{"id":41141,"date":"2025-08-03T20:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T20:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/41141\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T20:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T20:27:07","slug":"top-10-states-where-phone-and-internet-bills-cut-into-your-paycheck-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/41141\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 States Where Phone and Internet Bills Cut Into Your Paycheck Most"},"content":{"rendered":"

Staying connected isn\u2019t cheap, especially in certain corners of the country. While some Americans shell out less than $400 a year to keep their phones and Wi-Fi running<\/a>, others are paying more than $1,600 just for the basics.<\/p>\n

Read Next: 3 Best States To Buy Property in the Next 5 Years, According To Experts<\/a><\/p>\n

For You: 25 Places To Buy a Home If You Want It To Gain Value<\/a><\/p>\n

A report from Power Choice Texas<\/a> revealed dramatic regional gaps in connectivity costs. In some states, residents are handing over nearly 3.5% of their income just to stay online and reachable \u2014 four times the share paid in the cheapest states.<\/p>\n

Price isn\u2019t the only problem, either, as some high-cost states don\u2019t even deliver the top-tier speeds you\u2019d expect, according to the most recent internet speed test data from HighSpeedInternet.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kansas<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $1,576<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 3.48%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 186.88 Mbps (Ranked 34th)<\/p>\n

Kansas residents pay the highest share of income in the country<\/a> for connectivity. Making things worse, the state lags far behind on speed, ranked 34th out of 50.<\/p>\n

Check Out: The Living Wage a Family of 4 Needs in All 50 States<\/a><\/p>\n

Washington<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $1,618<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 2.70%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 201.11 Mbps (Ranked 23rd)<\/p>\n

Washington leads the nation in total costs. Residents pay more than anyone else for both internet<\/a> and phone services<\/a>, but the state doesn\u2019t even make the top 20 for internet speed.<\/p>\n

Texas<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $1,225<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 2.67%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 225.74 Mbps (Ranked 8th)<\/p>\n

Texas ranks high for costs, but at least delivers performance. The Lone Star State is among the top 10 in average speed.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $994<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 2.10%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 204.66 Mbps (Ranked 20th)<\/p>\n

Phone costs drive up the total bill in Pennsylvania. Speeds are near average but still not enough to offset the high percentage of income lost to connectivity.<\/p>\n

Virginia<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $1,018<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 2.04%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 230.49 Mbps (Ranked 6th)<\/p>\n

Virginia is one of the rare states offering a decent trade-off. Costs are high, but internet speeds rank sixth nationally.<\/p>\n

New Hampshire<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $992<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 1.99%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 217.06 Mbps (Ranked 14th)<\/p>\n

Connectivity in New Hampshire eats up nearly 2% of income, though speeds are slightly above average.<\/p>\n

California<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $1,004<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 1.86%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 223.59 Mbps (Ranked 9th)<\/p>\n

Californians pay just over a thousand per year. Speeds are strong, ranking ninth nationwide, but the income bite remains one of the largest.<\/p>\n

New York<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $1,030<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 1.81%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 208.05 Mbps (Ranked 17th)<\/p>\n

Connectivity in New York costs over a thousand dollars a year. Speeds are slightly above the national average, but don\u2019t justify the price tag.<\/p>\n

Alaska<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $1,006<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 1.79%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 125.09 Mbps (Ranked 50th)<\/p>\n

Alaska has the slowest average speeds in the country, despite exceeding $1,000 in annual costs. A clear case of paying more for less.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts<\/p>\n

Annual cost per person: $1,006<\/p>\n

Percentage of income: 1.66%<\/p>\n

Average internet speed: 218.54 Mbps (Ranked 12th)<\/p>\n

Massachusetts residents pay a lot, but relatively high wages help ease the burden. Internet speeds rank a solid 12th.<\/p>\n

More From GOBankingRates<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com<\/a>: Top 10 States Where Phone and Internet Bills Cut Into Your Paycheck Most<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Staying connected isn\u2019t cheap, especially in certain corners of the country. While some Americans shell out less than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[64,63,237,26565,36210,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-41141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-internet","11":"tag-internet-speed","12":"tag-internet-speed-test","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}