Average monthly utility costs?

[MommyMK]

We have been living somewhere with monthly utility costs included for the last 10 years and that may be changing soon. Can you share what you pay on average for monthly utility costs, where you live and what size home you have?
Electric, gas or oil, water and sewer, garbage, what else am I missing?
Thanks!

ETA: We are in the midatlantic region. Thank you!!

 

[ImDMous]

I think this is going to vary greatly by where you are.

Southern Cal, 1900 sq ft

Gas & Electric in 1 bill: max it's ever been $250 when air is on all the time, minimum $75 during spring when no heat or air is needed. Over a year the average is probably about $150/month.
Water: $80-100/month
Sewer and garbage in 1 bill: $60 every 2 months

 

[wenrob]

Yeah, it's going to vary a lot by where you live. I'm in the desert, 2,450 sq ft house, upstairs/downstairs w/2 ACs.

Power- Fall/Winter $220 ish, by the time I get it back down to that Spring hits and it starts climbing again.
Spring/Summer $250-$500 once Spring hits I start adding $50-$100 extra to my bill so I don't get hit all at once with a $500 bill. I've only hit $500 a couple of times but it's regularly $400+ in the summer and that's me being conservative with the AC. Kicker? My DH works for the power company/makes the power. No, we don't get a discount and there's nothing I can do about your bill.

Gas-$80 ish in Winter, $25-$30 in Summer

Water- Steadily in the $35 range. We have desert landscaping and no grass so it doesn't go up in the Summer.

Sewer- $250 a year

Trash- $350 a year

Don't forget you will most likely need deposits for all of these and maintenance you'll need to do on your own.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

South Jersey. My water, sewer and trash is included in my rent.

My electric and gas is on an equal monthly payment plan. $218 a month. I like this better than having $500 bills in July, August, December and January.

 

[brooke789]

Electric - 100-150/month
Water (includes sewer, garbage and recycling) $75/month

In SC with 1500 sq ft home.

 

[Branflakes]

Just outside Raleigh, NC
GAS: $125mo colder season $75 warm we have central heat, but our direct vent gas fireplace heats our entire home very well so that's what we use.
ELECTRIC:$115 cold season $250-$300 warm season. Higher amount in height of summer heat. We keep it 72 during the day, 65 for sleeping.
We do have a brand new A/C ($6500) because our older one was inefficient and summer bills were hitting over $500.
TRASH/RECYCLE:$50, this includes an extra charge for an additional recycle bin. Yes, we have to pay extra for being diligent about recycling.
WATER: $60 except for spring summer watering of the lawn plants etc. Then it's $130
All per month.

 

[scrapquitler]

We have been living somewhere with monthly utility costs included for the last 10 years and that may be changing soon. Can you share what you pay on average for monthly utility costs, where you live and what size home you have?
Electric, gas or oil, water and sewer, garbage, what else am I missing?
Thanks!

You are going to get answers that are all over the place, especially for something like oil/gas -- what I pay in Vermont is not going to compare with what someone in Florida pays. You need to narrow by geography at least.

That said: 1500 square foot house in Vermont. We heat with propane. Last winter I spent about $2000 for propane (from Oct-late April). Our electric is on a budget plan, it costs me about $160/month (our water heater is electric). We have no water/sewer charge because we are on a well and septic. Pumping the septic every 2 years costs about $350. A new well pump cost $1200 two years ago. Trash is not provided by our town. We have to take our stuff to the transfer station, and we pay $2.50 per black trash bag. I could have a company come and collect it once a week, but when I tried that, the bears hijacked my garbage can and dragged it into the woods, so it's not a good option. Snowplowing costs $40 every time the plow guy comes, add $150 if the backhoe guy has to come and move the piles before the winter is over. I think we spent a total of about $500 this past winter. Internet service is $60 a month because we have to have satellite, and we only get to use 15 GIG per month unless we want to pay $10 per gig overage.

This probably has no relevance to where you live if you are in a suburban warmer weather area, but you asked.

 

[Minnesota!]

Twin Cities, MN

Smaller house - 900 sq feet + basement.

$122/month for heat/electricity/gas
$13/month for garbage
$50/month for water.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Michigan, 2400 sq. ft. home

$182 for gas/electric per month (using budget billing to even out the highs and lows)
$35-40 per month for water/sewer
No garbage/recycle fees (included in township taxes)

 

[PrncessA]

It really does vary depending on where you live. I live in the suburbs of Chicago in a fairly new 2400sq ft townhouse. Our HOA does all the landscaping and watering of the lawn so we only used water indoors.

Electric: $83 a month. We do the budget plan to keep our costs down during the awful winters here. Ours is about to go up a bit I believe.
Water/Sewer: Averages $39 a month
Gas: $38, again we do the budget plan to keep the winters lower.
Garbage/Recycling: $89 3x's a year.

 

[mjkacmom]

NJ, gas/electric $400, water $50, everything else included in our property taxes ($12,000), 1800 square foot home.

 

[Judique]

Midatlantic area - Maryland - 1500 sg ft - older single family home

Gas - $55/month yearly average
water and sewer - $40/month average
electric - $155/month yearly average
Trash collection is in our taxes and is roughly $30/month

So, about $280/month.

I think electric could be lower if I paid attention - turned off lights, etc. I may not go to my basement all week when I'm working and then go down there Saturday morning to do laundry and find 4 or 5 lights on....that I left on the previous Saturday when I did laundry last. Can't blame the kids....
I also have a habit of falling asleep with the tv and lights on.....

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

Central KS--2500 sq. ft. two story home. City bill includes electric, water, and trash--can range from $175 in early spring to $575 in summer months. Average bill is around $275-300. We also have gas which is on a equalled out plan and that is about $70 a month. For as cheap as everything else is around here, our city doesn't want make our bill that way at all

 

[dclpluto]

1144 square foot house. South jersey

Electric averages 175 a month.

Oil for heat about 400 a year.

No sewer, no water. Own system

Garbage included with taxes

 

[bigbabyblues]

2500 sq foot home, rural Ohio

Electric $100 winter/$150-ish when we run the a/c
Natural gas - $50-55
Water/sewage/trash/recycling - $70 or so a month

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

NE Florida (outside Jacksonville)

Electric $177 a month (budget billing) Electric co-op, low rates
No gas
Water/sewer $65-70 a month
Trash/recycling $17 a month

 

[kydisneyfans]

Central KY
2000 sq ft newer home, 4 occupants

Water, Sewer, Trash: 60-75 per month
electric:Budget is 182 per month
gas: budget is 67 per month

We work from home, so they systems are running 24/7. Our electric bill is higher as a result.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Louisville, KY - 2300 sq ft home with 2 adults.

Water - $125 every other month
Electric - We are on the "budget" where they bill us the same every month and then we settled up any differences once a year - $150/month
We are an all electric house, so no gas bill.
Trash/Recycle - included in our taxes

 

[cvjw]

Metro Atlanta. 4000 square foot home. 2 heat pumps, but we don't keep our home especially cool in the summer or warm in the winter.

Electricity - $100 in the winter, can be $225 in the summer
Natural Gas - $40 in the summer, can be $100 in the winter
Water - about $60 per month, can be $100 in the summer when I water my yard. Sewer included
Trash - $30 per month for twice weekly pickup at my garage - not curb service. Recycling included
Property taxes - $2500 per year

 

[MrPTato]

New Hampshire here. 3000sq ft. 4 floors
Electric Average about $90, more in summer (a/c) and less in winter
Gas is about $70 average, low as $35 in summer and $150 in winter
Water is about $30/month
Sewer is about $12/month
Cable/Internet $100/month
Trash/lawn included in HOA fees $221/month along with plowing and shoveling in winter
Taxes $4,000/yr