BELLINGHAM — A recent report by doxo, a personal bill payment website, evaluated the United States’ $4.6 trillion consumer bill pay market to determine what states are the most and least expensive.
As grocery, gas and housing prices have increased, the average household spends $24,032 annually on bills, roughly $2,003 per month, a 6 percent increase year over year according to the report’s data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Now household bills total about 36 percent of the U.S. household median income.
The report evaluated 97 percent of ZIP codes in the U.S. by measuring costs of 10 common household bills: mortgage, rent, auto loans, utilities, auto insurance, cable, internet and phone services, health insurance, mobile phone, security and alarm systems and life insurance.
According to the report, Washington is the 9th most expensive state to live in based on the average household bill payments.
Washingtonian’s average bill costs came in at $2,277 a month, 37 percent of the average household income and 13.7 percent higher than the national average bill costs.
On housing alone, prices have also increased dramatically. Home prices across Washington state increased 14.3 percent year-over-year in May, according to RedFin housing market data.
The report found the average Washington household pays $1,661 a month on mortgages and $1,295 a month on rent across the state.
Washington households bills include averages of $390 monthly utility costs, $113 in monthly cable and satellite costs, $113 monthly mobile phone costs and $204 a month on auto insurance, according to the data.
The data and costs from the report were collected from actual bill payment activity across 97 percent of U.S. zip code areas. These figures reflect the average costs across the state of Washington, as prices can fluctuate dramatically by location.
Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in, averaging $2,911 monthly bill costs, followed by California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and Connecticut.
The least expensive state to live in is West Virginia, where monthly bill costs average $1,452. West Virginia was followed closely by Arkansas, Mississippi, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
