Low-Income, Black, and Hispanic Households Face Higher Energy Burdens
Energy bills strain many household budgets, and some far more than others. ACEEE’s research has found that low-income, Black, Hispanic, and disadvantaged households all face dramatically higher energy burdens—spending a greater portion of their income on energy bills—than the average household. High energy burdens are correlated with greater risk for respiratory diseases, increased stress and economic hardship, and difficulty in moving out of poverty.
2024 Energy Burden Report Update: One in Four Low-Income Households Spend Over 15% of Income on Energy Bills
Our latest energy burden research highlights burdens among the upper quartile of low-income households, or the fourth of low-income households with the highest energy burdens. It found that among those households, energy burdens on average are over 15%. The policy brief also contains energy burden data among Black households, Hispanic households, homeowners, and renters at both the national level and in 35 metropolitan regions.
Median and Upper Quartile Low-Income Household Energy Burdens by Metropolitan Region
2020 Energy Burden Report: How High Are Household Energy Burdens? An Assessment of National and Metropolitan Energy Burdens across the United States
The 2020 report found that a quarter of all U.S. households and two-thirds of low-income ones have high energy burdens, meaning they spend more than 6% of their income on utility bills, and two of every five low-income households have severe burdens, spending more than 10% of their income on energy costs.
2018 Energy Burden Report: The High Cost of Energy in Rural America: Household Energy Burdens and Opportunities for Energy Efficiency
This report examines residential energy affordability in rural and small-town America and identifies energy efficiency as an underutilized strategy that can help reduce energy burdens by as much as 25%. The report looks at how rural energy burdens vary across regions and among specific groups, finding that low-income, non-white, elderly, and renter households, as well as residents of multifamily and manufactured housing, spend a greater proportion of their income on utilities than the average family.
2016 Energy Burden Report: Lifting the High Energy Burden in America’s Largest Cities: How Energy Efficiency Can Improve Low-Income and Underserved Communities
This report measures household energy burdens in 48 of the largest American cities, finding that low-income, African American, Latino, and renter households all spend a greater proportion of their income on utilities than the average family.
Contact Us
For additional questions on energy burden data or policy solutions, please contact Roxana Ayala.
For media inquiries, please contact Mark Rodeffer.