What U.S. Households Spend on Non-Monthly Bills (2024 BLS Data)

By Jordan Avery · Updated 2026-10-03

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In 2024, the average U.S. household spent $2,738 on property taxes, $1,993 on vehicle insurance and $737 on homeowners insurance, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Expenditure Surveys. Across the 15 non-monthly bill lines below, the average came to $8,703 a year, or about $725 a month, which is 11.1 percent of average total spending of $78,535. These are national averages over all households, including many that pay nothing for a given item, so treat them as context for your own bills rather than a target.

Average annual cost of each non-monthly bill

The table lists each line as BLS names it in Table 2500, its most detailed table for all consumer units. Amounts are 2024 annual averages per consumer unit, rounded to the nearest dollar. Most lines are bills that often arrive once, twice or four times a year. Vehicle maintenance and repairs is included as an irregular cost rather than a bill. Some households pay these items monthly or through a mortgage escrow account instead.

Share of total spending is the share BLS publishes: the line’s average as a percent of average annual expenditures, which were $78,535 in 2024. BLS lists four of these shares as too small to display. For those rows, marked “computed,” this page divides the published average by $78,535 in the same way. Monthly figures divide the unrounded BLS average by 12 and round to the nearest dollar.

BLS released the 2024 figures on December 19, 2025. It has scheduled the 2025 figures for October 29, 2026, so 2024 is the latest full year available as of this update. BLS has said the 2025 figures will include adjustments for survey data that could not be collected in October and November 2025, during the federal government shutdown.

What the Consumer Expenditure Surveys measure

BLS counts spending by “consumer unit,” not by household. Its glossary describes a consumer unit as a family, a financially independent person who lives alone or shares a home, or two or more people who live together and share major expenses. In 2024 there were 135.76 million consumer units, with an average of 2.4 people each. This page uses “household” as shorthand.

Every figure is an average across all consumer units, not only the ones that paid. The BLS guide to its tables explains that the averages cover every unit rather than only buyers, which is why published averages can look lower than expected. A household with no car still counts in the vehicle insurance average. A household with no student still counts in the tuition averages.

Property taxes show how much this matters. In 2024, 65 percent of consumer units owned their home and 35 percent rented. The $2,738 average spreads homeowners’ tax bills across renters too. The BLS housing tenure table reports a separate average for homeowners alone: $4,208 in property taxes for 2024.

BLS also publishes how often an expense appears. All 15 lines here come from its Interview Survey, where the percent reporting figure is the share of consumer units that reported the expense in a quarter. For college tuition, it was 5.35 percent. The $985 average therefore blends a small group of tuition payers with a large majority who reported none in a given quarter. BLS notes that the figure covers only the quarter and gives vehicle insurance as an example: not every household pays a premium every three months.

Each estimate also carries sampling error. BLS flags estimates with a relative standard error of 25 percent or more and advises using them with caution. None of the 15 lines here carries that flag. The least precise is Vocational and technical school tuition, at 21.3 percent.

The BLS glossary defines what each line covers. Owned dwellings include property taxes and insurance on the home a unit owns. Vehicle maintenance and repairs covers repair work plus parts, accessories, fluids and tires. Life and other personal insurance covers life insurance premiums and other non-health policies, such as liability, accident and disability coverage, other than home and vehicle insurance. Registration, driver’s license fees, inspections and vehicle personal property taxes are separate lines under Vehicle rental, leases, licenses, and other charges.

Why a national average is not your bill

A national average cannot tell you what you owe. Property tax depends on local rates and assessments. Insurance depends on the home or vehicle, the coverage and the insurer. Tuition depends on whether anyone in the household is enrolled. A renter with no car pays almost none of the home and vehicle lines above, while homeowners’ property taxes alone averaged $4,208.

Prices also move from year to year. The BLS news release shows vehicle insurance averaged $1,775 in 2023 and $1,993 in 2024, a 12.3 percent increase that BLS identifies as statistically significant. A 2024 average says little about a policy renewing in 2026 or later, so use the amount on your current renewal notice.

For planning, start from your own documents: tax bills, insurance declarations and renewal notices, registration notices and school statements. The document checklist in the irregular-expenses guide lists where to look. Check for escrow as well. If your lender collects property taxes and insurance in the mortgage payment, those costs are already monthly in your budget, so count them only once.

The national average as a planning example

This example uses only the BLS national averages from the table above. It shows the arithmetic, not a recommended amount to save. Because every line is averaged over the same consumer units, adding the lines gives the average combined spending on them.

The sums use the unrounded BLS averages, which Table 2500 publishes to the cent, so they can differ by a dollar from adding the rounded rows above. The $8,702.77 total equals 11.1 percent of average annual expenditures. That share is computed here, not published by BLS.

The total describes the average, not a typical household. It combines renters and owners, drivers and non-drivers, and households with and without students. To turn it into a plan of your own, replace each average with the amount on your bill. Delete the lines you do not pay. Add bills this list does not cover, such as association dues or annual software renewals. Then divide your own total by 12.

That monthly figure is a long-run rate. It does not guarantee the money is there when a large bill comes due. If a big bill lands early in the year, a fund that starts from zero may need an opening balance on top of the monthly amount. The annual bill calendar maps each bill to its due date and models that opening balance. The guide on how to budget for irregular expenses walks through the timing check step by step.

Non-monthly bills by region

The BLS region table publishes broader lines than Table 2500, rounded to whole dollars. It does not break out homeowners insurance, registration or tuition. It reports Education as a whole category that also includes fees, books and supplies.

Property taxes averaged $4,116 in the Northeast, more than double the South’s $2,000, even though a smaller share of Northeast consumer units owned their home. Vehicle insurance was highest in the South at $2,213 and lowest in the Midwest at $1,558. BLS assigns each consumer unit to a region by its address during the survey, and its glossary lists the states in each region. BLS also publishes standard errors for these regional figures. This page does not test whether each regional gap is statistically significant.

Regional averages can hide differences between states and counties. For local rules and due dates, see property taxes by state and confirm the details with your county or city tax office.

Bills this page leaves out

Some BLS lines were reviewed and left out of the totals:

• Health insurance averaged $4,055, but premiums are commonly paid monthly or through payroll deductions.
• Property taxes ($116) and homeowners insurance ($14) on owned vacation homes are separate lines from the main home.
• Social, recreation, and health club memberships ($272) sit under Fees and admissions, and gym-type memberships are often monthly.
• Automobile service clubs and GPS services ($19) combines club dues with services that may be billed monthly.
• Maintenance and repair services for owned homes ($1,743) are irregular project costs rather than bills. Add your own estimate if you budget for home upkeep.

Table 2500 also has no line labeled for homeowners association or condo dues. If you pay them, add them from your own statements.

This is general budgeting information based on national survey averages, not financial advice.

More detail on the biggest lines

• Property taxes: median property tax in every state and in the 100 largest counties.
• Vehicle insurance: car insurance cost by state, from NAIC data.
• Homeowners, renters and condo insurance: homeowners insurance cost by state, from NAIC data.
• How these bills change with life stage and income: non-monthly bills by age and income.
• Winter heating fuel delivered by the tank, which this table does not include: heating oil and propane prices by state.

Sources

• BLS news release on 2024 consumer expenditures (USDL-25-1586, December 19, 2025)
• BLS Table 2500: All consumer units, detailed expenditure means, shares, standard errors and percent reporting, 2024 (xlsx)
• BLS Table 1800: Region of residence, 2024 (xlsx)
• BLS Table 1710: Housing tenure, 2024 (xlsx)
• BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys glossary: consumer unit, expenditure categories and regions
• BLS CE Tables Getting Started Guide: averages, shares and percent reporting
• BLS: 2025 federal government shutdown impact on the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (2025 release date)
• BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys tables index
• BLS all consumer units detailed tables, by year