Average Gas Mileage by Vehicle Type

Typical combined MPG by vehicle type

Ranges below are broad, deliberately wide bands covering most gas-powered models sold in the US in a given category. A specific trim can land above or below its category's range. For an exact figure for your make, model and year, the EPA's own fueleconomy.gov is the authoritative source.

Why the ranges are this wide

A single vehicle category can span 10+ mpg between its most and least efficient versions. The biggest swing factors: engine size (a 4-cylinder base engine almost always beats an optional V6 in the same body), drivetrain (all-wheel drive typically costs 1-3 mpg versus front-wheel drive in the same model), and model year (fuel economy has generally trended upward across most categories over the past decade as engines and transmissions have improved). Two people who both say they drive "a midsize SUV" can have genuinely different real-world numbers for entirely legitimate reasons, none of which means either number is wrong.

Trim level plays a role too. A base trim with a smaller engine and steel wheels is frequently a few mpg ahead of a top trim of the exact same model with a bigger engine, larger wheels and more standard equipment adding weight. If you are shopping for a new vehicle and fuel cost matters to your decision, the trim-level difference within one model is sometimes as large as the difference between two entirely different vehicle categories.

City versus highway: which number should you use?

The "combined" figure in the table above blends a roughly 55/45 split of city and highway driving, which is a reasonable default for most drivers, but if your actual driving looks nothing like that split, lean toward whichever end of the range fits your real pattern. Someone doing mostly short in-town errands should expect to land closer to the low end of a category's range, since city driving is where fuel economy suffers most from stop-and-go traffic and short trips that never let the engine reach an efficient operating temperature. Someone doing mostly steady highway commuting or long-distance driving should expect to land closer to the high end, sometimes even above it, since sustained highway cruising at moderate speed is where most gas engines run closest to their most efficient point.

Using this chart with the calculators

Pick the row closest to your vehicle, use the middle of the range as a starting mpg figure in the gas cost calculator to estimate an upcoming trip, then once you have driven a full tank, switch to the MPG calculator to replace that estimate with your car's real, measured number. Real-world driving (your commute, your climate, your driving style) will usually land you somewhere inside the range for your category, but rarely at the exact midpoint, so treat the category figure as a placeholder to get a first estimate, not a final answer.

A note on how this chart was put together

These are broad, general reference ranges rather than a specific dataset pulled from one source, since manufacturer lineups and trim availability change from year to year. For the official, model-specific rating on a particular car, always check the EPA's fueleconomy.gov, which lists the actual tested city, highway and combined figures for essentially every vehicle sold in the US market going back many years. No calculation on this page uses your vehicle choice for anything beyond showing you the table; nothing about which row you read is saved or sent anywhere, see the privacy page for the full explanation of what this site does and does not collect.