Average electric bill in America by ZIP code (2026)

The US average — $148 a month, $1,776 a year

EIA Form-861 panel data puts the average US residential electric bill at $148 a month in 2026, or $1,776 a year. That number is the simple bill total (supply + delivery + taxes + capacity + riders) averaged across all 50 states weighted by number of residential customers.

The same panel shows the average monthly usage at 877 kWh and the average all-in rate at 16.9 cents per kWh. The math is straightforward: 877 times 0.169 equals roughly $148. Variations from $148 come from either consumption (kWh) or rate (cents per kWh), and consumption is the bigger driver.

State-by-state spread — Hawaii to Utah

Hawaii leads at $186 a month. The driver is rate, not consumption — Hawaii's all-in rate is 41 cents per kWh because oil-fired generation is the marginal fuel and there is no interstate transmission to lower-cost zones. Consumption is actually low at 510 kWh per month.

Utah trails at $98 a month. Both rate and consumption are low — Utah averages 11.1 cents per kWh and 880 kWh per month. Mountain climate cuts cooling load; coal-fired generation keeps rates suppressed.

Texas, Florida, and Louisiana lead on absolute bill in the lower 48 because cooling load is high. California, Massachusetts, and New York have above-average bills despite mild climate because rates are high.

Urban vs rural — the 6 to 11 percent delta

Within a single state, urban grids run 6 to 11 percent cheaper than rural service for the same kWh consumption. The driver is delivery cost spread across customers per mile of wire. A mile of distribution wire in downtown Cleveland might serve 200 customers; a mile in rural Ohio might serve 4.

The delta does not show up cleanly on the bill because most US utilities apply uniform residential tariffs across their service territory. The cost difference is buried in the regulated tariff that already includes the cross-subsidy. Rural customers in rural-electric-cooperative (REC) territories sometimes see a separate tariff that prices the cost difference more transparently.

Why Hawaii is the most expensive — and why that will not change

Hawaii pays 41 cents per kWh because the marginal generation fuel is oil. There is no interstate gas pipeline to Hawaii. Imported LNG would cost more than oil at current prices. Coal plants are being retired. Solar and battery storage are growing fast but cannot yet displace overnight load.

The structural fix is more solar plus more storage, which Hawaii is pursuing aggressively. Rates will trend down by the late 2020s as the storage build-out matures, but Hawaii will likely remain the highest-rate state in the US for the foreseeable future because of geography.

What your bill should be — a quick sanity check

Take your monthly kWh (find it on your bill) and multiply by your state's average all-in rate (find it on EIA's site or your state PUC). If your actual bill is more than 15 percent above that benchmark, you may be on a high-priced supplier plan that is shoppable. If you are more than 25 percent above, you almost certainly are.

The supply portion is the shoppable part. Delivery, capacity, taxes, and riders are regulated and identical across all suppliers in your zone. Shopping changes only the supply line. If you can cut supply by 15 percent (typical for a fresh lock), your total bill drops by roughly 8 to 10 percent depending on your delivery share.