Residents in these 10 cities spend the most on household bills, report finds (2024)

(NEXSTAR) — The cost of everything is high right now, including groceries and gas and housing. While there are ways to save on some of those costs, there’s one category that is largely unavoidable: household bills.

A new report from doxo, a personal finance resource, found that the average U.S. household will spend $24,032 on bills annually. Bills, in this case, cover 10 categories: mortgage, rent, auto loan, utilities, auto insurance, cable/internet/phone service, health insurance, mobile phone, alarm and security, and life insurance.

Though mobile phone bills are the most common for U.S. households (94%), mortgage payments were the most expensive at an average $1,368. Rent was close behind at $1,129.

Using its own data, doxo ranked the nation’s 50 largest cities based on how much the average household spends on monthly bills.

The report found residents in cities on both coasts tend to spend the most on their monthly bills while residents living in Midwestern cities tend to spend less.

Residents in these 10 cities pay the most on their monthly bills, according to doxo:

1. San Jose: $3,248
2. New York: $3,059
3. Boston: $2,963
4. San Francisco: $2,946
5. San Diego: $2,689
6. Washington, D.C.: $2,686
7. Los Angeles: $2,672
8. Seattle: $2,572
9. Miami: $2,482
10. Austin: $2,447

Six of these cities — San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Seattle — recently are among the top 10 metros residents are trying to leave, according to a report by real estate brokerage Redfin. On the other hand, two — San Diego and Miami — are highly sought metros.

And in these 10 cities, residents pay the least on their monthly bills:

1. Detroit: $1,634
2. Cleveland: $1,655
3. El Paso: $1,675
4. Albuquerque: $1,687
5. Memphis: $1,689
6. Dayton: $1,700
7. Kansas City, Missouri: $1,754
8. Rochester: $1,772
9. Oklahoma City: $1,779
10. Cincinnati: $1,786

Overall, doxo found Hawaii residents have the highest average monthly bills at $2,911. Residents of California have the second-highest at $2,649 followed by New Jersey at $2,610. Alternatively, residents of West Virginia have the lowest average monthly bills at $1,452, followed by Arkansas ($1,552) and Mississippi ($1,559).