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SLO County household bills 33% higher than national average

March 3, 2023

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Household bills in San Luis Obispo County are 33.1% higher than the United States average, according to data compiled by the bill management service Doxo.

The average SLO County household pays $2,724 per month in bills. The bills Doxo included in its data set are for rent, mortgages, auto loans, utilities, auto insurance, cable and satellite, health insurance, mobile phones, life insurance, alarm and security.

SLO County ranks as the 19th most expensive out of California’s 58 counties. Household bills in SLO County, which average $32,693 a year, account for 42 percent of an average annual household income of $77,850.

The average monthly mortgage and rent payments in SLO County are significantly higher than the respective national  averages. The average mortgage payment in SLO County is $2,292, compared to a national average of $1,321. The average rent in SLO County is $1,669, compared to a national average of $1,191.

Monthly utilities bills in SLO County, which average $347, are slightly lower than the national average of $351.

In California, Marin County has the highest average household bills total, $3,897. Del Norte County has the lowest average household bills total, $1,725.

Among SLO County cities, Morro Bay has the highest household bills average, while Paso Robles has the lowest. Doxo left Pismo Beach out of its report.

The following are the average household bill totals for the six SLO County cities that appeared in the survey:  

Morro Bay – $2,900 

Arroyo Grande – $2,852

San Luis Obispo – $2,824

Grover Beach – $2,635

Atascadero – $2,628

Paso Robles – $2,559


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Yet people from the even more expensive SoCal and Bay Area metropolitan areas continue to move here, trying to flee all the problems they created for themselves elsewhere by bringing them here. So not only does the cost of living here continue to rise, but the quality of life continues to decline.


22

$2400 to $2900 average?…. hmmmm maybe we are voting for the wrong people….


19

What a revelation I wonder how much money they paid this company from our tax’s to tell us this when all they had to do is get on the phone and ask a few people.In my view there is nothing that special about SLO County to warrant the high costs to live her because it’s sure not the high paying jobs


10

What about the high paying government jobs?


5

How many people and at what work level get paid more than they are worth. Majority of the people don’t come close to those high wages


5

Housing costs. People want to be here, but government zoning and NIMBY attitudes make it illegal to build housing.


4

News Flash: SLO county is expensive.


Cal Poly should raise tuition fees.


-10

“Wait, the bills are significantly higher than the rest of the country? I’m shocked” – said nobody


34

Regardless of what seems bad, the line for access to Bulls Tavern stretches down the street. Some still have money to spend.


9

Utility Bill’s are just under national average? Wow. We have perfect weather yet pay the same as those who run AC 24/7 in summers and heating in winters.


51

Water, trash, sewer, electric, natural gas all rely on petroleum production to some degree. We would rather import expensive petroleum instead of developing California’s resources, even though global environmental damage would be less. We lack a global approach but instead bask in self-righteous eco-jargon.


38

Yes, we only pay $4 less than people who run the AC all summer, and the heater all winter.


You would think, since we don’t run our AC all summer, and the heater all winter, that our utility bill would among the lowest in the country.


The claimed total, is more of an exclamation point on the high cost of living here, than a figure to brag about.


1