging, insurance, and maintenance and repairs. You hand over money for these every month, so you feel them and you know roughly what they run.
The cost you never pay. Depreciation. Your car is worth less every month you drive it, and no invoice ever arrives, which is exactly why it gets left out of the math. This calculator handles it by spreading the purchase price evenly over a fixed schedule — straight line, no salvage value — so you get a usable number without having to estimate resale.
Take what you paid for the car and spread it evenly across the years you expect to keep it, then divide by the miles you drive. A $22,000 car on a 5 year schedule is $367 a month. Drive 1,700 miles a month and that is about 22¢ of every mile, before you have bought a single gallon of gas.
We use 5 years for a car bought new and 3 for one bought used, because a used car has already taken its steepest drop. Neither is a resale valuation — it is a straight line, which is the honest way to answer a question nobody can answer precisely.
Drive more and the per-mile figure falls, because you are spreading the same cost over more miles. Drive a lot more and the car wears out sooner, which is why a busy year is not automatically a profitable one.
This is economic depreciation — real value lost. It is not tax depreciation under MACRS or Section 179, which only applies if you use the actual-expense method.
Lower is better, but the useful comparison is against what you earn, not against other drivers. A paid-off Corolla might run 40¢ a mile while a financed truck runs 90¢, and either can be fine or ruinous depending on the work.
Rough territory: a paid-off economy car often lands 40¢ to 55¢. A newer financed sedan lands 60¢ to 75¢. A truck or large SUV can exceed 90¢. The IRS rate of 76¢ sits deliberately in the middle, because it is a national average of these same costs.
This is the comparison that matters. Work out your revenue per mile — total earnings divided by every mile you drove, including the drive to the zone, the miles between orders and the trip home.
If revenue per mile is comfortably above cost per mile, the driving is working. If the gap is thin, more hours will not fix it — which jobs you accept is the lever. And your real hourly rate tells the same story from the time side.
No, and mixing the two causes real problems. Cost per mile is what driving costs you in the world. A deduction is what the IRS lets you subtract from taxable income.
If you take the standard mileage rate, that rate already includes depreciation, fuel, maintenance and insurance — you cannot deduct them separately on top of it. If you use actual expenses instead, you track the real costs and depreciate the vehicle under the tax rules, which is a different calculation from this one.
For the deduction figure, use the mileage tax calculator. For the record-keeping the deduction requires, see how to create a compliant mileage log and where it goes on Schedule C.
This calculator gives you a snapshot from numbers you enter by hand. TrakMiles Pro keeps it running — GPS mileage, fuel, maintenance, insurance and revenue by platform, in real double-entry books that produce a profit and loss on demand.
It is built by a multi-app driver, and your data stays on your phone. More about why it exists.
Most drivers land between 45 and 80 cents a mile once fuel, tires, maintenance, repairs, insurance, registration and depreciation are all counted. The IRS sets its standard mileage rate from a study of exactly those costs, which is why that rate is a useful benchmark rather than a gift.
They measure the same thing from different directions. The IRS rate is a national average of what operating a vehicle costs. Your own cost per mile is the actual figure for your car, your fuel prices and your driving. A paid-off economy car usually comes in below the IRS rate; a financed truck often comes in above it.
Yes, and it is the part almost everyone leaves out. Depreciation is the value your car loses as you use it up. You never write a check for it, so it does not feel like a cost, but it is usually 15 to 30 cents of every mile. This calculator works it out by spreading what you paid across a 3, 5 or 7 year schedule, so you do not have to estimate what the car is worth today.
No. This shows real-world operating cost, which is a different number from a deduction. If you use the standard mileage rate, depreciation is already built into that rate and cannot be claimed on top of it. For the deduction figure, use the mileage tax calculator instead.
Compare your cost per mile against your revenue per mile — total earnings divided by every mile you drove, including the drive to the zone, the waiting and the trip home. If the gap is thin or negative, the problem is usually which jobs you accept rather than how many hours you work.