The true monthly cost of a home
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The mortgage payment is the number everyone compares. It’s rarely the whole bill. Taxes, insurance, utilities, fees and repairs can add hundreds of dollars a month. They also vary far more from place to place than the payment does.
The costs on top of the mortgage
| Cost | National figure | How much it varies |
|---|---|---|
| Property tax | Effective rates of about 0.3% to 1.9% of value a year, by state | A lot, and by town |
| Homeowners insurance | About $1,700 a year for a standard policy (2023) | A lot, by hazard |
| Electricity | About $140 a month on average (2024) | Rates differ almost fourfold by state |
| HOA or condo fees | About a quarter of owners pay them; median $135 a month | From nothing to several hundred dollars |
| Maintenance | 1% to 4% of the home’s value a year, as a rule of thumb | By the age of the house |
Take a $400,000 home with a 1% tax rate. That’s roughly $330 a month in tax, $145 for insurance and $140 for electricity. Add $330 to $1,330 set aside for repairs, before any HOA fee.
Property tax
On a $400,000 home, a 1.88% effective rate is about $7,500 a year. At 0.29% it is about $1,200. Those are the highest and lowest state rates in the Tax Foundation’s 2026 county-level figures, New Jersey and Illinois against Hawaii. An effective rate is the yearly bill as a share of the home’s value.
The property tax layer estimates the effective rate neighborhood by neighborhood. Our guide to why property tax estimates disagree explains why your bill may differ from the seller’s.
Insurance
The average standard homeowners policy cost about $1,700 in 2023, and premiums have risen fastest in areas with the most wildfire, flood and storm risk. Get a quote on the address before you make an offer. Our guide to finding a home you can still insure covers how.
Utilities
Electricity alone averaged about $140 a month in 2024. Prices differ almost fourfold, from about 12 cents per kilowatt-hour in North Dakota to over 46 in Hawaii so far in 2026. Climate matters too: a mild coast and a hot desert use very different amounts. The electricity rate layer shows the price per kilowatt-hour by ZIP code. The utility costs layer compares what utilities cost, county by county, against the national average. Ask the seller for a year of bills. Our guide to checking electricity costs before you move explains why the utility matters more than the state.
Fees and repairs
About a quarter of homeowners pay condo or HOA fees, with a median of $135 a month, and about 3 million pay more than $500. Ask what the fee covers and whether the association has enough saved for big repairs.
For upkeep, Fannie Mae suggests budgeting 1% to 4% of the home’s value a year, closer to 4% for a house over 30 years old.
Everyday prices
Groceries and services cost more in some regions too. The cost of living layer uses federal price data to compare everyday prices by area, not counting housing and utilities.
Your starting map
This map opens with property tax, utility costs and everyday prices applied. The places left pass all three cost checks, not just the sticker price.