U.S. cable bills near electricity costs, doxo says
Fri, 28th Aug 2026 (Today)
doxo has published research showing that U.S. households pay a median USD $125 a month for cable and satellite service. The report estimates the market at USD $172 billion a year.
It found that 74% of households pay for cable or satellite television, with a median annual bill of USD $1,500. That puts the category just USD $4 below the typical household electricity bill, which the report placed at a median USD $129 a month.
The figures are drawn from bill payment activity from more than 10 million consumers and cover 97% of U.S. ZIP codes, doxo said. Its network includes more than 120,000 billers across 45 service categories.
The data comes as large pay-TV providers continue to lose subscribers. EchoStar ended the second quarter with 6.4 million Dish and Sling subscribers after losing 241,000, while Comcast fell to 10.7 million after losing 280,000 and Charter dropped to 12.5 million after losing 21,000.
The contrast suggests household spending on cable and satellite remains substantial even as the traditional pay-TV base contracts. Median bills can continue rising through price increases, bundled services and customer inertia, even as fewer households remain in the market.
Steve Shivers, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at doxo, said the data shows how deeply the expense has become embedded in household budgets.
"This is one of those bills that quietly became a big one. Nobody sits down and decides to spend $1,500 a year on television. It creeps up a few dollars at a time, and one day it's sitting right next to the power bill," said Steve Shivers, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at doxo.
He added that many households may not have reassessed the service in years.
"The difference is you're not going to opt out of electricity. This one is a choice - and most households haven't taken a hard look at it in years. That's why we publish this. Most people have never seen what the typical household actually pays, and you can't tell if your bill is out of line until you do," Shivers said.
State costs
At the state level, Vermont had the highest median annual cable and satellite bill at USD $1,980, with a total market size of USD $388 million. South Carolina followed at USD $1,962 and USD $3.40 billion, ahead of Delaware at USD $1,912 and USD $559 million, Nebraska at USD $1,910 and USD $1.17 billion, and Rhode Island at USD $1,800 and USD $505 million.
The figures point to sharp regional variation in what households pay for similar forms of television access. Smaller states feature prominently among the highest annual medians, although market size remains much larger in more populous areas.
City rankings
Among large U.S. cities, Louisville, Kentucky, recorded the highest median annual bill at USD $2,439, with a market size of USD $931 million. Kansas City, Missouri, followed at USD $2,270 and USD $352 million, while Miami stood at USD $2,244 and USD $1.33 billion.
Denver ranked fourth at USD $2,137 a year, with a market size of USD $705 million, and Omaha placed fifth at USD $2,134, with a market size of USD $405 million. In each of those cities, the median annual cost is well above the national median of USD $1,500.
The report adds to the broader picture of how recurring household bills have changed in the United States. While streaming services have drawn viewers away from traditional television packages, cable and satellite still account for a large share of consumer spending.
That spending level also helps explain why comparisons with utility bills resonate with consumers. Electricity is generally viewed as a fixed necessity, while television services are discretionary, yet the monthly gap between the two has narrowed to the point that they sit close together in the household budget.
doxo said its analysis is based on actual payments to confirmed household service providers rather than survey responses alone. It also uses consumer surveys and its Cost of Bills Index to compare bill burdens across states, counties and cities.
The latest cable and satellite figures show that, even in a shrinking pay-TV market, many American households still devote nearly as much to television service as they do to an electricity bill.