Home › How much energy a home uses
How much energy does a home use? EIA's household averages
The average U.S. household used 76.8 million Btu (MMBtu) of site energy in 2020 and spent $1,884 on it, according to EIA's Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) — the federal government's household-level energy census. Use and spending do not rank the same way: Midwest homes use the most energy, Northeast homes spend the most money, and Pacific homes use the least of both measures' extremes.
| Census division | Site energy per household (MMBtu, 2020) | Energy expenditures per household |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest — East North Central | 98.3 | $1,915 |
| Midwest — West North Central | 93.7 | $1,844 |
| Northeast — New England | 89.9 | $2,539 |
| Northeast — Middle Atlantic | 89.0 | $2,162 |
| West — Mountain | 78.9 | $1,653 |
| South — East South Central | 70.9 | $1,882 |
| South — West South Central | 69.0 | $1,799 |
| South — South Atlantic | 63.8 | $1,850 |
| West — Pacific | 57.4 | $1,653 |
| United States | 76.8 | $1,884 |
The fuel split inside the average
RECS reports consumption per household using each fuel — the right denominator, since a gas-heated home's gas use should not be averaged over homes without gas service. In 2020: households using electricity averaged 36.1 MMBtu of it (about 10,580 kWh); natural gas households averaged 56.6 MMBtu of gas; propane households 35.4 MMBtu; and fuel-oil or kerosene households 69.7 MMBtu — the heaviest per-household fuel load in the survey, reflecting oil heat's concentration in the cold Northeast. Regionally the pattern sharpens: New England oil-and-kerosene households averaged 82.7 MMBtu of the fuel.
What the same electricity use costs at regional prices
RECS measures use in energy units, but bills are written in prices. To connect the two, take the survey's electricity figure — the 36.1 MMBtu that households using electricity averaged in 2020, about 10,580 kWh across the year — and price that identical amount at the July 2026 residential prices EIA publishes by Census division in the Electric Power Monthly (Table 5.6.A), the same table behind this site's regional price table. The usage never changes; only the price does. The arithmetic is ours; the inputs are EIA's published values:
| Census division price, July 2026 | Cost of 10,580 kWh per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| East South Central — 14.61¢ per kWh | $1,546 | $129 |
| U.S. average — 18.31¢ per kWh | $1,937 | $161 |
| New England — 28.00¢ per kWh | $2,962 | $247 |
Same home, same 10,580 kWh — a $1,416-a-year gap between the cheapest and most expensive of the three, created entirely by price. That is the mechanism underneath the expenditure column in the RECS table above: New England households used less site energy than East North Central households (89.9 vs 98.3 MMBtu) yet spent the most money ($2,539), because every unit they bought cost more.
Read the example as a price comparison, not a bill forecast. It prices 2020's usage at July 2026 prices, while the $1,884 RECS expenditure figure is what households actually spent in 2020, at 2020 prices, across all fuels — which is why an electricity-only figure at today's U.S. average price can land above it. Real usage also varies by division and by season in ways a single national average hides. The point stands either way, and it is the same one RECS itself makes: where a home sits on the price map matters as much as how much energy it uses.
How to read RECS honestly
- It is a survey, taken every several years. RECS 2020 is the latest completed edition (published March 2023, revised March 2024). It describes 2020's housing stock and weather, not this year's — use it for structure and scale, and the price pages on this site for current prices.
- "Site energy" is energy at the meter. It counts electricity as delivered (3,412 Btu per kWh), not the larger amount of fuel burned to generate it. Comparisons across fuels are meter-to-meter.
- Expenditures invert consumption. The Midwest uses the most energy per household (96.9 MMBtu regionally) but spends $1,892; the Northeast uses 89.2 and spends $2,263 — the price side of the ledger, the same spread the regional price table shows.
Sources: EIA — Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) 2020, Table CE1.1 · EIA — RECS 2020, Table CE2.1. Researched October 2026 — energy prices move with seasons and markets; confirm the current rate on your own bill.
Related guides
The average utility bill, broken down · Winter heating costs 2026–27 · Heat pump vs gas furnace