The personal finance website WalletHub this week sounded the alarm: “Crank up the air conditioner and the utility budget. July tends to be the hottest month of the year.”
To better understand the impact of energy on finances relative to residents’ location and consumption habits, WalletHub compared the total monthly energy bills in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their analysis used a special formula that accounts for the costs of electricity, natural gas, motor fuel, and home heating oil.
Overall, Virginia didn’t come out too badly, ranking at No. 20 on the list of the most energy-expensive states with a total average monthly cost of $323. This total came from an average monthly electricity bill of $149, the ninth-most expensive bill in the country; an average monthly natural gas bill of $27, the 30th-most expensive bill in the country; an average monthly motor fuel expense of $142, the 29th-most expensive bill in the country; and an average home heating oil bill of $5, the 14th most expensive bill in the country.
The state with the highest average monthly energy cost was Connecticut at $411, followed by Wyoming ($403), Massachusetts ($380), Georgia ($374), Alabama ($371), Maine ($370), Alaska ($366), Mississippi ($358), Indiana ($356), and New Hampshire ($355).
The least expensive places (42 through 51) were Nebraska ($303), Iowa ($301), Louisiana ($301), Illinois ($300), Idaho ($298), Arizona ($295), Oregon ($275), Colorado ($269), Washington ($262), and the District of Columbia ($217).