How Much Electricity Does an Apartment Use? (2026 Guide)

On average, a 1-bedroom 750 square foot apartment in the U.S. uses 422 kWh per month, with a monthly electricity bill of $77.86. You can easily estimate your electricity usage for a new apartment by square foot or by number of bedrooms. Either approach gives you a solid estimate for budgeting when you move in to a new apartment.

How Much Electricity Does an Apartment Use, by Square Foot?

The most accurate way to estimate your electricity in an apartment is to calculate the usage per square foot. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) tracks all of this data and is the best source for numbers.

Calculating Apartment Electricity Usage per Square Foot

The average apartment uses 6.76 kWh per square foot per year, or .563 kWh per square foot per month, according to EIA national data. You can estimate the usage for any apartment square footage with this math formula:

Number of Square Feet X .563 kWh/sq ft/month = Monthly average usage

You can also adjust your usage estimate based on where you live. For example, in the chart below we show both the US and Texas estimated usage; Texas homes use 27% more power than the US average due to higher temperatures much of the year.

Electricity Usage by Square Foot – U.S. vs. Texas

Here are EIA estimates for common square footage of apartments. We’ve included an estimate for Texas too, taking into account more electricity usage for air conditioning.

Square Footage	U.S. Average (kWh/Month)	Texas Average (kWh/Month)
Less than 1000 sq ft	567 kWh	720 kWh
1000-1499 sq ft	784 kWh	996 kWh
1500-1999 sq ft	917 kWh	1165 kWh
2000-2499 sq ft	1014 kWh	1288 kWh
3000+ sq ft	1291 kWh	1639 kWh

How Much Electricity Does an Apartment Use, by Number of Bedrooms?

More bedrooms means more square footage and more people. Here’s how the numbers break down:

	US Average Sq Ft*	US Average Usage (kWh/month)	Texas Average Usage (kWh/Month)
Studio	565 sq ft	318 kWh	404 kWh
1-Bedroom	751 sq ft	423 kWh	537 kWh
2-Bedroom	1010 sq ft	569 kWh	723 kWh
3-bedroom	1283 sq ft	723 kWh	918 kWh

Studio Apartment Electricity Usage

An average studio apartment is 565 square feet and uses 318 kWh a month. Your estimated bill will be $58.64 a month based on 18.44¢ per kWh (May 2026 US average).

1-Bedroom Apartment Electricity Usage

A 1-bedroom apartment that’s 600-850 square feet will average 423 kWh a month. Your estimated bill will be $78 a month based on 18.44¢ per kWh (May 2026 US average).

2-Bedroom Apartment

A 2-bedroom apartment that’s 900-1100 square feet will average 569 kWh a month. Your estimated bill will be $104.92 a month based on 18.44¢ per kWh (May 2026 US average).

3-Bedroom Apartment

A 3-bedroom apartment that’s 1000-1300 square feet will average 723 kWh a month. Your estimated bill will be $133.32 a month based on 18.44¢ per kWh (May 2026 US average).

What Affects How Much Electricity an Apartment Uses?

Averages are a decent measure to estimate your electricity usage in your new apartment. But your bill will be impacted by a number of factors, including your habits.

• Thermostat Settings. Heating and cooling your apartment account for 50% of your energy costs. So climate and seasonality will play a big role in your electricity bill. For example, usage in Texas is 27% higher than the national average. Usage in Pennsylvania is 5% lower than the national average.
• Number of Occupants. The more people living in your apartment, the higher the electricity usage. More people means more electronics, more lights and more heat in the home.
• Appliances & Electronics. Appliances and electronics account for 15% of your apartment’s electricity usage. Newer apartments typically have more energy efficient appliances than older units. And the more electronics you add such as televisions, gaming consoles and computers, the more power you will use.
• Building Age and Insulation. Older apartment buildings are built to a different standard than new construction. An older apartment will use more electricity than a newer one.
• Location in the Apartment Complex. Apartments on the top floor typically cost more for cooling, since you don’t have the full insulation value of an apartment above you. Interior courtyard apartments that get less sun will also have lower usage.
• Your Electricity Rate Plan. In many areas of the country, you can shop for your electricity provider. Over 85% of Texas is deregulated, including major cities like Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth and you must choose an electricity supplier (more on that below). In states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, you can buy power from the local utility and have rate changes every 2-6 months, or choose an electricity supplier and lock in price security.

Apartment Electricity Bills in Texas

Weather extremes, both hot and cold, are the biggest factor in Texas electricity bills running higher than the national average. Each year you’ll use your air conditioning in your apartment from April to early October. And each winter there’s typically a cold snap that will require your heating system, which uses electricity even if you heat with natural gas.

But the biggest factor to how much you’ll pay for your apartment electricity bill in Texas is the electricity plan you select. That rate will play a huge factor in your electricity costs.

A lot of comparison shopping sites and providers push bill credit plans as the way to go for apartment dwellers. These plans offer attractive $35-$100+ bill credits when you hit exactly 500 or 1000 kWh. Who doesn’t love free money? But based on our 30+ years of experience in electricity shopping, they are a bad option for most apartment residents.

Why You Should Avoid a Bill Credit Electricity Plan for Your New Texas Apartment

We call bill credit electricity plans the Texas Teaser Rate. That’s an electricity rate that looks good at a specific advertised level of usage, but has a higher effective rate per kWh if your usage varies off that target. There are two key reasons why we don’t recommend bill credit plans for apartment renters:

1. You won’t know your actual usage patterns until a year from now. Bill credit plans look extremely low at 500 or 1000 kWh, but if you don’t achieve that usage level, your price per kWh could be 20-30% higher than what you expect.
2. Most apartments in Texas won’t hit the 500 or 1000 kWh a month threshold built in to popular bill credit plans. A 1- to 2-bedroom apartment will only use 500 to 700 kWh a month. In months where you don’t earn the bill credit, you’ll be hit with the underlying electricity rate and pay more than you expected.

Here’s an example of a bill credit plan targeting apartment residents, offering $50 for usage of 500 kWh or more in a single month. So perfect for an apartment, right? Check what you’ll actually pay.

Usage	Bill Credit Earned?	Effective Rate	Estimated BIll
450 kWh	no	22.75¢/kWh	$102.40
500 kWh (Advertised price)	yes	12.65¢/kWh	$63.28
750 kWh	yes	15.65¢/kWh	$117.40

Best Electricity Plan for Your Texas Apartment

The best way to avoid a teaser rate is to buy a basic fixed rate electricity plan. You’ll pay the same rate per kWh for your energy. And the average rate per kWh will only vary because of monthly fixed fees from the utility or retail electricity provider.

The best apartment renter electricity in Texas is Energy Texas and their Come and Take It 12 plan. You’ll get a flat price per kWh that won’t change for the full year, a 30-day satisfaction guarantee that lets you switch away with no early termination fee if you change your mind, and a $5/month bill credit for ebill and auto-pay.

Shop based on your Texas zip code and filter by “basic fixed rate” or filter by BillSmart™ Plan Score (a measure of bill predictability) of 5/5 or 4/5 to find the best plans on our site!

Have a credit score under 600 and tapped out from moving costs? Avoid an electricity deposit by choosing a prepaid no deposit electricity plan.

Still dreaming of that low advertised rate you saw online? That 6 cent “all-in” rate? That’s a bill credit plan that shows the cheapest advertised price 1000 kWh. ElectricityPlans BillSmart tools help you see what you’ll actually pay and can show if this is the right choice. Use the BillSmart Calculator and CostCurve™ graph for the plan you’re evaluating. You’ll see your effective price per kWh and estimated bill at every usage level. Don’t pick that low advertised rate only to get hit with an electricity bill surprise.

Frequently Asked Questions

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References:

• The US Energy Information Administration Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) 2020 evaluatates electricity usage across the United StatesIt’s the most authoritative source for electricity usage. Next data update will be published in Spring 2027.
• Consumption adjustments for TX vs. US average based on EIA-861 utility data filings on Electricity Sales, Revenue and Average Price.
• kWh per square foot from RECS Table CE2.0, Fuel Consumption in the US, average annual electricity use per household.
• Average square footage of apartment units, by number of bedrooms – EIA RECS, table HC10.15
• Apartment square footage ranges are from Apartments.com, with the average kWh from the EIA RECS 2020 report
• Bill estimates use the US average cost per kWh from EIA data.

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