Mobile phone bills hit USD $172 billion in US homes

Doxo has published a report showing that 88% of U.S. households pay a mobile phone bill. The study puts median annual household spending on mobile service at USD $1,200.

Based on bill payment activity across 97% of U.S. ZIP codes, the report estimates the U.S. mobile phone bill market at USD $172 billion a year. It puts the typical household's mobile service cost at USD $100 a month, making it one of the country's most common recurring household expenses.

Mobile phone bills are the second most common household expense in the United States after electricity, which reaches 90% of homes, according to the findings. Mobile service appears in more households than cable and satellite, water and sewer, or natural gas.

The data also points to significant variation in spending by state and city. Delaware recorded the highest median annual mobile phone bill among states at USD $1,630, followed by Montana at USD $1,545, Alaska at USD $1,500, Kentucky at USD $1,434 and New Jersey at USD $1,361.

Among large cities, San Diego had the highest median annual bill at USD $2,035. Memphis followed at USD $1,976, ahead of Rochester at USD $1,881, Birmingham at USD $1,658 and Philadelphia at USD $1,543.

Those figures suggest household spending on mobile service can vary sharply even within a national market dominated by large carriers and bundled offers. The city rankings also show that some urban areas face annual bills well above the national median.

Doxo said its analysis draws on actual household bill payments rather than survey responses alone. Its broader data set covers more than 10 million paying consumers, more than 120,000 billers and 45 service categories.

The report comes as competition in the U.S. mobile sector continues to expand beyond traditional wireless operators. Comcast's Xfinity Mobile and Charter's Spectrum Mobile added a combined 854,000 lines in the second quarter, even as both companies lost television customers.

That trend reflects a broader push by cable groups to use mobile offers to strengthen customer relationships as legacy pay-TV businesses shrink. It also adds pressure in a market where mobile service is increasingly viewed as a household necessity rather than an optional purchase.

Doxo used the report to argue that the mobile phone bill has become embedded in day-to-day household finances. One effect of that shift, it said, is that regular increases in monthly costs may attract less scrutiny than one-off spending decisions.

Steve Shivers, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at doxo, said the company released the figures to show how central the expense has become for households.

"Our phones have become essential to how we work, navigate, organize and interact. With that, the phone bill has gone from discretionary to obligatory - it's become a foundational expense of modern life," said Steve Shivers, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at doxo.

He also pointed to the way recurring expenses can rise without drawing much attention from consumers who see them as unavoidable parts of monthly budgets.

"But the expense has continually crept up while nobody was watching. That's the reason we put these numbers out. A bill you never question is exactly the one worth checking," Shivers said.

The company said the mobile phone findings are part of its broader work on household bill payments and living costs. Its reporting is based on aggregate payment data and consumer survey information designed to track how common bills affect household finances across states, counties and cities.

The results underline the scale of the mobile bill as a routine cost for U.S. consumers, both in reach and total spending. At USD $172 billion a year, it is one of the country's largest household payment categories.