Wealthy PotAverage Electric Bill: What US Households Actually Pay
The average US household electric bill is $142.26 a month, according to the Energy Information Administration. That single number hides an enormous range: the typical bill in Hawaii is more than double the typical bill in New Mexico, and for reasons that have little to do with how carefully anyone switches off the lights. This page gives the national figure, breaks it into the two things that actually determine it, and shows where your own bill sits.
The Short Answer
- $142.26 a month is the US average residential electricity bill (EIA, 2024 data).
- That comes from 863 kWh of electricity a month at an average of 16.48 cents per kWh.
- Hawaii is highest at $212.12; New Mexico is lowest at $92.88.
- A high bill can come from a high price or high usage, and the fix is different for each.
The National Average
The EIA collects billing data from utilities across the country on Form EIA-861 and publishes the result each year. For 2024, the most recent complete year, the national residential figures were:
| Measure | US average |
|---|---|
| Average monthly bill | $142.26 |
| Average monthly consumption | 863 kWh |
| Average price | 16.48 cents/kWh |
| Residential customer accounts | 143.1 million |
One caveat worth knowing: the EIA's unit is a utility account, not a household. Accounts include vacant homes, holiday properties and barely-used meters, which pull the average down a little. The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures the same thing from the household side and found households spent $1,833 on electricity in 2024, about $153 a month. The two are not contradictory; they count different things, and neither is wrong.
Your Bill Is Price times Usage
Every electricity bill is the same simple sum: how much you use, multiplied by what your utility charges. Nationally that is 863 kWh × 16.48 cents = $142.26. It matters which half is driving your bill, because you control one of them and not the other.
The clearest illustration is two states at opposite ends of the table. Alabama has the third-highest bill in the country at $173.50, yet its price is below the national average at 15.18 cents. Alabama households simply use a lot of electricity: 1,143 kWh a month, driven largely by cooling and electric heating. Hawaii is the opposite. Its households use the least electricity of any state, 495 kWh a month, but pay 42.86 cents per kWh, and end up with the highest bills in the country anyway.
If your price is high, the lever is your tariff or supplier where you have a choice, and the timing of your usage where time-of-use rates apply. If your usage is high, the lever is heating and cooling, which dominates residential electricity use in most homes.
How States Compare
| State | Average monthly bill | Usage (kWh/mo) | Price (cents/kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $212.12 | 495 | 42.86 |
| Connecticut | $199.66 | 695 | 28.75 |
| Alabama | $173.50 | 1,143 | 15.18 |
| Massachusetts | $167.20 | 570 | 29.35 |
| Maryland | $165.87 | 929 | 17.86 |
| US average | $142.26 | 863 | 16.48 |
| Montana | $107.91 | 852 | 12.66 |
| Wyoming | $107.65 | 863 | 12.47 |
| Colorado | $100.57 | 674 | 14.92 |
| Utah | $94.57 | 774 | 12.22 |
| New Mexico | $92.88 | 654 | 14.20 |
On price alone the ranking looks different again. The most expensive electricity is in Hawaii (42.86 cents), California (31.97) and Massachusetts (29.35); the cheapest is in North Dakota (11.51), Idaho (11.52) and Nebraska (11.53). A household in Hawaii pays nearly four times what a household in North Dakota pays for the same kilowatt-hour.
What Has Happened to Prices
Electricity has been getting steadily more expensive. The EIA's monthly series shows the residential price rising from 13.66 cents per kWh in 2021 to 16.48 cents in 2024, and reaching 18.34 cents in June 2026, the most recent month available.
| Year | Average residential price (cents/kWh) |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 13.66 |
| 2022 | 15.04 |
| 2023 | 16.00 |
| 2024 | 16.48 |
| 2025 | 17.30 (preliminary) |
| June 2026 | 18.34 (preliminary) |
Note the mismatch in dates: the $142.26 bill is a 2024 figure, while the newest price is from June 2026 and is about 11% higher. The EIA has not published a 2025 or 2026 average bill yet; the 2025 edition is due around October 2026. If you hold 2024 usage constant and apply the June 2026 price, you get roughly $158 a month, but treat that as our arithmetic, not an official figure.
Is Your Bill High?
Comparing your bill to $142.26 is not very informative on its own, because the national average blends a studio flat in a mild climate with a large all-electric house in Alabama. A more useful check, in order:
- Find your price per kWh. Divide the total bill by the kilowatt-hours used; both are on the bill. Compare that with your state's figure above, not the national one.
- Find your monthly usage. If your price is normal but your usage is well above the 863 kWh national figure, the bill is a usage problem.
- Compare with the same month last year, not with last month. Electricity use is seasonal, so January against July tells you nothing.
- Check whether you can choose a supplier. In states with retail choice you may be able to change the supply portion of the rate; the delivery portion generally stays with the local utility.
If the bill is straining the budget, it belongs in the "needs" bucket of a 50/30/20 budget, and most utilities run bill-levelling plans that spread seasonal peaks evenly across the year. Levelling does not reduce what you pay; it makes it predictable.
FAQ
What is the average electric bill in the US?
$142.26 a month for a residential customer, based on EIA data for 2024, the most recent complete year.
How much electricity does an average home use?
About 863 kWh a month, or roughly 10,400 kWh a year, per the EIA.
Which state has the highest electric bill?
Hawaii, at $212.12 a month, despite using less electricity per household than any other state. Its price, 42.86 cents per kWh, is the highest in the country.
Which state has the cheapest electricity?
By price per kilowatt-hour, North Dakota at 11.51 cents. By total monthly bill, New Mexico at $92.88.
Why is my electric bill so much higher than the average?
Either your rate or your usage is above average, and the bill itself tells you which. Divide the total by the kWh used to get your price, then compare both numbers with your own state rather than the national figure.
This article is for general information and is not financial advice. Bill, usage and price figures are from the US Energy Information Administration (Table 5.a, 2024 data) and the Electric Power Monthly, with household spending from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, all checked on 2026-09-24. The current-price estimate is our own illustrative calculation.
