Average Electric Bill in Iowa
Residential · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
That works out to about $1,447 a year. Among the 50 states and DC, Iowa has the 45th highest average residential bill.
Data current through August 2026 — the latest available from the U.S. EIA, which publishes monthly figures on a roughly two-month delay.
What makes up the bill
Price × usage = bill, exactly: 14.24¢/kWh × 847 kWh ≈ $121. A state can land high on either factor — Iowa sits close to the U.S. average on both.
Compared with nearby states
| Iowa | $121 | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. average | $158 | |
| Missouri | $147 | |
| South Dakota | $141 | |
| Illinois | $132 | |
| Wisconsin | $125 | |
| Nebraska | $123 | |
| Minnesota | $121 |
Iowa is $38 a month below (-23.9%) the U.S. average of $158. Neighboring states share fuel mixes, weather, and often a grid operator, which makes them a closer benchmark than the national average.
Trend since 2008
Each point is a trailing 12-month average, which strips out the summer/winter swing and leaves the underlying trend. Bills start in January 2008 because that is when EIA began reporting customer counts.
Seasonal swing
- Highest month
- $193
- July 2026
- Lowest month
- $90
- November 2025
- Swing
- $103
- peak minus low
- Latest month
- $149
- August 2026
Actual bills are far from flat: Iowa peaks in July 2026 and bottoms out in November 2025. The headline figure above is the average across all twelve months.
Iowa electricity bills in context
The average monthly electricity bill in Iowa is $121, ranking 45th among the 50 states and DC—well below the national average of $158. This lower bill stems from two factors working together. Iowa's price of 14.24¢/kWh runs 3.83¢/kWh below the national rate of 18.07¢/kWh, pulling the bill down. At the same time, homes use slightly less electricity than the national average, consuming 847 kWh per month against a national 876 kWh per month, which also reduces what residents owe. Over the past year, the bill has grown by 3.6%, rising from $116 in the prior twelve months.
Looking back over longer periods shows steady increases. Since August 2021, the bill has climbed by 11.1%, from $109 then to $121 now. The longer view is steeper: since December 2008, when records begin in this form, the bill has jumped by 43.7%, from $84 to $121 today.
Month to month, Iowa's bill swings sharply with the seasons. July 2026 saw the highest average monthly bill at $193, while November 2025 dropped to $90, a swing of $103. The twelve-month average of $121 sits between these extremes. Among bordering states, Iowa's bill ties Minnesota at $121 and runs cheaper than Wisconsin ($125), Nebraska ($123), South Dakota ($141), and Missouri ($147).
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›How much is the average electric bill in Iowa?
›Is the electric bill in Iowa higher than the national average?
›Why is electricity relatively cheap in Iowa?
›When is the electric bill highest in Iowa?
›How does Iowa compare with neighboring states?
How this is calculated
EIA’s retail-sales dataset reports, for every state and month, total residential revenue and the number of residential customers served. The average monthly bill is simply the first divided by the second — total spending across all households, spread evenly over all accounts.
bill = revenue ÷ customers · averaged over 12 months (September 2025 – August 2026)
Two caveats worth knowing. It is an average, so it blends apartments with large houses — a typical household in Iowa may pay well above or below $121. And it counts what was actually billed for electricity, including fixed service charges, so it is not the same as multiplying your own usage by the advertised rate.
Looking for the rate rather than the bill? See Iowa electricity prices by sector.