121 weather stations · all 50 states + DC
Mini-split heating cost by city
The short answer
For a 24,000 BTU/h design load, the median cold-climate mini-split costs between $135 a year (Miami, FL) and $2,719 (Fairbanks, AK). It beats the cheapest of gas, oil and propane (at 90% efficiency, using each state's 2024 EIA price) in 28 of 121 cities. Coldest design temperature: -33°F (Fairbanks, AK).
| City | 99% design temp | Hours ≤ 5°F / yr | Heat pump $/yr | Cheapest fuel $/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbanks, AK | -33°F | 1,917 | $2,719 | $985 (gas) |
| Minneapolis, MN | -6°F | 358 | $1,224 | $689 (gas) |
| Burlington, VT | 0°F | 146 | $1,664 | $1,094 (gas) |
| Chicago, IL | 4°F | 93 | $1,197 | $649 (gas) |
| Milwaukee, WI | 4°F | 97 | $1,264 | $626 (gas) |
| Denver, CO | 6°F | 69 | $1,116 | $656 (gas) |
| Portland, ME | 7°F | 54 | $2,224 | $1,325 (gas) |
| Albany, NY | 7°F | 62 | $1,993 | $1,080 (gas) |
| Detroit, MI | 9°F | 43 | $1,388 | $648 (gas) |
| Buffalo, NY | 9°F | 41 | $1,999 | $1,091 (gas) |
| Cleveland, OH | 10°F | 32 | $1,172 | $805 (gas) |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 10°F | 34 | $1,310 | $807 (gas) |
| Hartford, CT | 11°F | 30 | $1,855 | $1,088 (gas) |
| Columbus, OH | 11°F | 27 | $1,108 | $763 (gas) |
| Boston, MA | 14°F | 10 | $2,018 | $1,413 (gas) |
| New York, NY | 19°F | 1 | $1,665 | $952 (gas) |
| Philadelphia, PA | 19°F | 1 | $1,191 | $764 (gas) |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 20°F | 3 | $969 | $920 (gas) |
| Portland, OR | 30°F | 0 | $1,130 | $1,128 (gas) |
| Seattle, WA | 30°F | 0 | $1,127 | $985 (gas) |
20 of 121 city pages are published so far; a few more go up every day. The national figures above use all 121 stations, and every station's numbers are in the downloadable dataset. 14,941 ENERGY STAR cold-climate systems underpin the unit shape. Warmest design temperature: 56°F (Miami, FL).