Owning a home doesn’t come cheap, regardless of where said home may be located.
Zillow has found that the everyday homeownership costs have risen to new heights across the country, but especially here in California. The report found that utility bills, property taxes, insurance and essential home maintenance can add up to $14,155 a year for the average U.S. homeowner—an additional $1,180 per month on top of a typical mortgage payment.
Those costs are even higher in Los Angeles and San Francisco, with costs topping $22,000 annually.
Hidden homeownership costs are the lowest in Las Vegas at an average of $9,886. Asheville, North Carolina and St. Louis were close behind with the lowest costs.
Zillow and Thumbtack’s research looked at three unavoidable expenses for single-family homeowners—property taxes, homeowners insurance and utility payments—and found they averaged $7,742 in total nationally. New Yorkers pay the highest property taxes, topping $9,000 per year.
Home maintenance projects, based run an average of a $6,413 annually. The average cost of upkeep is highest in Los Angeles and Chicago, totaling $8,639 and $7,722 respectively.