How Much Does It Cost To Fill A 500 Gallon Propane Tank? (Calculator)

How much does 500 gallons of propane cost? In most cases, homeowners equate the question ‘how much does it cost to fill a 500-gallon propane tank?’ with the question ‘how much does 500 gallons of propane cost?’.

We all know that the price of filling a 500-gallon propane tank depends on the price of propane (per gallon). Most of us, however, are less aware of the 80% propane tank rule:

Namely, you can put at most 400 gallons of propane in a 500-gallon propane tank. This is the 80% safety rule; you can’t fill a propane tank to its full (500 gallon) capacity because propane expands at higher temperatures and can create too much pressure on the inner walls of a 500-gallon tank.

The real question is this:

How much does 400 gallons of propane cost? This is the price you will have to pay to fill a 500-gallon propane tank.

In short, filling a 500-gallon propane tank costs anywhere from $600 to $1,600 (for $1.50/gallon to $4.50/gallon propane prices).

To help you out, we have prepared a 500-Gallon Tank Propane Cost Calculator below (you just input the price of propane, and the calculator will determine how much filling a 500-gallon will cost). We have also prepared a chart of how much does it cost to fill a 500-gallon tank, given different propane prices (from $1.5/gallon to $4.5/gallon).

Of course, the price of propane per gallon varies quite a bit. If you check the US Energy Informational Administration website that lists the current and historical prices of pre-tax residential propane prices per gallon, you can see that the average price of propane in 2023 is $2.86/gallon. You can also check how much propane costs in your specific state (be aware these are pre-tax propane prices).

Here are the average US national prices of propane in the past years:

Once you know how much does propane cost in your area, you can easily use the calculator:

500-Gallon Tank Propane Cost Calculator

Here is an example of how to use this propane cost calculator:

Let’s say that the propane price in your area is $2.98/gallon. You just slide the propane price slider to ‘2.98’ and you get that it will cost $1192.00 to fill a 500-gallon propane tank.

Of course, the prices of propane can differ quite a lot. You can play around with the numbers in the calculator to see how much you will pay to refill a 500-gallon tank.

For further help, you can consult the chart below. You will see the price ranges to fill a 500-gallon tank for different prices of propane:

500-Gallon Tank Propane Cost Chart

As you can see, the higher the cost of propane per gallon, the more you will have to pay to fill a 500-gallon propane tank. This goes without saying.

Hopefully, this illustrates how you can go about calculating how much it will cost to refuel a 500-gallon propane tank. If you have any questions about your 500-gallon tank, or any other sized tank, you can use the comments below and we’ll try to help you out.