The United States of Bill Pay: doxoINSIGHTS’ State-by-State Breakdown & Analysis of Recurring Monthly Household Bills 2021
Today we released our first annual 2021 United States of Bill Pay Report, a state by state look at the $4.40 trillion U.S. consumer bill pay market, with specific state level break out of the ten most common household bill payment categories. The report, which reflects actual bill payment activity across more than 30,000+ U.S. zip codes, reveals the most and least expensive states for Americans to live based on average spend per month on actual household bill payments.
This unique view of relative expenses, and how much of household income is required to cover bills in each state, is especially relevant given recent strains on household budgets. A recent doxoINSIGHTS report found that over half (57%) of Americans reported a reduction in income, with 42% of consumers missing at least one bill payment due to the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Pew Research Center found that one-fifth of adult Americans moved or knew someone who did due to the pandemic, with financial considerations being the biggest factor for those moves. While the average U.S. household spends $22,666 annually on bills, 20% of their household spend and roughly $1,889 per month, plenty of states rank well above or below this figure.
The findings outlined in the 2021 United States of Bill Pay Report include, for each state, the total monthly spend for bills each month, as well as a breakout of each of the ten most common household bills, including: Mortgage; Rent; Auto Loan; Utilities (electric, gas, water & sewer, and waste & recycling); Auto Insurance; Cable & Internet & Phone; Health Insurance (consumer paid portion); Mobile Phone; Alarm & Security; and Life Insurance.
The report shows that Hawaiians spend $2,731 each month on the ten most common household bills, 44.6% above the national average. New Jersey, California Alaska and Massachusetts round out the top of the list as the most expensive states. At the other end of the spectrum, households in West Virginia average monthly bill payments of $1,485 across the top ten categories, 21.4% below the average nationwide. Arkansas, Mississippi, Indiana and New Mexico round out the bottom of the list as the most affordable states.