Report: Culpeper monthly bills 18% more than national average
This article was originally posted on StarExponent.com
Culpeper County residents pay 18 percent more than the national average for the top 10 monthly household bills, according to a 2024 Cost of Bills Index Report released in June by doxo, a Seattle-based bill pay firm.
The average county household pays $2,502 a month, or 33% of average annual household income for the 10 most common household bills.
This is higher than the national average of $2,126, and 4% higher than the state average of $2,406, according to a release. Culpeper is the #39 most expensive county in Virginia for household bills, according to the doxo rating, with a Cost of Bills Index number of 118.
According to the most recent doxo analysis, the average monthly mortgage in Culpeper is $1,584 and the average rent is $1,347. Other averages for monthly bills paid by Culpeper residents are: $562 for auto loans, $357 for utilities, $78 for health insurance, $268 for auto insurance, $171 for cable & internet, $171 for cell phone, $102 for alarm & security and $85 for life insurance.
Top service providers being paid bills in Culpeper, according to doxo, are the Town of Culpeper which provides utilities, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Dominion, County Waste & Recycling, Columbia Gas, Mountaineer Gas, Anthem, Aqua, Lakeview Loan Servicing, Pacific Gas & Electric and Quarles Petroleum. Of bill payers in Culpeper, 80 percent pay with a debit card.
Culpeper was ranked No. 17 for most expensive of 114 counties in Virginia while neighboring Fauquier came in at No. 9 for most expensive counties. Orange County came in at No. 31 for most expensive monthly bills, Madison was No. 41 and Fredericksburg came in at No. 11 most expensive.
Liz Powell, Senior Director, Insights at doxo, asked about what inflates monthly bills, mentioned housing.
“In any given area, rent and/or mortgage usually either drives up or down the cost of living. In places where these categories tend to be high, the total cost of household bills is usually higher than the national average. When they are lower, the cost of living is lower,” she said.
Auto loans are significantly higher in Culpeper compared to nationwide, Powell said.
“When auto loans are high, we see that this is often the case for a few reasons: in bigger, expensive cities where people tend to drive nice cars, and in colder climates/rural areas where residents tend to own bigger/more durable/expensive vehicles designed to withstand inclement weather,” she said.
Fairfax Station ranked as the most expensive for average monthly bills in Virginia at $3,947 followed by Falls Church at $3,627.
The least expensive monthly bills in Virginia were in Scott County ($1,249), Carroll ($1,324) and Wythe ($1,340), according to the analysis.
The top five most expensive states in the U.S., according to the Cost of Bills Index, are: Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland. The least expensive states are: West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky.
Virginia ranked in the study as the 13th most expensive state with $2,406 spent on average for the 10 monthly bills, 13 percent higher than nationwide.