Running one Antminer S21 XP around the clock uses 2,624 kWh a month, which costs about $334 in Louisiana (the cheapest residential rate), $481 at the 18.31¢ US average and $1,260 in Hawaii (the most expensive). Those are our arithmetic, built from the EIA’s July 2026 residential rates. The machine is the same everywhere. Only the rate on your bill changes, and it moves the monthly cost by nearly a factor of four.
The Arithmetic
We use the S21 XP because it is the model our Antminer cost guide uses: 270 TH/s at 3,645 W. The calculation is:
- kWh per month = watts ÷ 1,000 × 24 hours × 30 days
- 3,645 ÷ 1,000 × 24 × 30 = 2,624.4 kWh
- Monthly cost = 2,624.4 × rate per kWh
That assumes the miner runs at its rated wattage with no downtime, in a 30-day month. Real draw varies a little with ambient temperature and settings, so treat the result as a close estimate, not a meter reading. Rates come from the EIA’s Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (average price of electricity by state and sector). The latest month in the table when we checked in October 2026 was July 2026, and we used its residential column. A commercial or industrial account, which is where large mining farms buy power, pays a different rate that we did not look up.
Monthly Cost by State Class
We picked the five lowest and five highest residential rates among the 50 states, plus the national average.
| Class | State | Rate (¢/kWh) | Cost per month | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest | Louisiana | 12.72 | $334 | $4,006 |
| Cheapest | Nevada | 12.77 | $335 | $4,022 |
| Cheapest | Utah | 13.12 | $344 | $4,132 |
| Cheapest | North Dakota | 13.41 | $352 | $4,223 |
| Cheapest | Tennessee | 13.71 | $360 | $4,318 |
| US average | All states | 18.31 | $481 | $5,766 |
| Most expensive | New York | 29.90 | $785 | $9,416 |
| Most expensive | Massachusetts | 30.49 | $800 | $9,602 |
| Most expensive | Maine | 32.41 | $851 | $10,207 |
| Most expensive | California | 33.61 | $882 | $10,585 |
| Most expensive | Hawaii | 48.00 | $1,260 | $15,117 |
The yearly column is the monthly figure times 12, rounded from unrounded math. The cheapest five sit within about $26 of each other. The gap that matters is between the cheap tier and everything else.
For scale, our average electric bill by state guide shows an illustrative monthly household bill of $114 in Louisiana and $432 in Hawaii. One miner costs about three times the typical Louisiana bill, and almost three times the Hawaii figure.
Does Any State Make It Profitable?
On the numbers in our Antminer guide, no residential state does. That guide’s late-September 2026 snapshot gave an S21 XP about $9.90 of gross revenue a day before power and pool fees. The daily power bill is 87.48 kWh times your rate, so the break-even rate is $9.90 ÷ 87.48 kWh, or about 11.3¢ per kWh (our arithmetic). Every state’s residential average is above that.
| State | Power per day | Net per day vs $9.90 gross | Net per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | $11.13 | −$1.23 | −$37 |
| Tennessee | $11.99 | −$2.09 | −$63 |
| US average | $16.02 | −$6.12 | −$184 |
| New York | $26.16 | −$16.26 | −$488 |
| Hawaii | $41.99 | −$32.09 | −$963 |
Two cautions. First, the $9.90 depends on the Bitcoin price and network hashrate that day and will not hold. A higher Bitcoin price or lower difficulty raises the break-even rate, and a lower price cuts it. Check current revenue with our Antminer profitability calculator. Second, those figures use the state average. Your own bill, including tiers, time-of-use pricing and fixed charges, is what counts.
Why the Rate Is Not the Whole Story
Marginal versus average rates. The EIA figure is an average across all residential customers. A 3.6 kW load added to a house can land in your highest tier if your utility has tiers, so the true cost can be well above the state average. Call your utility and ask what the next kilowatt-hour costs.
Service capacity. A 3,645 W machine draws about 15 amps at 240 V (3,645 ÷ 240, our arithmetic). Our Antminer guide notes it needs a dedicated 240-volt circuit, installed by an electrician.
Heat. Every watt becomes heat. 3,645 W is about 12,400 BTU per hour (3.412 BTU per watt-hour, a standard conversion). In a cold climate that heat offsets some heating bills, but only against a heater as inefficient as electric resistance. Against a heat pump, you are paying more for the same warmth. In summer, you pay your air conditioner to remove it.
Hosting. Facilities buy power at commercial rates and sell you a slot, usually at a markup. Whether that beats your home rate depends on the written quote, as we describe in the Antminer guide.
What the Numbers Say
The five cheapest states cluster near 12.7¢ to 13.7¢ and they are still above the 11.3¢ break-even. Those states are Louisiana, Nevada, Utah, North Dakota and Tennessee. Mining at a home rate in any of them costs between $334 and $360 a month in power for a machine that earns less than that on the numbers we have. To reach a profit you need a rate below about 11.3¢, which usually means a commercial or industrial contract, a utility program, or on-site generation.
Bottom Line
One S21 XP costs between about $334 and $1,260 a month to run depending on the state, with $481 at the 18.31¢ national average. Using the revenue figure from our Antminer guide, the break-even rate is about 11.3¢ per kWh, and none of the 50 states’ residential averages gets there. If you are curious about running a miner anyway, price it with your own marginal rate first, and read the Antminer cost guide for hardware prices and hosting trade-offs.
FAQ
How much electricity does an Antminer S21 XP use per month?
About 2,624 kWh. That is 3,645 watts ÷ 1,000 × 24 hours × 30 days, assuming it runs at its rated power continuously. A month with fewer downtime hours or a lower power setting will use less.
Which states have the cheapest electricity for Bitcoin mining?
Per the EIA’s July 2026 residential averages, Louisiana (12.72¢), Nevada (12.77¢), Utah (13.12¢), North Dakota (13.41¢) and Tennessee (13.71¢). Running one S21 XP in those states costs roughly $334 to $360 a month. Industrial and commercial rates are usually lower than residential rates, and we did not look those up.
Is Bitcoin mining profitable at the US average electricity rate?
Not on our numbers. At 18.31¢ per kWh the S21 XP uses about $16.02 of power a day against roughly $9.90 of gross revenue in our Antminer guide, a loss of about $6 a day. Revenue changes with Bitcoin’s price and network difficulty, so rerun the math with current figures.
Where does the electricity rate data come from?
The EIA’s Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, average price of electricity to ultimate customers by sector and state. We used the residential column for July 2026, the latest month shown when we checked. Your own utility rate may differ from your state’s average.