Average subscription cost: what people actually pay

There is no single average subscription cost — published US figures run from $69 a month (streaming only, Deloitte 2026) to $273 a month (21 categories, West Monroe 2021). The gap is definitions, not disagreement, and this page shows every figure with its sample, its year and what it actually counted.

By the Subby team·Last updated August 12, 2026

The short answer

There's no single average subscription cost, because the published averages aren't measuring the same thing. The two most-quoted US totals are $219 a month (C+R Research, 2022) and $273 a month (West Monroe, 2021), and both count subscriptions across every category, not just entertainment. The most recent figure, $69 a month (Deloitte Digital Media Trends, 2026), is far smaller because it counts streaming video only, per household.

That spread isn't a contradiction between studies. It's a definitions problem, and it's the whole point of this page: below is each published figure with its sample, its year and the question it was actually answering, so you can quote the one that matches yours.

The published averages, side by side

Every number above is its publisher's own, printed with the year it was measured. The comparisons between them are ours.

Why the figures disagree

What counts as a subscription

West Monroe prompted people across 21 categories. Deloitte's $69 covers streaming video and nothing else. A study that counts more categories will report a bigger average before anyone's behaviour enters into it. Read the category list before you quote the total.

Prompted versus unprompted

C+R's two figures come from the same people in the same interview: asked to estimate, they said $86; walked through category by category, they added up to $219 (C+R Research, 2022). One change of method, a $133 difference. "What people spend" and "what people think they spend" are two different questions, and a lot of headlines quietly swap one for the other.

Per person or per household

Deloitte's $69 is a household figure across an average of four services (Deloitte, 2026). C+R's $219 is per consumer. Two adults under one roof can double a household number without either of them being unusual, so a per-person total and a per-household total should never be set against each other as if one debunked the other.

Dollars or incidence

51% (Bankrate/YouGov, 2022) and 48% (CableTV.com, 2025) are shares of people, not amounts of money. They say how common the problem is, not what it costs. Blending an incidence figure with an average in one sentence is the most common mistake in subscription statistics.

How old the study is

The two largest totals were fielded in 2021 and 2022, before the price rises that seven major US services pushed through between October 2025 and June 2026 (we track those in the streaming price increase tracker). Our reading, not the sources': treat pre-2023 totals as a floor rather than a current value — and don't inflate a published number to compensate. Quote it as published, with its year.

Why almost everyone underestimates their own total

• 74% say recurring monthly charges are easy to forget, and 72% keep subscriptions on auto-pay (C+R Research, 2022). Auto-pay removes the one moment that would have reminded you.
• 42% admitted they were still paying for something they'd already stopped using (C+R Research, 2022).
• 66% underestimated their spend by more than $200 a month, up from 24% in 2018 (West Monroe, 2021).
• 60% had forgotten at least one recurring payment, and it took about three months on average to actually cancel it (Chase / OnePoll, 2021).
• 22% of US households cancelled a streaming service and re-subscribed to the same one within six months (Deloitte, 2026). The list you audited in March is not the list you have in September.
• 73% of consumers are frustrated by entertainment services raising prices (Deloitte, 2026) — which means a total you worked out last year is probably wrong even if you added nothing.

None of this makes anyone careless. Small amounts, charged monthly, on a card you don't reconcile, are designed to be invisible. The forgetting is the normal outcome of the system, not a personal failing.

Compute your own — it beats any survey

Every figure on this page describes a sample of strangers. Your own number takes about ten minutes, and it's the only one that can change a decision.

1. Pull three months of statements for every card and payment account, including PayPal. Three months catches the quarterly and annual charges that a single month hides. (How to find subscriptions on a bank statement)
2. Check the two app-store lists separately — they show up on a statement as one lump sum, so the detail only exists inside them: iPhone Settings and Google Play.
3. Add the ones that appear on neither: gym, insurance, storage units, professional memberships, anything billed direct.
4. Convert everything to an annual figure (monthly × 12, weekly × 52) and total it. That's your number. Our subscription cost calculator does the arithmetic if you'd rather not.
5. Flag anything you haven't opened in 60 days, decide on each one, then re-check in 90 days — prices move and cancelled services come back. The subscription audit checklist is the repeatable version of this.

Citing these figures

If you're quoting a number from this page, cite the study rather than us — every source is linked below. We print each figure as its publisher stated it, keep the year visible on anything older than three years, and re-check the links quarterly. Last reviewed 12 August 2026.