Energy burden is the share of gross household income that goes to home energy. Enter your average monthly electric bill and yearly income below to see your electricity burden only: the part of that share spent on electricity.
Two comparison lines are widely used for total home energy (electricity plus gas, propane, heating oil and other home fuels). The U.S. Department of Energy’s LEAD tool treats 6% or more as a high burden, and the DOE-hosted ACEEE report calls more than 10% severe. If you also pay for gas, oil or propane, add those costs before you compare.
Calculate your electricity burden
Example before the calculator runs: $185 per month is $2,220 per year. Divided by $70,000 of gross annual income, that is a 3.2% electricity burden.
Scope: the slider is a hypothetical bill-reduction scenario. It is not a solar production or savings estimate. Fixed charges, export-credit rules, system performance and financing can all change an actual post-solar bill.
Same bill, very different burden
A bill amount on its own says little about affordability. A $185 monthly electric bill is $2,220 a year. For a household with $100,000 of gross income, that is 2.2% of income. For a household with $30,000, the same bill is 7.4%, above the line researchers use for a high total energy burden before any gas or heating oil is counted.
Where the 6% line comes from. The ACEEE report explains that housing is commonly considered affordable at no more than 30% of income, and home energy at no more than 20% of housing costs. 30% × 20% = 6% of income. Researchers have used 6% (high) and 10% (severe) for decades.
How common high burdens are. DOE’s LEAD page puts the national average energy burden at about 6% for low-income households and about 2% for other households, and notes it can exceed 30% in some areas. The ACEEE report, using 2017 data, found 25% of U.S. households paid more than 6% of income on home energy and 13% paid more than 10%.
The formula and what this result leaves out
Electricity burden (%) = monthly electric bill × 12 ÷ gross annual household income × 100.
For a whole-home energy burden, add annual natural gas, propane, heating oil and other household fuel costs to annual electricity spending before dividing by income. Transportation fuel does not belong in DOE’s household energy-cost definition.
This distinction matters. A home with electric heat may have an electricity-only result close to its full energy burden. A home heated with gas or oil could have a much higher full burden than this calculator shows.
Worked example with gas heat: a household with $50,000 of gross income pays $185 a month for electricity and averages $90 a month for natural gas.
- Electricity only: $185 × 12 = $2,220, and $2,220 ÷ $50,000 = 4.4%. That looks below 6%.
- Whole home: ($185 + $90) × 12 = $3,300, and $3,300 ÷ $50,000 = 6.6%. That is above the 6% high-burden line.
Monthly electric bill | Gross annual income | Electricity burden |
|---|---|---|
$150 | $75,000 | 2.4% |
$200 | $60,000 | 4.0% |
$250 | $30,000 | 10.0% |
What to do with the number
- Check the input. Use a 12-month bill total if seasonal swings are large. A single summer or winter bill can distort the result.
- Calculate the full burden. Add other home fuels before comparing your household with DOE’s high-burden threshold.
- Separate price from usage. Compare both cents per kilowatt-hour and kilowatt-hours used with the same month last year. Our guide to rising electric rates explains that split.
- Use assistance before taking on debt. If bills are hard to pay, ask the utility about payment plans and budget billing, and apply for LIHEAP bill help through your local agency. Our low-income solar and energy-assistance guide explains LIHEAP and income-qualified community solar.
- Cut usage where it is cheapest. DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program pays for efficiency work for income-eligible households; DOE reports average savings of $372 or more a year, based on a national evaluation.
- Model solar separately. A solar proposal needs site-specific production, utility crediting, fixed charges, system cost and financing terms. A bill-offset slider cannot supply those inputs. Our solar payback guide shows how to check a proposal’s math.
Energy burden questions
Is 6% the line for this electricity-only result?
No. DOE’s 6% high-burden benchmark applies to total household energy costs. The electricity-only result can still show how much one bill consumes, but compare the threshold only after adding other home fuels. If electricity alone is already at or above 6%, your total burden is high.
Does the calculator send or save my numbers?
The calculator code in this article performs the arithmetic in the browser and does not submit these fields. That statement applies to these calculator inputs, not to any separate site form you choose to open.
Can a 100% solar production offset reduce the bill to zero?
Usually not. Fixed utility charges may remain, and electricity exported at one time may receive less credit than electricity bought at another. Use the utility tariff and a production estimate for a real scenario.
Why use gross income?
DOE defines energy burden using gross household income. Using take-home pay produces a different ratio that should not be compared directly with DOE figures.
