Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Missouri
In Missouri, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,288.49 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $3,865.08 with electric resistance heat and $1,380.39 with a heat pump. Gas and a heat pump land within about 10% of each other here, $91.90 a year apart, so your own prices decide it.
State data
What Missouri pays
- Electricity
- 16.0¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.44/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 4,900 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 4 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 2.8
Electricity in Missouri costs 16.0¢/kWh, 12% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. Missouri pays $1.44/therm for natural gas, which puts furnace heat at $15.65 per MMBtu. Missouri is in IECC climate zone 4, with 4,900 heating degree-days a year; the heat pump line uses a seasonal COP of 2.8.
Prices are statewide averages. Type the rate and gas price from your own bill into the calculator above to replace them.
How homes here heat
Missouri homes and their heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 59% · electricity 31% · propane 7% · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 76% · central heat pump 10% · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 50%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,909 a year, of which $627 on space heating (33%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 79% of natural gas use · 17% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Missouri heats with a real mix of gas and electricity. Of 2.43 million homes in the 2020 survey, 59% heat mainly with natural gas and 31%, about 750,000, with electricity, the 22nd-highest electric share of the 51 and a little under the US 34%. Propane serves 7%, or about 170,000 homes.
The equipment numbers reveal where that electricity goes. Furnaces are the main system in 76% of homes, the 10th-highest furnace share, while central heat pumps account for 10%. Set the heat pump homes, about 240,000, against the electric-heated ones, about 750,000, and a large part of the state's electric heat comes from equipment that is not a central heat pump: electric furnaces, baseboards and room units. That matches another survey figure: space heating uses 17% of an average household's electricity here, against 12% nationally.
Spending is a little above the middle of the pack. A household's energy bill was $1,909, and $627 of it, 33%, went to space heating, the 18th-highest heating spend among the states. Air conditioning took another $276.
EIA RECS 2020, state tables: shares of all occupied homes in the state and average spending per household in the survey year. "Not reported" means EIA's sample was too small to publish a figure.
Gas vs electric heat
B04Scenario A
Sets the electricity rate. Pick US average if you're not sure.
From EIA for Missouri. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 16.0¢/kWh · Missouri · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.44/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 4,900 heating degree-days · climate zone 4 (data as of 2026-10-25) ·
On the furnace label: 0.80 older, 0.90–0.98 condensing.
Gas furnace costs less per year by
Electric resistance: $3,865.08 a year · Gas furnace: $1,288.49 a year, for 82.3 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 82.3 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $46.95
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $15.65
- Electric resistance, per year
- $3,865.08
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,288.49
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$2,576.60
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.8
- Prices used
- electricity 16.0¢/kWh · gas $1.44/therm · propane $2.10/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $1,380.39
Cost by month, in season only
The yearly cost spread across the months using a typical heating degree-day pattern from NOAA 1991–2020 normals. Months outside the season show $0.
Estimate. Formula and sources are under “How it works”. Change any input; the result updates as you type.
2026 note: The federal 25C and 25D tax credits ended for installations after Dec 31, 2025. Our numbers use 2026 rules. State rebates, HEAR/HOMES programs and utility programs may still apply.
Worked example
Worked example: 2,000 sq ft in Missouri
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Missouri needs about 82.3 MMBtu of heat a year (4,900 heating degree-days). At $1.44/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $15.65 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 16.0¢/kWh costs $46.95, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.8 (zone 4) costs $16.77. The year comes to $1,288.49 on gas, $3,865.08 on resistance heat and $1,380.39 on a heat pump. Heat pump and gas are within about 10% here; type your bill's rate and gas price above to see which wins for you.
Load = sq ft × 0.35 × heating degree-days × 24 ÷ 1,000,000. Gas $/MMBtu = $/therm ÷ 0.1 ÷ 0.92. Resistance $/MMBtu = $/kWh × 293.07. Heat pump = resistance ÷ COP.
What the numbers say
What the numbers say in Missouri
For a house with a gas furnace, the calculator calls it nearly even. Gas costs $1.44/therm (3% below the US average of $1.48/therm) and electricity 16.0¢/kWh (12% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh), and the winter, at 4,900 heating degree-days, is 9% more than the US average of 4,500. With a seasonal COP of 2.8 for climate zone 4, the example house costs $1,288.49 a year to heat with gas and $1,380.39 with a heat pump, a difference of $91.90. The rate at which the heat pump catches up is 15.0¢/kWh, against a state average of 16.0¢/kWh. Your own bill decides which side of that line you are on, and a gap of this size is easily outweighed by what the equipment costs to install.
The more useful comparison in Missouri is for the homes already on electric resistance. At these prices resistance heat costs 3.0 times as much as gas for the same heat, and the example house would pay $3,865.08 a year. A heat pump running on the same 16.0¢/kWh power brings that to $1,380.39. That is the difference between a heating system that multiplies each kilowatt-hour and one that does not.
If you heat with electricity now, heat pump payback takes your current system and an installation quote and estimates the years to recover it; heat pump size helps you check a contractor's recommended capacity.
The $627 survey average covers all homes and fuels, so it will not line up with the calculator's 2,000 sq ft house. Put the price per therm and the per-kWh rate from your own bills into the calculator above for an estimate that fits.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Missouri, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Missouri: $3,865.08 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $2,576.60 more than gas. Between gas ($1,288.49) and a heat pump ($1,380.39), the cheaper of the two is gas, by $91.90 a year, a margin your own bill's prices can reverse. These are estimates at 16.0¢/kWh and $1.44/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Missouri?
About 895 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Missouri's 4,900 heating degree-days. That averages 75 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.44/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,288.49.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Missouri?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 16.0¢/kWh, that heat costs $46.95 per MMBtu in Missouri, against $15.65 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.44/therm, 3.0 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $3,865.08 a year against $1,288.49.
How can I tell whether my Missouri home has a heat pump or an electric furnace?
Look outside in winter. A heat pump has an outdoor unit that runs when the house calls for heat; an electric furnace or baseboards have nothing outdoors that runs in the cold. A thermostat with an emergency or auxiliary heat setting is another sign of a heat pump. The label on the indoor unit, or its manual, names the system for certain.
Why is my electric heating bill so high in Missouri?
If your system is an electric furnace or baseboards, every kilowatt-hour becomes only one unit of heat. At 16.0¢/kWh, that makes resistance the most expensive way to heat the example house, $3,865.08 a year, against $1,380.39 for a heat pump. Many Missouri homes heat this way: electricity is the main fuel in about 750,000 homes, but central heat pumps serve only about 240,000.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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