Cost of living in Chattanooga is lower than national average, but utility costs higher
This article originally appeared on Local 3 News
By Leah Bolling
Doxo is a bill paying application used nation-wide. Liz Powell, Doxo’s Senior Director of Insights, said the overall cost of living in Chattanooga is lower than the national average, while the cost of utilities alone is slightly higher.
“We look at how much consumers pay for the 10 most common household bills for about 4,000 cities across the US,” Powell said. “Chattanooga is one of those cities that we look at.”
Powell said people in Chattanooga, on average, pay about $1,600 a month for the 10 most common bills.
“This includes things like rent and/or mortgage, utilities, auto loans, auto insurance… just all of the most common bills you would assume,” Powell said.
She said the national average cost for those common bills is about $2,000.
“Consumers in Chattanooga pay about 19% lower for these 10 most common bills than the rest of the United States,” Powell said.
Powell said the cost of utilities went up in Chattanooga by 6.3% form last year, and is higher than the national average.
“In Chattanooga, consumers spent $365, on average, every month for utilities. This is up about 6.3% as compared to last year,” Powell said. “These are usually big bills that people pay on a monthly basis. In Chattanooga, the average is $365, whereas the national average is $351.”
She said her team usually sees higher utility bills in places where it’s very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer.
“Folks are needing to turn on their heat for long periods of time, and then in the summer turn on their air conditioning,” Powell said.
For tips on how you can save energy to keep bill costs low, visit the TVA Energy Right website.