SAFFORD — Safford ranks better than Yuma, Payson and Nogales when it comes to average non-household monthly bills.
That’s according to a recent study issued by the bill-paying service Doxo.
Doxo averaged the costs of nine monthly expenditures, including: auto loans, auto insurance, utilities (water, gas, electric and sewer/waste), health insurance, life insurance, cable internet and phone, mobile phone, alarm and security, and dental insurance.
A Safford resident’s average monthly cost for those nine items is $854, 11.3 percent below than the state average of $963, and 16 percent below the national average of $1,016.
That total accounts for approximately 19.7 percent of an average Safford resident’s income, and there is only one area in which Safford residents pay more on average — Health insurance, which is 10.3 percent higher here than the national average.
The study also found that only about 11 percent of Safford residents pay for a monthly security service, just 27 percent carry a life insurance policy and only 73 percent report having health insurance.
Meanwhile the service most used by Safford residents is mobile phones, with 94 percent of residents reporting owning one; followed by 85 percent having internet, cable or satellite; and 82 percent carrying car insurance.
Yuma is tops in the state at $1,156, followed by Payson at $1,100, the Phoenix metro area at $1,056 and Nogales at $1,006.
