Road Trip Cost Calculator
Budget a road trip including fuel, lodging, food, tolls, and per-person cost splitting.
Your details
Vehicle
Trip costs
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Total trip cost
$1,464
$732 per person · 1,700 miles
Includes your inputs, the full breakdown, and every row of the table.
Fuel
$239
65.4 gallons
Driving time
27.4 hrs
5.5 hrs/day average
Cost per mile
$0.861
Fuel stops
5
Assuming a 14-gallon fill
- Fuel
- $239
- Lodging (3 nights)
- $435
- Food (2 × 5 days)
- $550
- Tolls & parking
- $40
- Activities & misc
- $200
- Total
- $1,464
- Per person (2)
- $732
What this means
- At 27.4 hours of driving, plan on roughly 3.4 full days behind the wheel if you cap driving at eight hours a day.
- Fuel is usually the smallest line item on a multi-day trip. Lodging and food dominate, which is why trip length matters more than distance.
How the road trip cost calculation works
Road trip budgets fail in predictable ways. People calculate fuel carefully — it is the easiest number — and then underestimate lodging, food, and the assorted parking, tolls, and impulse stops that accumulate over a week.
A useful sanity check is cost per mile including everything. For most families a road trip lands between 40 cents and $1.20 per mile all-in, which makes flying competitive surprisingly often once you pass roughly 800-1,000 miles with two or more travelers.
Frequently asked questions
How do I split gas money fairly?
Divide total fuel cost by the number of people including the driver, or exclude the driver's share to compensate them for vehicle wear. The depreciation and maintenance cost of driving is roughly equal to the fuel cost, which is why the IRS mileage rate is several times the cost of gas alone.
How many miles should I drive per day?
Most people are comfortable with 400-550 miles, or about eight hours including stops. Beyond that, fatigue rises sharply and the trip stops being enjoyable.
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Disclaimer. This calculator is provided for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, medical, or engineering advice. Results are estimates based on the inputs you provide and the assumptions described above. Confirm any figure with a qualified professional before acting on it.