The 15 cities where Americans pay the most (and least) in utility bills
Residents of Newton, Iowa may have cause for celebration—those in Corpus Christi, Texas, not so much.
Average monthly utility expenses in Newton were the lowest out of 900 statistical areas analyzed by doxoINSIGHTS, while those in Corpus Christi were the highest.
In November 2019, doxo released analysis on the bill-pay behavior of residents in 900 cities and areas across the country, revealing the most extensive data on US household bills ever made publicly available. doxoINSIGHTS draws on anonymized data from doxo’s 3 million customers, paying more than 60,000 billers in 45 different categories.
Now, doxoINSIGHTS reveals which 15 cities and areas of those 900 pay the least and most expensive monthly bills for utilities (water, electric, gas and waste bills).
The Northeast was much more likely to have cities with high average utility costs—though the top two spots were claimed by cities in two Southern states: Texas and Arizona. Areas with low monthly utility costs, meanwhile, were more likely to be found in the Midwest or the South. Four of the 15 cities with the lowest average monthly utilities costs are in Indiana. South Dakota, one of the least populous states in the country, has three cities represented in the top 15.
The average monthly utilities cost, across the 900 areas doxoINSIGHTS analyzed, is $323.
See where your hometown stacks up in average utility expenses, along with more data from doxoINSIGHTS.
Where Are Monthly Utilities the Most Expensive?
City or Area Name | Average Utilities Cost |
Corpus Christi, TX | $630 |
Yuma, AZ | $601 |
Watertown, Fort Drum area, NY | $600 |
Fairbanks, AK | $596 |
Vineland, Bridgeton area, NJ | $592 |
Vineyard Haven, MA | $588 |
Ocean City, NJ | $572 |
Portland, South Portland area, ME | $551 |
Lewiston, Auburn area, ME | $532 |
Ashland, OH | $519 |
New Castle, PA | $519 |
Cape Girardeau, MO | $518 |
Celina, OH | $514 |
Bangor, ME | $509 |
Duluth, MN | $508 |
Where Are Monthly Utilities the Least Expensive?
City or Area Name | Average Utilities Cost |
Newton, IA | $143 |
Washington, IN | $172 |
Sioux Falls, SD | $172 |
Bowling Green, KY | $174 |
Columbus, IN | $175 |
Brookings, SD | $182 |
Hanford, Corcoran area, CA | $185 |
Middlesboro, KY | $187 |
Clarksdale, MS | $194 |
Lafayette, LA | $197 |
Frankfort, IN | $198 |
Willmar, MN | $199 |
Austin, Round Rock area, TX | $206 |
Kokomo, IN | $207 |
Watertown, SD | $207 |