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How Much Will My Road Trip Cost?

What will my road trip cost per person?

Enter the distance, your car and your plans and see the whole trip cost, per person and per day, not just the gas.

One Click Answers · How Much Will My Road Trip Cost?
oneclickanswers.com/how-much-will-my-road-trip-cost · Printed
About this tool & how to use it

What it does

Add up gas, lodging, food, tolls and parking for a road trip and see the total, the cost per person and per day, and how the cost changes with gas price and group size.

How to use it

  1. Enter the one-way distance, whether it is a round trip, your car's miles per gallon and the gas price.
  2. Enter the number of travelers, the nights away and the cost of a room.
  3. Open "More costs and options" for rooms, food per person, tolls, parking and anything else.
  4. Press "Get a detailed answer" for the full breakdown, charts, side-by-side scenarios and a plain-language explanation of how the answer was worked out.

Use a map for the real driving distance.

Look up the rating for your car. 28 is a placeholder. Highway driving with a full car can be lower.

Use what gas costs along your route. 3.50 is a placeholder.

Use 0 for a day trip.

Taxes and fees included, if you know them.

More costs and options

Meals and snacks. Counted for every traveler on every day of the trip.

Tickets, souvenirs, a pet sitter, a car rental.

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Assumptions

  • Miles per gallon, the gas price, food and lodging are placeholders or your own numbers; real costs vary along a route.
  • The whole trip uses one gas price and one fuel economy.
  • Left out: wear and insurance on your car, rental cars, detours and activities you do not enter.
  • Everything you enter, including any income or budget, is worked out in your browser and is never sent anywhere or saved.

Printed from oneclickanswers.com. Results are estimates based on what was entered; see the assumptions above.

How it works

Gas is the total miles divided by your car's miles per gallon, times the gas price, using the same trip calculation as the Trip Cost Estimator.

Lodging is the nights times the room cost times the rooms. Food is the daily amount for each traveler on every day of the trip (the nights plus one).

The total is the sum of every cost rounded to the cent. Cost per person is the total divided by the travelers; cost per day is the total divided by the days.

The sharing table shows how the cost per person changes with the number of travelers when the car and rooms stay the same.

Formulas and details
  • Gas = total miles / miles per gallon x price per gallon.
  • Lodging = nights x room cost x rooms.
  • Food = food per person per day x travelers x days, with days = nights + 1.
  • Total = gas + lodging + food + tolls + parking + other. Per person = total / travelers. Per day = total / days.

Assumptions

  • Miles per gallon, the gas price, food and lodging are placeholders or your own numbers; real costs vary along a route.
  • The whole trip uses one gas price and one fuel economy.
  • Left out: wear and insurance on your car, rental cars, detours and activities you do not enter.
  • Everything you enter, including any income or budget, is worked out in your browser and is never sent anywhere or saved.

Example

Input: A 450-mile trip each way (900 miles round trip) at 28 miles per gallon and $3.50 a gallon, 2 travelers, 3 nights at $140 a room and $50 a day each for food

Result: Based on the information provided, your trip would cost about $932.50, or about $466.25 per person: $112.50 of gas, $420.00 of lodging and $400.00 of food.

Questions

Does this include an electric car?

This page is for gasoline cars. The Trip Cost Estimator handles electric cars, with charging stops.

How is food counted?

As the amount you enter per person per day, for every traveler on every day of the trip, including the day you leave.

Why does the cost per person fall with more travelers?

Gas and rooms are shared, while food grows with each person. The sharing table shows it.

Is the gas cost exact?

It is only as accurate as the miles per gallon and the price you enter. Speed, load and weather change real fuel use.

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. Report an incorrect result

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