Propane vs natural gas
Across the U.S. this week, natural gas is the cheaper heat: $15.71 against $35.12 per million Btu delivered. For a typical home in an average U.S. winter that is a difference of about $827.
Propane is cheaper in 0 of the 49 states compared; natural gas in 49.
Break-even price
$1.22
Propane is the cheaper heat when it costs less than this per gallon. Assumes 85% efficiency for propane and 90% efficiency for natural gas.
State by state
Typical winter: a 2,000 sq ft home of average insulation in that state’s normal heating season. Italic prices are regional or U.S. averages where EIA does not survey the state.
| Alabama | $3.63/gallon | $1.64/therm | $1,246 | $486 | Natural gas by $760 |
| Arizona | $2.73/gallon | $1.76/therm | $674 | $374 | Natural gas by $300 |
| Arkansas | $2.48/gallon | $1.98/therm | $1,081 | $748 | Natural gas by $333 |
| California | $2.73/gallon | $2.18/therm | $988 | $683 | Natural gas by $305 |
| Colorado | $2.37/gallon | $1.04/therm | $2,152 | $818 | Natural gas by $1,334 |
| Connecticut | $4.32/gallon | $1.69/therm | $3,246 | $1,096 | Natural gas by $2,150 |
| Delaware | $3.81/gallon | $1.62/therm | $2,196 | $807 | Natural gas by $1,389 |
| District of Columbia | $3.64/gallon | $1.56/therm | $2,137 | $790 | Natural gas by $1,347 |
| Florida | $4.97/gallon | $2.20/therm | $413 | $158 | Natural gas by $255 |
| Georgia | $3.28/gallon | $1.59/therm | $1,184 | $496 | Natural gas by $688 |
| Idaho | $2.69/gallon | $0.68/therm | $2,374 | $520 | Natural gas by $1,854 |
| Illinois | $1.95/gallon | $1.00/therm | $1,530 | $681 | Natural gas by $849 |
| Indiana | $2.62/gallon | $1.04/therm | $1,894 | $651 | Natural gas by $1,243 |
| Iowa | $1.75/gallon | $0.98/therm | $1,532 | $742 | Natural gas by $790 |
| Kansas | $2.10/gallon | $1.30/therm | $1,318 | $707 | Natural gas by $611 |
| Kentucky | $2.84/gallon | $1.34/therm | $1,604 | $654 | Natural gas by $950 |
| Louisiana | $3.03/gallon | $1.44/therm | $643 | $264 | Natural gas by $379 |
| Maine | $3.68/gallon | $1.73/therm | $3,673 | $1,495 | Natural gas by $2,178 |
| Maryland | $3.86/gallon | $1.50/therm | $2,266 | $758 | Natural gas by $1,508 |
| Massachusetts | $3.72/gallon | $2.47/therm | $2,933 | $1,686 | Natural gas by $1,247 |
| Michigan | $2.46/gallon | $1.02/therm | $2,133 | $766 | Natural gas by $1,367 |
| Minnesota | $2.05/gallon | $1.05/therm | $2,250 | $995 | Natural gas by $1,255 |
| Mississippi | $3.15/gallon | $1.42/therm | $967 | $378 | Natural gas by $589 |
| Missouri | $2.23/gallon | $1.44/therm | $1,432 | $796 | Natural gas by $636 |
| Montana | $2.18/gallon | $0.84/therm | $2,396 | $801 | Natural gas by $1,595 |
| Nebraska | $1.83/gallon | $1.07/therm | $1,475 | $746 | Natural gas by $729 |
| Nevada | $2.73/gallon | $0.95/therm | $1,212 | $366 | Natural gas by $846 |
| New Hampshire | $3.90/gallon | $1.86/therm | $3,741 | $1,538 | Natural gas by $2,203 |
| New Jersey | $4.10/gallon | $1.37/therm | $2,725 | $789 | Natural gas by $1,936 |
| New Mexico | $3.03/gallon | $0.83/therm | $1,738 | $411 | Natural gas by $1,327 |
| New York | $3.79/gallon | $1.62/therm | $2,929 | $1,082 | Natural gas by $1,847 |
| North Carolina | $3.64/gallon | $1.52/therm | $1,572 | $568 | Natural gas by $1,004 |
| North Dakota | $1.75/gallon | $0.84/therm | $2,062 | $858 | Natural gas by $1,204 |
| Ohio | $2.70/gallon | $1.17/therm | $1,975 | $741 | Natural gas by $1,234 |
| Oklahoma | $2.38/gallon | $1.38/therm | $1,084 | $541 | Natural gas by $543 |
| Oregon | $2.73/gallon | $1.58/therm | $1,850 | $927 | Natural gas by $923 |
| Pennsylvania | $3.21/gallon | $1.42/therm | $2,353 | $897 | Natural gas by $1,456 |
| Rhode Island | $4.12/gallon | $2.03/therm | $3,050 | $1,297 | Natural gas by $1,753 |
| South Carolina | $3.70/gallon | $1.48/therm | $1,231 | $425 | Natural gas by $806 |
| South Dakota | $1.95/gallon | $0.95/therm | $1,916 | $806 | Natural gas by $1,110 |
| Tennessee | $3.28/gallon | $1.19/therm | $1,582 | $495 | Natural gas by $1,087 |
| Texas | $3.18/gallon | $1.88/therm | $745 | $381 | Natural gas by $364 |
| Utah | $2.47/gallon | $1.05/therm | $2,213 | $814 | Natural gas by $1,399 |
| Vermont | $3.93/gallon | $1.60/therm | $4,075 | $1,436 | Natural gas by $2,639 |
| Virginia | $3.80/gallon | $1.59/therm | $2,079 | $754 | Natural gas by $1,325 |
| Washington | $2.73/gallon | $1.43/therm | $1,970 | $893 | Natural gas by $1,077 |
| West Virginia | $3.70/gallon | $1.28/therm | $2,411 | $720 | Natural gas by $1,691 |
| Wisconsin | $2.01/gallon | $1.11/therm | $1,944 | $929 | Natural gas by $1,015 |
| Wyoming | $2.38/gallon | $1.04/therm | $2,515 | $954 | Natural gas by $1,561 |
38 states have state-level prices for both fuels.
Why per-gallon prices mislead
A gallon of heating oil holds 138,500 Btu, a gallon of propane 91,452 Btu, a therm of natural gas 100,000 Btu and a kilowatt-hour of electricity 3,412 Btu (EIA heat contents). Then the equipment loses some of it: a typical oil or propane furnace delivers about 85%, a gas furnace 90%, while a heat pump moves 2.5 units of heat for every unit of electricity over a season.
So the break-even rule for propane against natural gas is simple: propane wins when its price per gallon is below 0.864× the price of natural gas per therm.
Equipment, installation and maintenance costs are not part of this comparison. Methodology.
