$5.03 Trillion in Household Bills Underscores Growing Financial Strain
The 2026 U.S. Household Bill Pay Report found that the typical consumer spends $39,468 per year on household bills, with $24,997 spent on the thirteen most essential household bills. In total, The Bill Pay Economy™ accounts for $5.03 trillion in 2026.
The report provides detailed insights into category-level market size, the percentage of households paying each bill, and median monthly bill costs by state.
The findings are powered by doxo’s consumer payment platform, doxoBILLS, enabling all-in-one bill pay across more than 120,000 providers across 45 service categories nationwide. Drawing on tens of millions of bill payments across 97% of U.S. ZIP codes and all income and regional demographic segments, the report reflects what Americans actually pay on their household bills.
This proprietary dataset forms the foundation of doxo’s bottom-up market sizing of the thirteen most common household bills, delivering transparent insights into category size and median household spending at the national, state, county, and city levels. Unlike many industry sources that combine household bills with employer-paid or withheld expenses—such as health insurance and income taxes—or discretionary spending like credit card balances, doxo’s data isolates the true consumer portion of recurring household bill spend, enabling more accurate measurement of market size and household adoption across categories.
Federal and state income taxes—totaling more than $3.2 trillion annually—represent a significant financial obligation for U.S. households. However, because these taxes are largely withheld before income reaches consumers, they are analyzed separately from household bill pay in this report. While not included in Bill Pay Economy™ calculations, income taxes remain a key compounding factor in overall household financial pressure.
Overall Market Size By Bill Category:
- $1.08T Mortgage
- $740B Rent
- $484B Auto Loan
- $253B Auto Insurance
- $228B Electric
- $182B Health Insurance (consumer-direct portion)
- $169B Mobile Phone
- $168B Cable & Internet
- $135B Water & Sewer
- $115B Gas
- $79B Waste & Recycling
- $33B Life Insurance
- $23B Alarm & Security
- $1.35T Other ( consumer-direct expenses for taxes & fees, tuition, and student loans)
Key Findings from 2026 U.S. Household Bill Pay Report:
- Total Market Size: $5.03 trillion annually for all household bills
- Median Annual Cost: $39,468 per household, $3,289 per month
- Percent of Annual Income: Approximately 47% of annual household income
With median U.S. household income at $84,583, essential household bills consume nearly one-third of earnings.
The report also includes detailed breakouts by service category, household market costs, and median monthly household spend by state, providing a clear and data-driven view of U.S. bill pay behavior.
U.S. household spends $3.69 trillion per year on the thirteen most essential bills
Key Findings from 2026 U.S. Household Bill Pay Report:
- Market Size: $3.69 trillion annually for the thirteen most essential household bills
- Median Annual Cost: $24,997 per household, $2,083 per month
- Percent of Annual Income: Approximately 30% of annual household income
The median monthly bill for each category are as follows:
- $1,769 Mortgage
- $1,453 Rent
- $480 Auto Loan
- $125 Electric
- $124 Cable & Internet
- $108 Auto Insurance
- $98 Mobile Phone
- $87 Water & Sewer
- $80 Health Insurance (consumer-direct portion)
- $76 Alarm & Security
- $71 Gas
- $71 Waste & Recycling
- $60 Life Insurance
Housing affordability remains the largest cost pressure on U.S. households. Combined mortgage and rent payments total nearly $1.82 trillion annually, highlighting housing’s outsized impact on overall cost-of-living pressures. Mortgage payments alone rose by $145 billion year over year, the largest gain across any bill category, reinforcing concerns that housing costs continue to outpace income growth and strain household budgets.
Health insurance spending increased by more than 7% compared to 2025, extending a multi-year trend of rising premiums and out-of-pocket costs that continue to erode household financial stability.
Meanwhile, total household utility spending reached $557 billion annually, led by $228 billion in electricity costs, making electricity the largest utility expense. Growing electricity demand has intensified scrutiny of how energy prices and infrastructure investments are translating into higher recurring bills for American households.
Note that the market size of each category, and the total spend per household per year, factor not only in the median amount of each bill payment, but also the actual percentage of households paying each category. For example, consumers that pay rent are not typically also paying a mortgage. See full report for these category details.
2026 U.S Household Bill Pay Report
A comprehensive market analysis of the U.S. essential bill-pay economy, quantifying $5.03T in annual consumer spending and breaking down household spend across 13 most common bill categories.
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