Where the numbers come from
Form EIA-861 is an annual survey of US electric utilities and retail providers, run by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a federal statistical agency. Utilities report their sales, revenue and customer counts by customer class, and they report service territories, reliability and net metering. We use the final 2025 data, which EIA released on October 7, 2026.
Home usage by type comes from the EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey, which measures energy use in a national sample of households. We use the 2020 results, the newest published. The data sources page lists every file.
The three formulas
| Measure | Formula | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Average price | Residential revenue divided by residential kWh sold, times 100 | Cents per kWh |
| Average use | Residential kWh sold divided by residential customers, then by 12 | kWh per month |
| Average bill | Residential revenue divided by residential customers, then by 12 | Dollars per month |
The three are linked. Use times price equals the bill, because all three come from the same revenue, sales and customer totals. For 2025 the national figures are 874 kWh a month at 17.23 cents per kWh, which gives $150.68.
Weighting and ranks
- National figures are weighted by customers. A simple average of the 50 state numbers would count a small state as much as a large one. That would not describe the average household.
- State figures cover residential customers only. Commercial, industrial and transportation customers are not included.
- Ranks run from 1 (highest) to 51. DC counts as one of the 51 places.
- Rounding. We keep full precision in calculations and round only for display: prices to two decimals in cents, bills to the cent, use to the whole kWh.
How we convert home type use to kWh
The Residential Energy Consumption Survey reports electricity use in trillion Btu for each home type, along with the number of homes in millions. To get kWh a month for one home:
- Divide the trillion Btu by the million homes to get million Btu per home.
- Multiply by 293.071 to convert million Btu to kWh.
- Divide by 12 to get a month.
For apartments in buildings with five or more units, the survey shows 475 trillion Btu across 22.84 million homes. That is 20.80 million Btu per home, or about 6,095 kWh a year, or 508 kWh a month. We check that the five end uses add up to the published total for every home type.
Source: EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, Table CE4.1.
Formulas on the cost, EV and incentive pages
| Measure | How it is worked out |
|---|---|
| Appliance running cost | Watts divided by 1,000, times hours of use, times days, times the price per kWh. Watts and hours are our planning ranges and are labeled as such. |
| EV charging cost per mile | EPA kWh per 100 miles at the wall, divided by 100, times the price per kWh. The state figure uses that state’s average residential price. |
| Gas break-even price | Charging cost per mile times the miles per gallon of the gas car. It is the gas price at which both cost the same per mile. |
| Net metering per 1,000 homes | Residential net metering customers reported by utilities, divided by residential customers, times 1,000. |
| Efficiency incentives per home | Residential customer incentives that utilities report paying in the year, divided by residential customers in the state. |
| Ports per 1,000 homes | Public charging ports counted by the Department of Energy, divided by EIA residential customers, times 1,000. |
| Utility price rank | Among utilities in the state with at least 10,000 bundled residential customers, ranked from the lowest price. |
What the numbers cannot tell you
- Averages hide spread. Within one state, prices differ by utility and bills differ by home, climate and plan.
- One year at a time. The figures describe calendar year 2025. Prices and bills move during the year.
- Survey data. The Residential Energy Consumption Survey is a sample, and it does not report bedroom counts, so our bedroom-based pages show a range between two published groups.
- County-level service areas. The territory data lists counties, not streets, so a county can have more than one utility.
- Retail choice. In states where households can pick a supplier, some utilities report only delivery. Our tables flag that where it matters.
How and when numbers are updated
We rebuild the data tables when EIA publishes a new final year, usually in the autumn, and when the Residential Energy Consumption Survey publishes new results. Pages show the data year and the date a person last reviewed them. We do not change a date to look fresh. See the editorial policy and the corrections log.
Last reviewed October 9, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Why is your price per kWh higher than the rate my supplier advertises?
Our price is total residential revenue divided by kWh sold, so it reflects what customers are billed for service. A supplier ad usually quotes only the energy rate.
Why do you not use a simple average of the states?
A simple average treats a small state like a large one. Weighting by customers describes the typical household.
Can I check a number myself?
Yes. Every figure traces to the EIA files listed on the data sources page, and the formulas above reproduce each one.