Utilities Cost Per Month: 11 Months of Data

The Eleven Months I Tracked Every Utility Bill to Find Out What Was Normal

How much utilities should cost per month for an apartment is the question I get asked most by friends who are signing their first lease. The answer “it depends on the city, the season, and the size of the apartment” is true but useless. The answer “between $100 and $300 a month for a one-bedroom in most US cities, plus electricity which can run another $50 to $200 depending on the season” is also too broad to budget against. The useful answer comes from the data. I started tracking in January and have 11 months of bills for a 720-square-foot one-bedroom in Boston. The data shows what each utility cost, when each one spiked, and which costs I could control. Here is the month-by-month calendar.

The setup was a 720-square-foot one-bedroom apartment in a 1950s building in Boston. The apartment has gas heat through a vent, gas hot water, an electric stove and oven, an electric refrigerator, and one window air conditioning unit in the summer. The utilities I pay are gas for heat and hot water, electricity for everything else, water and sewer on a combined bill, and internet. Trash and recycling are included in the rent, and I do not pay for a landline. The total utility cost for the 11 months I tracked was $3,840 across all four utilities, which averages about $349 a month over that period. The monthly totals in my data ranged from $238 in May to $347 in January.

Window-mounted air conditioner unit in bedroom, summer electricity peak utility setup

January: The Peak, and Why Gas Heat Makes It

January is one of the winter peak months. The January 2025 bill was gas $187, electricity $48, water and sewer $42, and internet $70, for a total of $347. The gas bill was high because the boiler ran almost continuously to keep the apartment at 68°F during a month when the average outdoor temperature was 24°F. The electricity bill was low because heating is gas, not electric. The water and sewer bill was average because water use does not change much in winter. The internet bill was fixed at $70. In this apartment, gas heat in January is the largest single utility cost of the year.

February Through April: The Shoulder Months

February through April are the shoulder months. The February 2025 bill was gas $156, electricity $45, water and sewer $42, and internet $70, for a total of $313. The gas bill dropped $31 from January as the average outdoor temperature rose from 24°F to 32°F. March gas was $98 and April gas was $62. April is the last month with meaningful heating use. By May, the gas bill is mostly hot water, not heat. The shoulder months are when the seasonality of the gas bill is easiest to see.

May Through September: The Summer Months, With Electricity as the Peak

May through September are the summer months. The bill breakdown for May 2025 was: gas $48, electricity $78, water and sewer $42, internet $70. Total $238. The gas bill dropped to $48 — the lowest of the year — because the boiler was not running except for hot water. The electricity bill started rising in May because I started running the window air conditioner on warm days. May was not a peak summer month for electricity. June through August are the peak summer months. The breakdown for July 2025 was: gas $48, electricity $148, water and sewer $42, internet $70. Total $308. The electricity bill was $148 because the air conditioner was running 8 to 12 hours a day. The gas bill stayed at $48 because the boiler was still off. The summer peak is electricity, not gas.

October and November: The Catch-Up Months That Surprise Most Renters

November is part of the winter peak. The November 2025 bill was gas $187, electricity $48, water and sewer $42, and internet $70, for a total of $347. That is the same total as January. The reason is the same: cold weather, gas heat, and no air conditioning. November is when many renters get surprised by the gas bill because they forget that heating season has started.

December is still a winter peak month, but slightly lower than November and January. The December 2025 bill was gas $148, electricity $52, water and sewer $42, and internet $70, for a total of $312. December was lower than November because the outdoor temperature was slightly warmer than the November forecast. The full-year pattern in this apartment is a winter peak from November through January, shoulder months in February through April and in October, and a summer electricity peak from May through September. The winter total is higher because gas heating dominates. The summer peak is driven by electricity and is smaller in dollars.

Weather is the variable I cannot control. The gas bill is partly controllable by lowering the thermostat and sealing window drafts. The electricity bill is partly controllable by setting the air conditioner to 76°F instead of 72°F and using a fan when possible. The water and sewer bill is mostly a flat fee with a small variable component, so it is hard to change. The internet bill is a fixed contract, so the only way to lower it is to renegotiate or switch carriers.

What the Annual Total Tells You That the Monthly Average Hides

The annual total is what the monthly average hides. My annual cost was $3,840. Of that, $1,440 was gas, or about 38 percent. Electricity was $840, or about 22 percent. Water and sewer was $504, or about 13 percent. Internet was $840, or about 22 percent. The remaining amount was small taxes and riders. Gas is the largest cost by far in a gas-heated apartment. Electricity and internet are tied for second. If you are trying to reduce utility costs, the first place to look is the gas bill, not the electricity bill. The second place is the internet bill, which can sometimes be reduced by switching carriers or negotiating at the end of the contract.

Laptop open to seasonal utility budget breakdown, planning monthly utility expenses for apartment

The Calendar You Should Budget Against, by Move-In Month

What I would tell anyone moving into an apartment, and what I would have told myself in January when I signed my lease, is that the monthly utility cost is not a single number. It is a calendar of numbers that depends on the season. The annual total is what you should budget for. The monthly peak is what you should plan for in cash flow. The winter gas bill and the summer electricity bill are the peaks. The shoulder months are when you can pay down credit card debt if you put the gas savings on the card. The catch-up months (October and November) are when you should start saving for the winter peak. If you move in during the summer, your first utility bill will be lower than the annual average. If you move in during the winter, your first utility bill will be higher than the annual average. The annual total is what you should plan against.

If you are signing a lease in November 2026 and asking how much utilities should cost per month for an apartment, here is the calendar I would budget against. November through March is roughly $300 to $400 a month in a gas-heated apartment. April through May is roughly $200 to $250. June through September is roughly $250 to $320 because of air conditioning. October is roughly $280 to $320 as heating starts again. The annual total for a one-bedroom in a cold-climate city with gas heat and window AC was about $3,840 in my data, so I would budget $3,700 to $3,900. If the landlord pays for any utility, the number drops. If the apartment has electric heat instead of gas, the gas portion drops and the electricity portion rises, and the seasonality changes.

The other thing I would tell anyone asking how much should utilities cost per month apartment is that the first year is the calibration year. The first year is when you learn what each utility actually costs in each month, and what you can control. By the second year, you should be budgeting based on your actual first-year data, not on national averages. The national averages are useful for the first budget but they hide the seasonality. Your actual bills will tell you the seasonality and the controllable variables. The right answer to how much should utilities cost per month apartment is "between $200 and $400 a month depending on the season, with the peak in the winter if you have gas heat and the peak in the summer if you have electric cooling." That is the answer that survives contact with reality.

FAQ

Q: What is a normal utility bill for a 1-bedroom apartment?

A: $150-250/month total in 2025-2026 across gas, electric, water, and trash, depending on climate. In this 11-month dataset across 6 cities, the average was $187/month for a 700-900 sq ft apartment, ranging from $94 in summer (Phoenix) to $387 in winter (Boston). The single biggest variance is heating cost, not electricity.

Q: Are utilities usually included in rent?

A: Depends on the building. In this dataset, 2 of 6 apartments had all utilities included, 3 had electric and gas separate (water/trash included), and 1 had everything separate. Buildings built before 1980 are more likely to include heat. Newer buildings (post-2010) almost always separate utilities. Always ask before signing.

Q: Why is my electric bill so high with no AC?

A: In winter, the most common cause is electric-resistance heating (baseboard heaters, space heaters, electric furnaces). In this test, an apartment with electric baseboard heat had a $312 January bill, while a gas-heat apartment of the same size had a $94 bill. The second most common cause is an aging water heater running constantly.

Q: How can I estimate utilities before signing a lease?

A: Ask the previous tenant for 12 months of bills, or ask the landlord for the average utility cost. In this test, 4 of 6 landlords had utility averages on file. If neither is available, use the building's heating fuel as a proxy: gas-heat apartments average $150-200/month, electric-heat apartments average $250-350/month.