Media » Study: Key West residents pay some of highest monthly bills in state

Study: Key West residents pay some of highest monthly bills in state

This article originally appeared on Keys News

By ELLIOT WELD

On top of massive and ever-increasing housing costs and perpetually rising insurance rates, a new study has found that Key West residents spend $2,761 on monthly bills, 38.6% higher than the average Florida resident.

The study was published by Doxo, a firm that manages customers monthly bills. It found that the average Florida resident pays $1,993 per month in expenses such as mortgage, rent, loans, insurance, utilities and phone bills. Florida was 18th on the list. Hawaii came in the top spot with an average resident paying $2,911 per month.

Of all the locations studied in Florida, Key West residents pay the fourth-highest monthly bills, topped only by Windermere, Pembroke Pines and Wellington. The study said 49% of household income in Key West goes toward monthly expenses. Some of the most affordable areas in Florida were Homosassa, with an average monthly bill expense of $1,263; Crystal River, Inverness, Palatka and Zephyrhills.

“A difference in average housing costs (rents and mortgages) makes up a large part of the difference between total bill payments in some of the more expensive places to live in Florida. Key West, Wellington and Pembroke Pines are all quite a bit above the national average spent for both categories and account for some of the most affordable,” said Liz Powell, director of Doxo Insights, the branch of the company that produced the study. “This is not unique to Florida; we see that housing is usually the main expense that drives the cost of living up or down.”

Another factor that drove up the monthly cost of living in Key West was average auto insurance payment. In Key West, that cost was $400, well above the national average of $196 per month. The study found life insurance was $93 per month in Key West, slightly above the national average of $82, and health insurance in Key West was $116 on average, slightly below the national average of $123 per month.

“The reason for higher auto and life insurance expenses in Florida is likely due to the older population of folks living in the state,” Powell said. “Auto insurance tends to creep up in cost once a person reaches the age of 65. Life insurance, the expense is likely higher because in general, retirees/older people tend to have much more out-of-pocket expenses like this because their employers aren’t covering it as an employee benefit.”

As a whole, the average Florida resident pays slightly less in monthly bills than the national average of $2,003 per month. Mortgages in Florida are almost in line with the national average of $1,368 per month, and rent is only slightly higher in Florida, the study said. Utilities in Florida were $20 cheaper than the national average, and mobile phone bills were lower as well.

“Across the board, utilities in Florida cities/towns tend to be high, or at par with the national average,” Powell said. “Utilities costs are often linked to local weather conditions. While it doesn’t get very cold in Florida, it is hot for much of the year, especially in the summertime, where residents need to turn up the air conditioning. This is likely contributing to this expense.”