During the lifespan of 78.5 years, Americans will pay $41,591 on an average Wi-fi bill, $36,445 on cell phone plans, and $29,030 on streaming services. These costs assume Americans start paying for these services at age 18. These figures don’t include cable or satellite TV subscriptions or the price of devices like cell phones, tablets, or computers. (Imagine what it costs after you add up all your new iPhones and all their accessories.) Average American monthly telecommunications costs:
Internet services: $57.25 per month Cell phone plans: $50.17 per month Streaming services: $39.96 per month Total: $147.38 per month
According to statistics from the US Bureau of Labor, the median American wage is just over $1,000 a week.1 For about $37 a week, you’re paying for things you need (especially during the pandemic) to stay connected. But just because you may be able to afford those costs doesn’t mean you can’t cut down your monthly expenses. Even a little bit adds up to a lot over time. We’ll give you some tips on how you can reduce your monthly payments. Looking to keep a cap on your cell phone plan costs? We’ve got you covered:
Best Cell Phone Plans Under $40 Best Cell Phone Plans Under $20
We determined the average internet price by analyzing monthly internet plan pricing from providers across the United States. To determine the average monthly cell phone bill, we sourced pricing data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Finally, to determine the average monthly cost of streaming, we surveyed 316,174 Americans to determine the median amount of streaming services the average person subscribes to. The median number of subscribed streaming services is four. We then used additional data from our survey to determine the four most popular streaming services and determined the total monthly cost using standard pricing for each of these services. We then scaled the average monthly cost of each of these services to determine how much, on average, Americans will spend on these services in a year and throughout their lifetime. Life expectancy was sourced from the World Health Organization. All figures are in US dollars.
