Detroit residents have the cheapest monthly bills of any major U.S. city—but you may not earn much money there, expert says

Last week, bill pay service doxo released its 50 Largest U.S. Cities Household Spend Report 2024. In the report, doxoINSIGHTS found that Americans spend close to $3.35 trillion per year on the 10 most common household bills.

Using data sourced from activity on the doxo platform, they analyzed costs across the 50 largest cities in the country to rank the most — and least — expensive. The report also used rent and mortgage numbers from the U.S. Census.

The key household bills categories examined for this year's ranking were:

• Mortgage
• Rent
• Auto loan
• Utilities (electric, gas, water & sewer, and waste & recycling)
• Auto insurance
• Health insurance
• Cable, internet
• Mobile phone
• Alarm and security
• Life insurance

San Jose, New York and Boston topped the list of priciest large cities, which should come as no surprise, according to Liz Powell, Senior Director of Insights at doxo. "The biggest indicator of an expensive place to live is housing," she says.

In Detroit, residents pay an average $988 on rent and $993 on a mortgage — some of the lowest housing costs in the country. It's what helped propel the city to the No. 1 spot on doxo's list of the least expensive cities. They pay an average of $1,640 for all expenses, 23% below the national average of $2,126.

Though Detroit is less expensive than cities like New York and Miami, "when folks are spending 53% of their household income on household bills, it's actually not that affordable for the average person that lives there," Powell says.

"It's easy to look at this list and say, 'Oh, Detroit seems relatively affordable,' but you know, you're probably not going to make as much money in Detroit as you are in somewhere like San Jose," she adds. "So you have to consider all of these factors when you're thinking about, you know, where you may want to move."

10 large U.S. cities where residents have the cheapest monthly bills

1. Detroit, Mich.
2. Cleveland, Ohio
3. Dayton, Ohio
4. El Paso, Texas
5. Rochester, N.Y.
6. Oklahoma City, Okla.
7. Albuquerque, N.M.
8. Memphis, Tenn.
9. Louisville, Ky.
10. Indianapolis, Ind.

Cleveland is the No. 2 least expensive city for household bills. Powell calls it another example of a more affordable city where the average person still spends a lot of money to live comfortably.

Residents there pay an average $1,735, a month, which is 41% of their household income. Cleveland's "median household income is around $50,000, which is higher than Detroit, so it's a little bit better, but it still seems like a lot" to spend on bills, Powell says.

Still, Cleveland residents pay less than the national average across all 10 bill categories, Powell says.

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