California Leads in Average Monthly Mortgage Payments; West Virginia Ranks Lowest: Report

Americans are spending the most on mortgage payments among other common bills according to a report from bill payment service, doxo. The annual Household Bill Pay report from Doxo broke down how much the average US household spends on essentials like auto loans, utilities, health insurance, rent, mortgages, and more. As per the report, household spending grew by a 4% rate on a year-on-year basis with the majority of citizens spending about $1,402 per month on mortgage payments, the most of all other common bills.

US cities with the highest and the lowest mortgage rates

Doxo used US Census mortgage data to rank the states with the highest and lowest average monthly mortgage payments. According to its ranking, California was the state with the highest mortgage rates. Furthermore, the state also had the second-highest average rent payment, as well. The average monthly mortgage in the West Coast state stood at about $2,576, which is $1,174 above the US national average. The average cost of common bills was also 38.7% higher. Moreover, the housing costs in California are 97% higher than the national average, according to RentCafe, indicating that the state is one of the most expensive states to live in.

Among the most expensive cities in California were Sunnyvale, San Jose, and San Francisco, which have deep ties to the tech industry. Sunnyvale which is home to Google, LinkedIn, and Oracle, boasted a 67% higher cost of living than the state average and 125% higher than the national average.

The state with the second highest mortgage rates was New Jersey with bills averaging at $2,460. Due to its proximity to New York City, New Jersey high home prices with the median home value in the state being $497,292, according to NBC.

On the other hand, the state with the lowest average monthly mortgage bills was West Virginia. The average bill came out to be $961 for households in the state. The state also boasted the lowest monthly rent as well.

One of the reasons behind this could be the low personal income and poor overall economic development in the state. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s data, the median household income in West Virginia stood at $55,217, which is considerably lower than the national average of $74,580.

The state with the second lowest monthly mortgage rates was Arkansas. Households in the state pay an average of $1,022 a month, per the doxo report. Much like West Virginia, Arkansas also had the second-lowest monthly rent in the U.S. However, the state does impose higher sales taxes on residents. Despite this Arkansas is considered a tax-friendly state as it does not tax Social Security retirement benefits and even the property taxes are among the lowest in the U.S., according to SmartAsset.

Expenditure on other bills

According to the CNBC report, Americans are spending about a third of their income on the core essential bills. While the U.S. Census Bureau’s data suggests that the median household income in. is $74,755, doxo’s estimate shows that the average U.S. household spends $25,513 per year on the ten most essential bills.

While mortgage payments take up a large share, the second most expensive bill was for rent at $1,300, per doxo. In a major change, auto loan and insurance bills stood at third and fifth with an average of $496 and $296 respectively marking the recent surge.