New Report Shows what Americans Really Pay for Utilities: Households Now Spending $4,168 Annually

doxoINISIGHTS 2025 Utility Reports reveal the most and least costly cities and states for utilities, with Americans spending $532 billion annually on their utility bills.

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–With AI energy demands, tariffs, and shifts towards renewable energy creating uncertainty in the utilities industry, five new reports released by doxo reveal how much individual Americans are actually paying for their utilities. A statistical analysis of actual household payments toward four main utilities categories (Electric, Gas, Waste & Recycle, and Water & Sewer) across 97% of U.S. zip codes. The 2025 U.S. Utilities Market Size and Household Spending Report found that U.S. households with utility bills spend a median of $347 per month, or $4,168 per year.

The reports break out the household spending market size; percentage of households that pay each bill; and median monthly and annual bill pay costs by state, as well as the 50 largest U.S. cities (based on the number of households), and those cities with 40k or more residents.

Key findings from doxoINSIGHTS 2025 Utilities Reports:

Cost of Utilities in the U.S.

• Americans spend a total of $532 billion a year on Utilities
• The median annual cost per household is $4,168 a year for total Utilities
• Utilities bills amount to 5% of annual household income

Electric Utilities Market Size and Household Spending

• Total Electric Utilities Market Size: $217 billion per year
• Median Monthly/Annual Bill Payment: $120 per month; $1,440 per year
• Percent of Households: 90% of U.S. households pay Electric Utilities
• Percent of Household Bill Pay Expense: Electric Utilities bills amount to 5% of consumers’ household bill pay costs per year

Water & Sewer Utilities Market Size and Household Spending

• Total Water & Sewer Utilities Market Size: $129 billion per year
• Median Monthly/Annual Bill Payment: $86 per month; $1,036 per year
• Percent of Households: 72% of U.S. households pay Water & Sewer Utilities
• Percent of Household Bill Pay Expense: Water & Sewer Utilities bills amount to 3% of consumers’ household bill pay costs per year

Gas Utilities Market Size and Household Spending

• Total Gas Utilities Market Size: $110 billion per year
• Median Monthly/Annual Bill Payment: $71 per month; $852 per year
• Percent of Households: 66% of U.S. households pay Gas Utilities
• Percent of Household Bill Pay Expense: Gas Utilities bills amount to 2% of consumers’ household bill pay costs per year

Waste & Recycle Utilities Market Size and Household Spending

• Total Waste & Recycle Utilities Market Size: $75 billion per year
• Median Monthly/Annual Bill Payment: $70 per month; $840 per year
• Percent of Households: 53% of U.S. households pay Waste & recycle Utilities
• Percent of Household Bill Pay Expense: Waste & recycle Utilities bills amount to 2% of consumers’ household bill pay costs per year

Concerns of impending increases in utilities prices compound already considerable increases over the last year. Electricity prices have increased 6.2%¹ since 2024 and Gas utility prices² have increased a staggering 13.8%, a result of demand surges, massive infrastructure spending, and rising fuel and material costs. Water & Sewer and Waste & Recycle³ face similar trends with 4.8% and 6.5% increase respectively.

Over the past five years, U.S. household utility costs have risen roughly 15%, driven largely by volatile energy markets. Gas utilities saw the steepest climb—up 25%—following pandemic-era supply shortages and the global fuel disruptions of 2022–2023, before easing in 2024. Electricity prices increased nearly 20% overall, with a 7% rise in 2025 tied to higher demand from AI data centers and grid investments. Meanwhile, water & sewer, and waste & recycling services rose more steadily in line with inflation and infrastructure costs.

“American families are navigating a perfect storm of rising utility costs,” said Steve Shivers, Co-founder and CEO of doxo. “Sweeping infrastructure transformation and increasing energy demand are converging, resulting in more costs being passed to households. That’s why we’re committed to empowering consumers with the tools and transparency they need to better track and manage essential bill payments, regardless of how or where they choose to pay.”

Top 10 Most Expensive States for Utilities

Top 10 Most Expensive Large U.S. Cities for Utilities

About doxoINSIGHTS

doxoINSIGHTS provides direct insight into The Bill Pay Economy™ by leveraging consumer surveys and doxo’s unique aggregate bill pay data set, comprising actual bill payment activity to confirmed household service providers across the country. doxo data brings together the broadest available data set for analyzing actual household bill payment activity, pulling from over 10 million paying consumers across over 97% of U.S. zip codes. doxo’s payment network covers over 120,000 billers in 45 different service categories and enables payments using bank accounts, credit cards or debit cards. This uniquely broad statistical foundation powers doxoINSIGHTS reports – uncovering key trends for household financial health and bill payment behavior. Uncovering an even deeper level of insight into Americans’ cost of living, doxo’s proprietary Cost of Bills Index™ (COBI), a new feature of doxoINSIGHTS, provides a consistent basis of comparison at the state, county and city level.

About doxo

doxo delivers innovation that transforms the bill pay experience for consumers, billers and financial technology providers. For over 10M consumers, doxo’s all-in-one bill pay makes it simple to organize and pay any bill on any device through a secure checkout. For billers, doxo’s network-driven platform enables online and mobile payments with a ridiculously simple integration, radically lower costs, and game-changing features that are unavailable with legacy bill pay vendors. For fintech partners, doxo delivers financial innovations to consumers across 97% of US Zip Codes, paying from more than 8,000 financial institutions to over 120,000 billers in 45+ service categories. For employees, doxo is a creative, ever-learning team that is passionate about building fintech tools that dramatically improve the bill pay experience. For investors, doxo provides an extraordinary opportunity to invest alongside Jackson Square Ventures, MDV, and Bezos Expeditions to disrupt a market that accounts for over $4T of US Household spend. To learn more about America’s leading bill pay network, visit doxo.com.

¹https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.htm#:~:text=Transmission%20of%20material%20in%20this,Price%20Index%20for%20All%20Urban

²https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.htm#:~:text=Transmission%20of%20material%20in%20this,Price%20Index%20for%20All%20Urban

³https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t07.htm

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