Inside the Bill Pay Habits of U.S. Households in 2025

New Report Uncovers How Americans Pay Their Bills — and the Mounting Concerns Behind the $4.55 Trillion Bill Pay Economy

A new doxoINSIGHTS 2025 Report: The Bill Pay Economy™: How Americans Pay Their Bills reveals the financial weight, risks, and daily habits behind the household bill pay experience in the U.S. The findings show Americans are spending nearly a third of their income on bills while grappling with rising costs, security concerns, and the stress of keeping up.

Bills Take Up Nearly a Third of Household Income

The report provides in-depth analysis of U.S. bill pay behavior and demographics, revealing that households now spend a median of $24,695 annually—roughly 31% of their income—on the 13 most common bills, including utilities, rent, mortgage, mobile phone, internet, auto loans, and insurance. Altogether, U.S. households pay a total of $4.55 trillion each year on essential bills.

“Bills are the single largest expense category for American households, and our findings show that paying them is not only financially burdensome but also emotionally stressful,” said Steve Shivers, co-founder and CEO at doxo. “From growing fears of fraud to the strain of rising costs, households are looking for better, safer, and more convenient ways to manage payments.”

Inflation and Financial Stress Are Squeezing Families

Households report that inflation and rising costs are making bill pay even more difficult:

• 77% of adults say their financial situation is worse or significantly worse than a year ago.
• Nearly half of households reduced savings or delayed a major purchase to stay current on bills.
• 17% delay at least one bill each month, while 45% could not cover three months of bills from savings if income were lost.

Security and Fees Top Consumer Concerns

Americans are not only worried about making ends meet — they’re also deeply concerned about the risks tied to the bill pay process itself:

• Identity fraud: 84% express concern, with 45% “very concerned.”
• Stolen payment information: 86% express concern.
• Credit impact: 83% worry about the effect on their credit score.
• Fees: 67% fear late fees, while 57% are concerned about overdraft fees.

These concerns are intensifying. 43% of households report being more worried about identity fraud this year than last, compared to 41% who said the same in 2024. This makes identity fraud one of the fastest-rising concerns for bill payers.

How Americans Pay Their Bills

Despite the stress, U.S. households use a wide mix of payment methods and reminders to manage obligations:

• Channels: Biller websites are the most common, followed by bank portals. Mail and in-person payments remain in use for certain bill types.
• Methods: 73% pay mortgages via ACH (direct bank transfer), while 14% still pay rent in cash.
• Reminders: 42% of mobile phone bills are auto-scheduled, but only 9% of rent payments are. By contrast, 26% of water and sewer bills are paid when the paper bill arrives in the mail.
• Timing: Payments peak on weekdays — especially Monday, Tuesday, and Friday mornings.

What Consumers Want

The report highlights a clear desire among Americans for more streamlined, convenient, and secure ways to manage their bills. Consumers are signaling that bill pay solutions must go beyond simple transactions to help reduce stress and improve organization:

• 65% want email reminders to avoid missed payments and late fees.
• 60% want mobile apps or mobile-friendly websites so they can manage bills on the go.
• 55% want all-in-one bill pay platforms that consolidate multiple bills into one secure place, eliminating the hassle of juggling logins and due dates.
• 46% want the ability to use multiple payment methods (bank account, credit, or debit) depending on what works best for their financial situation.

Together, these preferences show that consumers are actively looking for tools that combine security, flexibility, and simplicity — reflecting the growing need for innovations that ease the burden of bill pay.

Emotional Impact of Bill Pay

Paying bills isn’t just a financial task — it’s an emotional experience that affects households differently. The report shows that once bills are paid, Americans experience a mix of relief, satisfaction, and stress:

• 33% feel accomplished, viewing it as checking off a major financial responsibility.
• 27% feel relieved, no longer having the bill hanging over them.
• 26% feel happy or satisfied, experiencing peace of mind from being up to date.
• 14% still feel anxious or stressed, underscoring how bill pay can remain a source of financial tension even after payments are made.

This mix of emotions highlights both the sense of responsibility and pride that comes with staying current, as well as the ongoing stress many households feel due to rising costs, financial instability, and concerns about security.

For the full report, visit: https://www.doxo.com/w/insights/how-americans-pay-bills-2025-doxo/.

About doxoINSIGHTS

doxoINSIGHTS provides direct insight into The Bill Pay Economy™ by leveraging consumer surveys and doxo’s unique aggregate bill pay data set, comprising actual bill payment activity to confirmed household service providers across the country. doxo data brings together the broadest available data set for analyzing actual household bill payment activity, pulling from over 10 million paying consumers across over 97% of U.S. zip codes. doxo’s payment network covers over 120,000 billers in 45 different service categories and enables payments using bank accounts, credit cards or debit cards. This uniquely broad statistical foundation powers doxoINSIGHTS reports – uncovering key trends for household financial health and bill payment behavior. Uncovering an even deeper level of insight into Americans’ cost of living, doxo’s proprietary Cost of Bills Index™ (COBI), a new feature of doxoINSIGHTS, provides a consistent basis of comparison at the state, county and city level.

About doxo

doxo delivers innovation that transforms the bill pay experience for consumers, billers and financial technology providers. For over 10 million consumers, doxo’s all-in-one bill pay makes it simple to organize and pay any bill on any device through a secure checkout. For billers, doxo’s network-driven platform enables online and mobile payments with a ridiculously simple integration, radically lower costs, and game-changing features that are unavailable with legacy bill pay vendors. For fintech partners, doxo delivers financial innovations to consumers across 97% of US Zip Codes, who make payments from more than 8,000 financial institutions to over 120,000 billers in 45+ service categories. To learn more about doxo, visit doxo.com.

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