doxoINSIGHTS » Where Illinois Household Expenses are the Highest in 2022

Where Illinois Household Expenses are the Highest in 2022

How does living in the Land of Lincoln affect your wallet? doxo breaks down key insights about Illinois household expenses, with a close eye to how bills differ in towns and cities. On average, Illinois household expenses, doxo’s data reveals, are $2,029 per month.

doxo’s data also has infographics for 206 cities and towns across Illinois, breaking down localized bill pay data figures as well. The state-wide rankings for most and least expensive cities provide insight into cost of living in Illinois and how it changes according to location.

The data sheds light on Illinois’s cost of living through other metrics, too. For example, the “percent of household income” data point shows what percentage of household income local residents spend on bills. doxo’s data also indicates how much more or less expensive specific cities are than the national and state average.

Illinois residents pay $2,029 in household bills a month

The average Illinois household pays $2,029 a month for the 10 most common household bills. This figure takes into account the 10 most common household bills, which are: Mortgage; Rent; Auto Loan; Utilities (electric, gas, water & sewer, and waste & recycling); Auto Insurance; Cable & Internet & Phone, Health Insurance (consumer paid portion); Mobile Phone; Alarm & Security; and Life Insurance.

Illinois residents pay average household bill expenses: the state ranks 16th out of 50 states in terms of average monthly spending. This is 1.3% higher than the national average of $2,003.

Slightly more expensive than Illinois is Delaware, where residents pay $2,057 a month on average; slightly more affordable is Wyoming, where residents pay $2,022.

The most expensive state for household expenses is Hawaii, where residents pay $2,911 per month. The most affordable state, meanwhile, is West Virginia, where bills average $1,452 per month.

Absolute dollar amounts don’t tell the full story, however. The “percentage of household income” metric provides a more proportional look at bill spending in a particular location. Illinois households spend 36% of their income on household costs, which is a much lower share than many states where households pay more affordable bills. For example, Mississippi residents, though they live in the third most affordable state for bills, spend just 42% of household income on them.

Annually, Illinois residents pay $118 billion in household bills. See more data about bill pay in Illinois by clicking on the infographic link below.

Data: doxoINSIGHTS’ bill pay infographic about Illinois

• Average Bill Cost per HH: $2,029 per month
• State Bill Pay Market Size: $118 billion
• doxoINSIGHTS State Rank: 16 out of 50
• Percent of HHI Used for Bills: 36%
• Difference from the National Average: 1.3% higher

Mortgage in Illinois is 15% higher than the national average

The average Illinois household pays $2,029 in the 10 most common household bills per month. Housing costs deviate from the national average in a surprising pattern: mortgage rates in Illinois are substantially higher per household than the national average, whereas rents are substantially lower. The average mortgage is $1,566 per month in Illinois compared to the national average of $1,368: 15% higher than the national average. Rent, meanwhile, at $1,065 in Illinois compared to $1,129 nationally, is 6% lower than the national average.

Utilities is also a category where Illinois residents save substantially compared to the national average. The average Illinois household spends $305 on their utility bill, compared to the national average of $328.

Health insurance is also an area in which Illinois residents save compared to the national average. The average household in the state pays $112 a month for health insurance bills, compared to the national average of $123, making the costs 9% lower than the national average.

Note: Health Insurance and Life Insurance expenses do not account for payments made by employers on behalf of employees. These just include out-of-pocket expenses. Also, the state and national bill totals take into account the percentage of households that pay a bill.

Average Illinois Household Bill Spending

Hinsdale is the most expensive area for Illinois household bills

Residents of Hinsdale pay the highest household bills in the state of Illinois, at an average of $3,471 per month. Lake Forest comes in second in the rankings, with residents paying an average of $3,394 on household expenses.

Residents of the top two areas, plus the third–Winnetka–though they pay some of the most expensive bills in the state, spend a very low share of household income on bills compared to the state average: 23%, 24%, and 23%, compared to the state average of 36%. compared to 40%. In fact, all but one of the areas on the list of the 10 most expensive towns in Illinois spend substantially under the state average in terms of share of income devoted to bills.

Also on the list of the most expensive areas to pay household bills in Illinois are Lake Zurich ($3,289 per month), Highland Park ($2,993 per month), and Deerfield ($2,940 per month).

Access detailed infographics about each city or town by clicking on the hyperlinks in the “City” column in the tables below. You can also browse doxoINSIGHTS’ regional bill comparison database to see infographics about more than 4,200 cities and towns across all 50 states in the US.

10 Most Expensive Illinois Cities for Household Bills

*Household Bill Pay Expense averages shown above reflect the ten most common bills paid, including housing (rent/mortgage).

Olney is the most affordable place in Illinois for household bills

Out of 207 cities and towns for which doxoINSIGHTS provides data, Olney is the most affordable place in Illinois, with residents paying $1,319 on average for household bills. They spend a slightly lower share of their income on household bills than the Illinois average, at 35%, though nowhere near as low as Hinsdale’s 23%.

Galesburg is second most affordable area on the list, with residents paying an average of $1,345 on household bills.

Also on the list of most affordable cities and towns in Illinois are East Saint Louis ($1,367 a month), Streator ($1,395 a month), and Taylorville ($1,440 a month).

10 Most Affordable Illinois Cities for Household Bills

In the wake of the rise of remote work, some individuals may be deciding whether to move from a more expensive city to a less expensive one. doxoINSIGHTS can be a valuable resource for consumers seeking to make key decisions like this, allowing them to compare Illinois’s household expenses against average bills in different cities and states across the country. They can also use doxoINSIGHTS’ regional bill comparison database to compare average costs for over 900 towns and cities across the country.