For households with the “reference person,” as the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls it, under the age of twenty-five, the average monthly electric bill was only sixty-three dollars in the northeast in the years 2021 and 2022. And only sixty-seven dollars in the midwest.
It was somewhat higher elsewhere in the country. The average monthly electric bill for households in the west under the age of twenty-five was eighty-four dollars. And in the south, it was ninety-six dollars.
The average for the six million households nationally under the age of twenty-five was eighty-two dollars. In contrast, the average for all hundred and thirty-four million households in the country, regardless of age, was considerably higher, at a hundred and thirty-five dollars.
So, households under the age of twenty-five paid electric bills that were around three-fifths of the electric bills of all households, on average.
However, electricity’s share of wallet was not much different, between the younger households, and all households. For households under the age of twenty-five, electric bills were 2.2 percent of expenditures in total on all goods and services. For all households, electric bills were 2.3 percent of expenditures in total. Younger households usually spend less on many goods and services including electricity.
Northeast households generally have the lowest electricity’s share of wallet. Electric bills averaged just 1.6 percent of household expenditures for those younger households, 1.8 percent for ages twenty-five to forty-four, 1.9 percent for ages forty-five to fifty-four, 2.1 percent for ages fifty-five to sixty-four, and 2.3 percent for ages over sixty-five households.
Southern households generally have higher electricity’s share of wallet. In particular, electric bills averaged 2.9 percent of household expenditures for ages fifty-five to sixty-four, and 3.5 percent for ages over sixty-five households.
In all four Census regions, northeast, south, midwest and west, electricity’s share of wallet is greatest for ages fifty-five to sixty-four and ages over sixty-five households. For all the other households in the country, on average, electricity’s share of wallet is around 2.0 percent. And typically, less than 2.0 percent in the northeast, midwest and west.