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Cost of Bills Index (COBI)

Overview & Methodology

In general, “Cost of Living” is defined as the amount of money required to cover the necessary expenses to maintain a certain lifestyle in a given location. These expenses typically include many things like housing, utilities, food, transportation, taxes, and more. Because Cost of Living varies from place to place, this metric is typically designed to help consumers determine how affordable it is to live in any given state, county or city across the country.

doxo is the industry’s authoritative source for the Cost of Living in the United States specifically as it relates to household bills. doxoINSIGHTS, doxo’s proprietary household bill pay data set, examines these household bills at the national, state, county and city level, providing the deepest look into the Cost of Bills for the ten most essential categories – Utilities (water, electric, gas and waste), Cable & Phone, Mobile Phone, Auto Loans, Auto Insurance, Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Alarm & Security, Rent, and Mortgage.

What is doxo’s Cost of Bills Index (COBI)?

Similar to a Cost of Living Index, doxo’s Cost of Bills Index (COBI) is designed to illustrate how much it costs to live in one area as compared to another with a specific focus on household bills. The composite index is based on the average cost of the following in a given area: Utilities, Cable & Phone, Mobile Phone, Auto Loans, Auto Insurance, Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Alarm & Security, Rent, and Mortgage.

For the COBI, the number 100 represents the national average and then, states, counties and cities are assigned a number, either above or below 100, based on how they compare to the national average. For example, the COBI for Seattle, WA is 143, meaning 43% above national average, while the COBI for Charleston, WV is 84, meaning 16% below national average.

Through the easy-to-navigate tool, the COBI offers three key ways to examine the household cost of bills for each state, county and city: 

  • Standard COBI: household bills expense per month, including housing. This version of the COBI is representative of the total amount spent on the ten most common household bills in a given area, inclusive of mortgage and rent, as it relates to the average national income. 
  • Standard COBI Without Housing: household bills expense per month, excluding housing. This version of the COBI is representative of the total amount spent on the ten most common household bills in a given area, excluding mortgage and rent, as it relates to the average national income.
  • Income-Adjusted COBI: household bills as a percent of income, including housing. This version of the COBI is representative of the total amount spent on the ten most common household bills in a given area, including mortgage and rent, as it relates to the average income in the local (state, county, city) area.