Detroit is the least-expensive city in the United States for household bills, coming in at $20,225 per year, 20 percent below the national median, according to a report from Seattle-based Doxo.
“Cost of living gets talked about as a single national number, but that’s not how anyone experiences it,” says Steve Shivers, co-founder and CEO of Doxo, which offers an app for personal budgeting. “It’s 13 bills a month, and what they add up to depends enormously on where you live. The national figure doesn’t tell you much. Your city does.”
Nationally, according to the report, Americans spend $25,266 per year across the 13 essential household bills:
- Mortgage/rent
- Auto loan
- Gas
- Electric
- Water and sewer
- Waste and Recycling
- Auto insurance
- Cable and satellite
- Health insurance
- Mobile phone
- Alarm and security
- Life insurance
While Detroit is the least expensive city according to Doxo’s Top 50 U.S. Cities Household Spend Report, San Jose, Calif. is the most expensive with an annual medium spend of $44,947, 78 percent above the national median. New York, San Francisco, San Diego, and Boston round out the top five.
Joining Detroit among the least-expensive cities for household bills are Cleveland, El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio, and Pittsburgh.
According to Doxo, its report arrives as households continue to grapple with a heightened cost of living. Last month, the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that 92.9 percent of its members said the cost of living in their city had worsened over the past year, with 95.5 percent naming housing costs the primary affordability concern.
To view the full report, visit here.
