Cost Of Household Bills Increasing: How Much Wayne Residents Pay

WAYNE, NJ — It certainly isn’t cheap to live in New Jersey, and a new study shows just how much more Wayne residents are forking over for their monthly bills than the average American.

The doxoINSIGHTS 2024 U.S. Household Bill Pay Report found that consumers across the country saw the amount they pay to keep up on household bills increase 4 percent since last year.

The report, which reflects actual bill payment activity in more than 97 percent of U.S. zip codes, identifies the most and least expensive states for Americans to live in — based on average monthly spending on actual household bill payments.

The average American household spends $25,513 per year, or 34 percent of their income, on the most common bills, the study found. doxoINSIGHTS included the following bills in its calculations: Mortgage and rent, utilities, car loans, mobile phone, cable and internet, home security, and coverage for auto, home, and life insurance.

In the Garden State, the average cost is higher - which may not come as a surprise to residents in the state with the highest property taxes in the nation. The average household in New Jersey was found to pay $2,802 per month, or $33,627 per year on bills.

The latest doxoINSIGHTS report says New Jersey residents' bills are $8,114 higher per year than the U.S. average, which is actually a slight decrease from last year’s amount of $8,165. It still makes New Jersey the fourth-most expensive state when it comes to the average cost of bill payments, the study said.

Wayne Township residents have higher annual bills than the state average — and $13,988 (or 54.8 percent) more than the national average, the study said.

The average household in Wayne pays $3,292 per month, or $39,500 per year on bills, the study found. Most of this money goes to housing, with mortgages and rent eating up a majority of the cost. Per the study, the average monthly mortgage bill in Wayne is $3,264, compared to $1,403 nationally; and the average monthly rent bill is $2,038 in Wayne and $1,300 nationally.

In last year's study, the average household in Wayne paid $3,321 per month, or $39,847 per year on bills.

You can explore more of the data here.