Average Electric Bill by State (2026): Monthly Cost in Every State

Short answer: the average US household paid $142 a month for electricity in 2024, the latest full year the Energy Information Administration has published. It used 863 kWh a month at an average of 16.5¢ per kWh. Bills ranged from $93 in New Mexico to $212 in Hawaii. Prices kept rising in 2026: from January to August they averaged 18.2¢, up from 17.0¢ in the same months of 2025, so the same use would cost about $157 a month at this year’s prices.

Your own bill depends on two things: how many kWh you use and what you pay for each one. The table below has both for every state.

Average electric bill by state

The first three columns are the EIA’s 2024 figures for residential customers (Table 5A): the average monthly bill, the average monthly use and the average price, which is what customers paid, delivery charges included, divided by the kWh they used. The price for January to August 2026 is from the EIA’s Electric Power Monthly. The last column is our rough estimate: 2024 use times the 2026 price.

State	Average bill, 2024	Average use, 2024	Price, 2024	Price, Jan–Aug 2026	Rough 2026 bill
Alabama	$174	1,143 kWh	15.2¢	16.5¢	$189
Alaska	$144	578 kWh	24.8¢	27.3¢	$158
Arizona	$160	1,075 kWh	14.9¢	15.4¢	$165
Arkansas	$129	1,048 kWh	12.3¢	13.7¢	$144
California	$161	503 kWh	32.0¢	32.6¢	$164
Colorado	$101	674 kWh	14.9¢	16.8¢	$113
Connecticut	$200	695 kWh	28.7¢	27.5¢	$191
Delaware	$151	911 kWh	16.6¢	18.0¢	$164
District of Columbia	$113	639 kWh	17.7¢	24.9¢	$159
Florida	$156	1,104 kWh	14.1¢	15.3¢	$169
Georgia	$151	1,074 kWh	14.1¢	15.5¢	$166
Hawaii	$212	495 kWh	42.9¢	46.4¢	$230
Idaho	$109	944 kWh	11.5¢	13.0¢	$123
Illinois	$110	693 kWh	15.9¢	19.2¢	$133
Indiana	$133	901 kWh	14.8¢	17.0¢	$154
Iowa	$112	832 kWh	13.4¢	14.6¢	$121
Kansas	$124	876 kWh	14.1¢	15.3¢	$134
Kentucky	$134	1,047 kWh	12.8¢	14.2¢	$149
Louisiana	$141	1,202 kWh	11.7¢	13.3¢	$159
Maine	$134	550 kWh	24.3¢	30.2¢	$166
Maryland	$166	929 kWh	17.9¢	21.3¢	$198
Massachusetts	$167	570 kWh	29.3¢	30.2¢	$172
Michigan	$119	618 kWh	19.3¢	21.7¢	$134
Minnesota	$110	712 kWh	15.5¢	16.4¢	$117
Mississippi	$155	1,156 kWh	13.4¢	15.1¢	$174
Missouri	$129	1,001 kWh	12.9¢	14.3¢	$143
Montana	$108	852 kWh	12.7¢	14.1¢	$120
Nebraska	$110	956 kWh	11.5¢	12.9¢	$124
Nevada	$139	930 kWh	15.0¢	13.4¢	$124
New Hampshire	$145	619 kWh	23.4¢	26.9¢	$167
New Jersey	$128	662 kWh	19.3¢	24.1¢	$160
New Mexico	$93	654 kWh	14.2¢	15.3¢	$100
New York	$140	571 kWh	24.4¢	29.3¢	$167
North Carolina	$143	1,015 kWh	14.1¢	14.9¢	$152
North Dakota	$118	1,029 kWh	11.5¢	12.5¢	$128
Ohio	$135	846 kWh	16.0¢	18.8¢	$159
Oklahoma	$132	1,079 kWh	12.2¢	13.8¢	$149
Oregon	$130	882 kWh	14.7¢	15.5¢	$136
Pennsylvania	$145	817 kWh	17.8¢	21.1¢	$173
Rhode Island	$162	567 kWh	28.6¢	29.1¢	$165
South Carolina	$150	1,050 kWh	14.2¢	15.9¢	$167
South Dakota	$128	994 kWh	12.9¢	14.6¢	$145
Tennessee	$143	1,154 kWh	12.4¢	13.8¢	$159
Texas	$164	1,096 kWh	14.9¢	16.0¢	$176
Utah	$95	774 kWh	12.2¢	13.2¢	$102
Vermont	$126	574 kWh	21.9¢	23.9¢	$137
Virginia	$149	1,032 kWh	14.4¢	16.9¢	$175
Washington	$114	955 kWh	11.9¢	14.4¢	$138
West Virginia	$155	1,027 kWh	15.1¢	15.6¢	$160
Wisconsin	$111	645 kWh	17.2¢	19.1¢	$123
Wyoming	$108	863 kWh	12.5¢	14.0¢	$121
United States	$142	863 kWh	16.5¢	18.2¢	$157

Read the last column as a ballpark, not a forecast. It keeps 2024’s use, and the 2026 price covers only January to August, so it leaves out the rest of the year and any change in how much people use.

Which states pay the most, and why

A high bill comes from a high price, heavy use, or both, and the table shows each:

• Hawaii had the highest bill in 2024 ($212) even though its homes used the least electricity (495 kWh a month): its price, 42.9¢, was the highest in the country.
• Connecticut ($200) and Massachusetts ($167) are price-driven too, at around 29¢ per kWh with below-average use.
• Alabama ($174), Texas ($164) and Mississippi ($155) are use-driven: prices close to or below the US average, but homes using around 1,100 kWh a month or more. Louisiana used the most of all, 1,202 kWh a month.
• California shows the opposite: the lowest use in the contiguous states (503 kWh) and the second-highest price (32.0¢), for a bill of $161.

The cheapest bills were in New Mexico ($93), Utah ($95) and Colorado ($101), where both price and use are on the low side.

Are electric bills going up in 2026?

Prices are. The US residential price averaged 18.2¢ per kWh from January to August 2026, against 17.0¢ in the same months of 2025, a rise of about 7%. Only three states paid less than a year earlier: Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The biggest increases were in the District of Columbia (24.9¢, up from 21.2¢), New Hampshire, Hawaii, Ohio and Virginia, all up 13% or more (Table 5.6.B). Why prices are rising, and why a single bill can jump, is in our guide to why electric bills are going up.

Whether your bill goes up as much depends on your use. A mild summer or a more efficient appliance can offset part of a price rise; a heat wave can add to it. The changes that cut the most kWh, ranked, are in our guide to how to lower your electric bill.

Average electric bill for an apartment vs a house

The EIA’s state figures mix every kind of home. Its Residential Energy Consumption Survey splits use by home type; the latest consumption figures are from the 2020 survey (RECS, Table CE2.1). Converted to kWh a month, and priced at the 2026 US average of 18.2¢ (our calculation, so a rough guide):

Home type	Average use (2020)	At 18.2¢ per kWh
Single-family detached house	1,033 kWh	about $188 a month
Single-family attached (townhouse)	703 kWh	about $128 a month
Apartment, building with 2–4 units	554 kWh	about $101 a month
Apartment, building with 5 or more units	508 kWh	about $92 a month
All homes	882 kWh	about $160 a month

A typical apartment in a larger building uses about half the electricity of a detached house. Your share also depends on what runs on electricity: an apartment with electric heat or an electric water heater can use far more than one heated by gas. The survey’s figures are averages per household that uses electricity, in every climate.

How to compare your own bill

1. Find your kWh for the month and the total on your bill. Divide the total by the kWh to get what you really pay per kWh, fees included, the same way the EIA’s price is calculated.
2. Compare each one with your state’s row. Higher use points to heating, cooling, a water heater or an old appliance; a higher price points to your rate plan or your utility.
3. Check whether your utility offers a different rate plan, such as time-of-use, and what it would mean for the hours you use most.

Can plug-in solar cut your bill?

It can trim the part you use while the sun is up, and it’s worth more where the price per kWh is high: every kWh a plug-in system makes and you use on the spot is one you don’t buy at your state’s price. It won’t erase a bill, and in a state with cheap power it pays back slowly: see how much plug-in solar saves in each state. First check whether it’s allowed where you live, in our guide to plug-in solar laws by state. Then run your numbers in the plug-in solar calculator, which uses your state’s EIA rate, real solar data for your city and your own self-consumption. New to it? Start with what plug-in solar is.

How we got these numbers

The 2024 bills, use and prices are the EIA’s own figures from its annual Electric Sales, Revenue, and Average Price report (Table 5A, released October 7, 2025), for residential customers in each state. The 2026 prices are year to date through August 2026, from Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.B. The home-type figures are from RECS 2020 Table CE2.1, converted from million Btu to kWh at 3,412 Btu per kWh. The rough 2026 bills and the home-type bills are our calculations from those figures, shown so you can check them. The EIA lists the annual report as discontinued after the 2024 edition, so we’ll keep the 2026 column current from the monthly price data. Data checked October 26, 2026.