What Is the Average Utility Bill in California?

The average California home paid $160.86 a month for electricity in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Homes with natural gas paid roughly $59 a month more, averaged over the year. Water, sewer and trash are set city by city, so a statewide total for every utility does not exist.

The electricity figure is EIA's most recent full year, published October 7, 2025. It is an average across about 14.2 million residential accounts, from coastal apartments to inland homes running air conditioning all summer, so your own bill can sit far from it. If yours looks out of line, our guide to why California electric bills run high walks through the checks in order.

The average electric bill: California vs. other states

California's electric bill is above the national average but not the highest, because the state pairs one of the highest prices per kWh with some of the lowest usage. In EIA's 2024 data, California ranks second of 50 states and Washington, D.C. for price, eighth for the monthly bill and 50th for how much electricity a home uses. Only Hawaii homes used less.

Prices have kept climbing since. EIA's monthly data put California's average residential price at 34.74 cents per kWh in June 2026, up from 33.59 cents a year earlier and nearly double the U.S. average of 18.34 cents. The same 503 kWh at June 2026 prices would cost more than the 2024 average bill. Our page on how California's rates rank nationally has the full state ranking.

Average electric bill by utility

No single average fits the whole state because California has several utilities with very different prices. The CPUC Public Advocates Office reports residential average rates for the three investor-owned utilities as of June 2026: 33.7 cents per kWh at PG&E, 34.4 cents at SCE and 45.5 cents at SDG&E. If a home used the statewide average of 503 kWh a month, those rates would come to about $170, $173 and $229. That is our arithmetic, and it assumes statewide-average usage in every territory, which is not true, so treat it as a sense of scale.

SMUD, the Sacramento public utility, publishes its own comparison at a fixed 750 kWh a month, as of June 1, 2026. It is a utility's comparison of itself with its neighbors, so read it as one data point.

For a smaller home, see what a PG&E bill looks like for a one-bedroom apartment. To turn your own bill into daily usage, start with average kWh per day in California.

The average gas bill in California

EIA does not publish a California gas bill, but it publishes the pieces. In 2024, California's 11.43 million residential gas customers used 419.5 billion cubic feet, and the average residential price was $19.14 per thousand cubic feet. That works out to about 36.7 thousand cubic feet per home, or roughly $703 a year, about $59 a month. EIA's 2025 residential price is higher, $22.01, so 2025 gas bills are likely to be higher too once the usage data is final.

Gas spending is seasonal. Most of it goes to space and water heating, so a January bill can be several times a July bill. On a combined PG&E or SDG&E statement, gas is billed on its own meter and rate, separate from electricity.

Water, sewer and trash

These are the most local utility costs. They are set by cities, water districts and waste haulers. We did not find a statewide average from a state agency, so we do not publish one. In Los Angeles, LADWP bills city sewer and trash fees on the same statement as water and power, according to LADWP's billing questions page, which is one reason an LADWP total can look high.

How to judge whether your bill is high

Compare daily use, not the monthly total. Divide the kWh on your bill by the number of days in the billing period and compare it with the same season last year. Then look at the price: whether you are on a tiered or time-of-use plan, whether a community choice aggregator supplies your electricity, and whether the flat monthly Base Services Charge now on PG&E, SCE and SDG&E bills is part of the jump. The statewide rate tracker for each utility has the current averages and the date each one last changed.

If the bill is hard to pay

You are not alone. The Public Advocates Office reports that about 2.42 million PG&E, SCE and SDG&E customers, 20.6% of the total, were behind on their bills in May 2026, owing $619 on average. If your household income is under the CPUC limits, CARE cuts the electric bill by 30% to 35% and FERA by 18%, and both lower the monthly Base Services Charge. For PG&E customers, our guide to PG&E's income-qualified discounts lists the 2026 income limits and how to apply.

For longer-term options, compare the steps that lower a California bill first, then what solar costs and how it is sized against the same year of bills.