By Sav Maive |Home Gnome
With extreme winter weather freezing cities across the U.S., Home Gnome ranked 2025’s Most Expensive Cities to Heat a Home in Winter.
We compared nearly 500 of the biggest U.S. cities based on 3 categories. More specifically, we looked at average electricity and gas bills (adjusted to average monthly income), average home sizes, and weather conditions, among 11 total metrics.
See the 10 most expensive (and 10 least expensive) cities to heat a home in winter below, followed by key takeaways. (Don’t see your city below? Check out the full ranking.)
Cities in Midwestern states like Ohio, Missouri, and Michigan score in the more expensive half of our ranking with high gas and electricity bills and old homes that are more challenging to make energy-efficient.
- Three cities — Duluth, Minnesota(No. 54), and North Dakota cities Bismarck (No. 28) and Fargo (No. 29) — tie with the highest number of extremely cold days in winter, an average of 30 frigid days below 32 degrees. Fargo also has the highest number of heating degree days, followed by Duluth and Fargo.
- Staying warm can come at a cost in Southern states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, which finish in the more expensive halfof our ranking. Gas bills are least affordable in Jackson, Mississippi (No. 20), followed closely by 11 Georgia cities like Savannah (No. 67) and Atlanta (No. 131). Mississippi has no statewide residential energy code and Alabama and Georgia are following outdated standards from 2009.