Nearly half of Collier County's occupied homes that are billed separately for water and sewer services—48.8%, or an estimated 47,593 of 97,487—reported annual costs of $1,000 or more, according to a Bullseye Home Services analysis of U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That compares with 28.6% of separately billed occupied homes statewide, a gap of 20.2 percentage points. The estimates cover 2020–2024 and are expressed in 2024 dollars.
The study compares the share of separately billed occupied homes in the Census Bureau's $1,000-or-more annual water and sewer cost band across Florida's 67 counties. It includes both owners and renters. The billing distinction is critical: in Collier, separately billed homes account for 58.8% of all occupied homes, while the remaining 41.2% have water included in rent or condo/HOA fees, or are not charged, and thus fall outside the primary cost distribution.
Among counties meeting the study's precision and minimum billing-base requirements, Flagler, Collier, and Monroe form the leading group, with respective shares of 54.6%, 48.8%, and 47.8%. The adjusted comparison method does not establish a sole statewide leader. Across the defined Southwest Florida region—Charlotte, Collier, Lee, Manatee, and Sarasota counties—35.2% of separately billed occupied homes (239,845 of 681,229) fall in the $1,000-plus annual bracket, 6.6 points above the statewide share. Selected neighboring counties show substantial differences: Collier over Lee by 17.2 percentage points, Charlotte over Lee by 9.3, Sarasota over Manatee by 4.4, and Pinellas over Hillsborough by 13.8.
The statewide spread is wide. Among counties meeting the headline eligibility requirements, 54.6% of separately billed occupied homes in Flagler fall in the annual $1,000-plus bracket, compared with 6.4% in Gadsden—a 48.2-percentage-point gap. "Start by checking whether water and sewer are billed separately or included in another housing charge," said Joshua Chastain, general manager of Bullseye Home Services. "Then review the billing period, the charges and any usage information, and ask your provider to explain an unexpected change. These county figures can give homeowners and buyers context, but they cannot tell you why an individual bill changed or why counties differ." For homeowners and buyers reviewing recurring household expenses, the findings highlight why a property's billing arrangements belong alongside its reported costs in any comparison.
Changing the denominator changes the county comparison. Among all occupied homes, Collier's share in the $1,000-plus annual band is 28.7%, placing it seventh by point estimate, while Charlotte's share is 32.8%, placing it third. That is why the study's main ranking counts only separately billed homes. The analysis uses American Community Survey 2020–2024 five-year estimates, released January 29, 2026, the newest uniform county data available. The primary share divides the Census estimate of occupied homes reporting annual water and sewer costs of $1,000 or more by the estimate of occupied homes charged separately for those services (B25134_009E / B25134_003E). Collier's 48.8% estimate has an approximate margin of error of ±1.3 percentage points.
These are survey estimates of reported 2020–2024 costs in 2024 dollars, not current bills or utility rates. The open-ended $1,000-plus band cannot establish average bills, consumption, utility prices, leaks, waste, inefficiency, hardship or savings, or explain county differences. The "$1,000 divide" describes how common an annual cost threshold is, not a $1,000 difference in bills between counties. Bullseye Home Services serves homeowners in Osprey and across Southwest Florida; more information is available from Bullseye Home Services in Osprey and at https://callbullseye.com/.
