South Florida residents pay more in ‘essential bill’ payments than most Americans
This article was originally published on WLRN.org
Inflation may be on a downward trend, even in South Florida, but new data shows that the region’s residents pay more monthly for the “most essential bills” than most other U.S. residents.
According to data from bill-pay service doxo, the average Miami household pays $2,867 a month, which is 35% higher than the national average of $2,126.
Miami ranks only 14th highest in monthly bill payments in Florida, according to the data. Residents of Key Biscayne have the highest average payments of monthly bill payments at $3,670, while Pembroke Pines residents have the sixth highest at $3,066.
A breakdown of the doxo data shows that Miami residents’ biggest monthly bills on average are mortgage ($2,101) or rent ($1,662), following by auto loans ($588), utilities ($388) and auto insurance ($362).
Fort Lauderdale residents pay an average of $2,555 per month, 20% higher than the U.S. average. West Palm Beach residents pay 2,236 per month, which is only 5% higher than the rest of the nation. Key West is 2,798 per month, which is 32% higher, while Marathon residents pay $2,690, 27% higher.