Where do Americans Spend the Most (and Least) on Cable and Satellite Bills?
Television consumption across the country has skyrocketed as more and more Americans are staying home amid the coronavirus crisis. But depending on where you live, the cost of the television programming you enjoy varies widely.
For example, residents of Hillsdale, Michigan pay an average of $208 in cable and satellite bills: the most expensive out of all 919 statistical areas analyzed by doxoINSIGHTS. Residents of Bardstown, Kentucky, meanwhile, paid the least, racking up an average monthly cable and satellite cost of only $42. The cost of the average monthly cable/satellite bill, across the 919 areas doxoINSIGHTS analyzed, is $109.
doxoINSIGHTS, which draws on anonymized data from doxo’s 3 milion customers paying more than 60,000 billers, reveals extensive and detailed data on average monthly bill costs across the country. Now, doxoINSIGHTS reveals which 15 cities and areas pay the most and least expensive monthly cable and satellite bills.
Measuring bill cost only in absolute dollar terms can sometimes be misleading. When taking into account an area’s average monthly household income, it becomes clear that sometimes residents of a certain area may be getting a better deal than residents elsewhere, despite paying higher bills than them. For example, while people in Houghton, Michigan only pay the 9th most expensive cable/satellite bills, they get the second worst deal on them, given that those bills account for 4.5% of the average household’s monthly income.
By the same token, residents of Storm Lake, Iowa pay the fifth least expensive cable/satellite bills, but they get the second best deal on them, shelling out just 1.3% of average monthly household income.
The average percentage of monthly household income spent on cable and satellite bills, across the 919 areas doxoINSIGHTS analyzed, is 2.6%.
Now, see the complete lists of the 15 most and least expensive areas to live in for cable/satellite bills. See where your hometown stacks up in average cable and satellite expenses, along with more data from doxoINSIGHTS.
Where Are Cable Bills The Most Expensive?
| City or Area Name | Average Cable/Satellite Payment |
| Hillsdale, MI | $208 |
| Pampa, TX | $172 |
| Sonora, CA | $168 |
| The Dalles, OR | $166 |
| Lebanon, PA | $158 |
| Barnstable Town, MA | $154 |
| Tyler, TX | $154 |
| Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI | $153 |
| Houghton, MI | $153 |
| Faribault-Northfield, MN | $152 |
| Frankfort, IN | $152 |
| Salem, OH | $149 |
| El Dorado, AR | $148 |
| Morgantown, WV | $148 |
| Gillette, WY | $148 |
Where Are Cable Bills The Least Expensive?
| City or Area Name | Average Cable/Satellite Payment |
| Bardstown, KY | $42 |
| West Point, MS | $48 |
| Hastings, NE | $56 |
| Mount Vernon, IL | $59 |
| Storm Lake, IA | $59 |
| Hereford, TX | $59 |
| Las Vegas, NM | $60 |
| Watertown, SD | $60 |
| Glasgow, KY | $69 |
| Clovis, NM | $69 |
| Blackfoot, ID | $70 |
| Scottsboro, AL | $72 |
| Cedar City, UT | $72 |
| McMinnville, TN | $72 |
| Grants, NM | $72 |