Thermoeconomic optimization of a multi effect distillation (MED) desalination system with thermovapor compressor (TVC) is performed. A model based on the energy and exergy analysis is presented here. An economic model of the system is developed according to the Total Revenue Requirement (TRR) method. The objective functions based on the thermodynamic and thermoeconomic analysis are developed. The proposed multi effect distillation system including six decision variables is considered for optimization. A stochastic/deterministic optimization approach known as genetic algorithm is utilized as an optimization method. This approach is applied to minimize the cost of the system product (fresh water). (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.