KEY POINTS

  • Americans spend over $24,000 a year on average in household bills.
  • Four of the most expensive cities in the U.S. are in California.

California is the most expensive state to live in and home to five of the 10 costliest cities, according to an online bill payment service report.

The Doxo report is based on anonymized monthly and annual bill payment data collected from nearly 7 million people in 50 U.S. cities. According to the study, San Jose residents pay the highest average monthly bills of $3,151, some 66.8% higher than the national average of $1,889.

San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Riverside rank 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th respectively. New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. are the most expensive cities outside of California.

Buffalo, N.Y. topped the chart for least expensive cities. Residents in Buffalo spend an average of $1,603 in monthly expenses, 15.1% lower than the national average. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Rochester, N.Y. and Louisville, Ky. round out the top five inexpensive cities.

The report found that a majority of the least-expensive cities were in the South and Midwest.