ur country’s economy is the most important issue during this election season. The high cost of living, inflation, and even the notorious ‘shrinkflation’ are being felt nationwide. Since every penny counts, we must consider all expenses. My team at Move.org crunched the data to determine which states are the most and least expensive to live in and the states with the most and least expensive utilities.
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Adding up electricity, gas, water, sewer, internet, phone, and other essential utilities shows how much of your salary goes toward these monthly expenses.
So, which state pays the most in utilities?
The top 5 states with the least expensive utilities are:
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- South Dakota
- North Dakota
The most expensive?
- West Virginia
- Hawaii
- Alabama
- Missouri
- Georgia
To calculate our findings, we analyzed the costs of electricity, natural gas, water, sewer, internet, and TV to determine our rankings. Our final ranking was weighted using 1)the total cost of utilities in each state and 2)the percent of income paid for utilities based on the median monthly income per state. We pulled the annual median household income by state from the FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and divided it by 12 to determine the monthly household income. The sum of these utilities makes up our averages for each state’s total utility costs per month.
See our official website for a deep dive into our data and tips on keeping utility costs low. For resources to help cover this piece, please visit our media kit.
