Natural gas prices by state
The average U.S. residential natural gas price is $14.50 per thousand cubic feet in 2024, which works out to about $1.40 per therm. Hawaii is the most expensive at $48.88 and Montana the cheapest at $8.22.
Gas or a heat pump? The country is split
The useful question is not what gas costs, it is whether gas beats electricity where you live. Putting them on the same scale requires one conversion: a thousand cubic feet of pipeline gas holds about 1,037,000 BTU, and a therm is 100,000 BTU, so one MCF is roughly 10.37 therms.
At a heat pump seasonal coefficient of performance of 3 and a 90% condensing furnace, a heat pump is cheaper to run than gas in 16 of 51 states, gas is cheaper in 33, and 2 are close enough that equipment age and cooling needs decide it rather than fuel cost.
Electric resistance heat, meanwhile, is the most expensive option in every state on this list. At the U.S. average electricity rate of 18.44¢ it costs roughly three times what the same heat costs from a heat pump, which is why so much of the practical advice on this site comes back to it.
Heat pump wins by the widest margin
Gas wins by the widest margin
Cost to deliver one million BTU of heat. Per-state assumptions are stated above and can be changed in the calculator below.
Every state ranked
| # | State | $/MCF | $/therm | YoY | Gas /MMBtu | Heat pump /MMBtu | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $48.88 | $4.71 | -7.9% | $52.38 | $50.80 | Heat pump |
| 2 | Florida | $25.37 | $2.45 | +0.8% | $27.18 | $14.82 | Heat pump |
| 3 | Massachusetts | $21.90 | $2.11 | +2.1% | $23.47 | $28.15 | Gas |
| 4 | Rhode Island | $21.66 | $2.09 | +5.6% | $23.21 | $28.78 | Gas |
| 5 | Arizona | $20.47 | $1.97 | +5.3% | $21.93 | $14.88 | Heat pump |
| 6 | California | $19.14 | $1.85 | -12.4% | $20.51 | $32.48 | Gas |
| 7 | Maine | $18.95 | $1.83 | -0.8% | $20.30 | $27.97 | Gas |
| 8 | New Hampshire | $18.74 | $1.81 | -10.8% | $20.08 | $26.70 | Gas |
| 9 | Nevada | $18.69 | $1.80 | +10.1% | $20.02 | $13.29 | Heat pump |
| 10 | Alabama | $18.63 | $1.80 | -7.3% | $19.97 | $16.38 | Heat pump |
| 11 | Georgia | $18.19 | $1.75 | -4.4% | $19.49 | $15.47 | Heat pump |
| 12 | Texas | $17.98 | $1.73 | +3.4% | $19.27 | $16.06 | Heat pump |
| 13 | Vermont | $17.34 | $1.67 | +1.2% | $18.58 | $24.32 | Gas |
| 14 | South Carolina | $16.91 | $1.63 | -3.2% | $18.12 | $15.81 | Heat pump |
| 15 | Missouri | $16.86 | $1.63 | -1.8% | $18.07 | $13.36 | Heat pump |
| 16 | Connecticut | $16.83 | $1.62 | -10.9% | $18.03 | $26.74 | Gas |
| 17 | New York | $16.58 | $1.60 | -1.9% | $17.77 | $29.24 | Gas |
| 18 | District of Columbia | $16.49 | $1.59 | -1.8% | $17.67 | $24.81 | Gas |
| 19 | North Carolina | $16.42 | $1.58 | -5.3% | $17.59 | $14.74 | Heat pump |
| 20 | Louisiana | $16.38 | $1.58 | +0.7% | $17.56 | $13.82 | Heat pump |
| 21 | Maryland | $16.14 | $1.56 | -7.0% | $17.29 | $21.27 | Gas |
| 22 | Arkansas | $16.09 | $1.55 | -9.9% | $17.24 | $14.03 | Heat pump |
| 23 | Oregon | $15.71 | $1.52 | -0.4% | $16.83 | $15.89 | Heat pump |
| 24 | Mississippi | $15.42 | $1.49 | -1.3% | $16.52 | $15.79 | Heat pump |
| 25 | Virginia | $15.40 | $1.49 | -10.5% | $16.50 | $17.20 | Gas |
| 26 | West Virginia | $15.26 | $1.47 | -2.2% | $16.36 | $16.41 | Tie |
| 27 | Delaware | $14.78 | $1.43 | -16.4% | $15.83 | $18.93 | Gas |
| 28 | Oklahoma | $13.99 | $1.35 | -7.1% | $14.99 | $13.07 | Heat pump |
| 29 | Ohio | $13.77 | $1.33 | +0.7% | $14.76 | $19.07 | Gas |
| 30 | Pennsylvania | $13.62 | $1.31 | -11.7% | $14.59 | $21.05 | Gas |
| 31 | Kentucky | $13.61 | $1.31 | -12.2% | $14.58 | $14.63 | Tie |
| 32 | New Jersey | $13.21 | $1.27 | 0.0% | $14.16 | $22.73 | Gas |
| 33 | Utah | $13.15 | $1.27 | -2.2% | $14.09 | $12.66 | Heat pump |
| 34 | Kansas | $13.14 | $1.27 | -9.7% | $14.08 | $14.78 | Gas |
| 35 | Washington | $12.72 | $1.23 | -18.2% | $13.63 | $14.60 | Gas |
| 36 | Wyoming | $12.39 | $1.20 | -9.7% | $13.28 | $14.46 | Gas |
| 37 | Alaska | $11.73 | $1.13 | +3.0% | $12.57 | $27.58 | Gas |
| 38 | Illinois | $11.11 | $1.07 | -4.0% | $11.90 | $23.30 | Gas |
| 39 | Michigan | $10.76 | $1.04 | -6.3% | $11.53 | $21.50 | Gas |
| 40 | Tennessee | $10.75 | $1.04 | -8.0% | $11.52 | $14.14 | Gas |
| 41 | Minnesota | $10.65 | $1.03 | -10.9% | $11.41 | $16.56 | Gas |
| 42 | Nebraska | $10.63 | $1.03 | -18.9% | $11.39 | $13.28 | Gas |
| 43 | Colorado | $10.58 | $1.02 | -10.9% | $11.33 | $15.79 | Gas |
| 44 | Iowa | $10.33 | $1.00 | -12.2% | $11.07 | $13.81 | Gas |
| 45 | Wisconsin | $10.14 | $0.98 | -7.0% | $10.87 | $19.28 | Gas |
| 46 | Indiana | $9.50 | $0.92 | -18.4% | $10.18 | $17.73 | Gas |
| 47 | South Dakota | $9.32 | $0.90 | -10.5% | $9.99 | $15.37 | Gas |
| 48 | New Mexico | $9.05 | $0.87 | -22.4% | $9.70 | $13.79 | Gas |
| 49 | North Dakota | $8.99 | $0.87 | -7.9% | $9.63 | $13.30 | Gas |
| 50 | Idaho | $8.51 | $0.82 | -12.7% | $9.12 | $12.06 | Gas |
| 51 | Montana | $8.22 | $0.79 | -19.2% | $8.81 | $14.33 | Gas |
Gas prices: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Prices, price delivered to residential consumers, 2024. Retrieved 2026-08-21. Electricity rates: May 2026. Methodology
Heating cost comparison
Electricity rates are the May 2026 state averages. Your gas price is on your gas bill, usually as dollars per therm. If it is quoted per hundred cubic feet (Ccf), the two are close enough to use interchangeably here.
A season of 60 million BTU is a rough mid-range for a detached American home; a small, well-insulated home in a mild climate may use half that and a large one in a cold climate twice it. Running cost only, excluding equipment, installation, incentives and fixed monthly charges.
Why residential gas prices vary less than you would expect
Wholesale natural gas trades at a single national benchmark plus regional basis. Residential prices vary far more than that benchmark does, and the reason is that most of a residential gas bill is not the gas.
It is distribution: the local pipes, the meters, the crews who respond to leak calls, and the fixed customer charge. Those costs are local, capital-intensive and spread across however many customers a utility has. A state with a dense gas network and many customers spreads them thinly; a state with a small system does not.
This is why producing gas does not make a state cheap for households. Texas produces enormous quantities of natural gas and its residential price is unremarkable, because what a household pays is mostly the cost of the last mile.
It also explains the states at the top of the table. Small systems, cold climates with high peak-day requirements, and long distances from the interstate pipeline network all push the delivered price up regardless of what the commodity costs.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average price of natural gas for homes in the United States?
$14.50 per thousand cubic feet in 2024, or roughly $1.40 per therm, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is -5.8% against 2023.
How do I convert between MCF, Ccf and therms?
One thousand cubic feet (MCF) of pipeline gas holds roughly 1,037,000 BTU. A therm is 100,000 BTU, so one MCF is about 10.37 therms. A hundred cubic feet (Ccf) is about 1.037 therms, close enough that gas bills often treat Ccf and therms as interchangeable. Divide a price per MCF by 10.37 to get the price per therm.
Is it cheaper to heat with gas or electricity?
It depends on your state, and the answer is genuinely split. At a heat pump seasonal COP of 3 and a 90% furnace, a heat pump is cheaper to run than gas in 16 of the 51 states, gas is cheaper in 33, and 2 are close enough to call a tie. Electric resistance heat is the most expensive option almost everywhere.
Why is residential gas so much more expensive than the wholesale price?
Because the residential price includes distribution. The commodity itself is a minority of a residential gas bill in most states; the rest is the local pipes, meters, service crews and the fixed customer charge. This is why residential gas prices vary far less between states than wholesale gas prices do, and why a state that produces gas is not necessarily cheap for households.
Why is this annual rather than monthly?
EIA finalises state-level residential gas prices annually, and it does so state by state. Using the most recent complete year for every state is more comparable than mixing a newer figure for some states with an older one for others, so this page uses 2024, the latest year in which all 51 jurisdictions reported.