As the U.S. Economy Shrinks, Cost of Bills Index™ Uncovers Stark Cost-of-Living Gaps Nationwide

doxo’s new report reveals Californians pay 39% above the national median in household bills, while West Virginians pay 44% less

doxo released a new report today that reveals sharp disparities in the core cost of living across the nation. Based on doxo’s proprietary Cost of Bills Index™ (COBI), the 2025 Cost of Bills Index (COBI) Report found that the cost of household bills varies dramatically across the U.S., with residents in the most expensive states like California, Hawaii, and New Jersey paying up to 39% more than the national median, while those in the most affordable states like West Virginia, Mississippi, and Oklahoma pay up to 44% less. The COBI report follows on the heels of doxo’s recently released 2025 U.S. Household Bill Pay Report which found that the typical U.S. household now spends $24,695 annually on these essential bills.

This year’s report lands amid rising economic pressures, marked by the first economic contraction in three years—a signal of growing strain across households and industries alike. As inflation and high borrowing costs squeeze family finances, the COBI highlights where Americans may find relief in terms of cost of living—and where the pain is hitting hardest.

The COBI is based on doxo’s nationwide bill payment statistics for the thirteen most common household bill categories, and provides a standard comparison index for the most fundamental expenses that comprise the cost of living. Leveraging doxo’s unique, aggregate, anonymized bill pay data, the COBI is a feature of doxoINSIGHTS, which provides a comprehensive look into the Bill Pay Economy™ at the state, county and city level.

“As Americans continue to grapple with rising mortgage rates, persistent inflation, and growing financial strain, it's more important than ever to empower consumers with transparent, localized data on how their key household expenses compare and where savings might be found,” says Steve Shivers, Founder and CEO, doxo. “With our unique Cost of Bills Index, doxo provides a single, simple metric to compare spending on the most essential household bills in any area in the country. The COBI is a key metric of doxoINSIGHTS and enables consumers to make more-informed decisions on spending and improve their financial health.”

Providing a standard benchmark, the 2025 Cost of Bills Index (COBI) Report includes state- and city-specific breakdowns with comparisons to the national median, and uncovers the five most and least expensive U.S. states to live in, based on the COBI:

The Top 5 Most Expensive U.S. States by the Cost of Bills Index (COBI)

The Top 5 Least Expensive U.S. States by the Cost of Bills Index (COBI)

The Top 5 Most Expensive Largest U.S. Cities by the Cost of Bills Index (COBI)

The Top 5 Least Expensive Largest U.S. Cities by the Cost of Bills Index (COBI)

*For the COBI, the number 100 represents the national median and then, states, counties and cities are assigned a number, either above or below 100, based on how they compare to the national median. For example, the COBI for Seattle, WA is 143, meaning it's 43% above national median, while the COBI for Charleston, WV is 57, meaning it's 43% below national median.

Through the easy-to-navigate tool, the COBI offers three key ways to examine the household cost of bills for each state, county and city:

• Standard COBI: household bills expense per month, including housing. This version of the COBI is representative of the total amount spent on the thirteen most common household bills in a given area, inclusive of mortgage and rent, as it relates to the median national income.
• Standard COBI Without Housing: household bills expense per month, excluding housing. This version of the COBI is representative of the total amount spent on the thirteen most common household bills in a given area, excluding mortgage and rent, as it relates to the median national income.
• Income-Adjusted COBI: household bills as a percent of income, including housing. This version of the COBI is representative of the total amount spent on the thirteen most common household bills in a given area, including mortgage and rent, as it relates to the median income in the local (state, county, city) area.

For more on the COBI’s methodology please visit: https://www.doxo.com/w/cost-of-bills-index/

doxoINSIGHTS Offers Transparency Into the Most Essential Household Financial Obligations

In addition to the Cost of Bills Index (COBI), doxoINSIGHTS offers a look at the aggregate basket and categorization of the thirteen most essential household bills – Gas, Electric, Waste & Recycling, Water & Sewer, Cable & Phone, Mobile Phone, Auto Loans, Auto Insurance, Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Alarm & Security, Rent, and Mortgage. For each state, county and city, doxoINSIGHTS incorporates the following comparisons:

• Total Spend and Proportion of Household Income: for each region, a standard basket of the most essential household bills enables comparison by total dollar amount and as a percent of local household income.
• Bill Spending Breakdown for Each Essential Household Bill: itemization of the local median for each of the thirteen most essential household bills (outlined above), with comparison to the national median.
• The “Bill Pay Cost of Living” Indexed and Ranked for Every City, County and State: every regional market ranked and compared in terms of amount spent on essential bills in absolute terms and relative to local household income levels.

Based on Actual Bill Payment Data, doxoINSIGHTS Provides the Nation’s Most Comprehensive and Reliable Set of Consumer Bill Pay Data

doxo’s bill pay service enables all-in-one bill pay to more than 120,000 providers across the country in 45 different service categories. By incorporating tens of millions of bill payments across 97% of U.S. zip codes and all U.S. income and regional demographic segments, the 2025 U.S. Household Bill Pay Report directly represents what Americans actually pay on their bills.

Updated to represent 2025 consumer spending, this proprietary dataset provides the foundation for doxo’s bottom-up market sizing of the thirteen most common bills and makes category size and median spend transparent at the national, state, county and city levels. In contrast to other industry data sources – which often mix household recurring bill expenses with employer-paid or withheld expenditures (e.g. health insurance and taxes), and retail and discretionary spending (i.e. credit card balances) – doxo’s unique, nationwide household bill pay data specifically quantifies the actual consumer portion of total recurring bill spend and household penetration rate for each category.

Updated for 2025 to better represent what the typical household can expect to spend, doxo has refined its methodology by utilizing the median expenditure (rather than average) on a given service type when calculating monthly costs. Additionally, to improve transparency and granularity, doxoINSIGHTS has broken out the Utilities category into four distinct categories: Gas, Electric, Waste & Recycling, and Water & Sewer. These refinements offer a more precise understanding of household spending patterns within the Bill Pay Economy at large.

To learn more about COBI and doxoINSIGHTS visit https://www.doxo.com/w/insights/.

About doxoINSIGHTS

doxoINSIGHTS provides direct insight into The Bill Pay Economy™ by leveraging consumer surveys and doxo’s unique aggregate bill pay data set, comprising actual bill payment activity to confirmed household service providers across the country. doxo data brings together the broadest available data set for analyzing actual household bill payment activity, pulling from over 10 million paying consumers across over 97% of U.S. zip codes. doxo’s payment network covers over 120,000 billers in 45 different service categories and enables payments using bank accounts, credit cards or debit cards. This uniquely broad statistical foundation powers doxoINSIGHTS reports – uncovering key trends for household financial health and bill payment behavior.

About doxo

doxo delivers innovation that transforms the bill pay experience for consumers, billers and financial technology providers. For over 10M consumers, doxo’s all-in-one bill pay makes it simple to organize and pay any bill on any device through a secure checkout. For billers, doxo’s network-driven platform enables online and mobile payments with a ridiculously simple integration, radically lower costs, and game-changing features that are unavailable with legacy bill pay vendors. For fintech partners, doxo delivers financial innovations to consumers across 97% of US Zip Codes, paying from more than 5,000 financial institutions to over 120,000 billers in 45+ service categories. For employees, doxo is a creative, ever-learning team that is passionate about building fintech tools that dramatically improve the bill pay experience. For investors, doxo provides an extraordinary opportunity to invest alongside Jackson Square Ventures, MDV, and Bezos Expeditions to disrupt a market that accounts for over $4T of US Household spend. To learn more about America’s leading bill pay network, visit doxo.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250514320058/en/