Nearly half of Collier County's occupied homes that are billed separately for water and sewer—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, with costs 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. In Collier, separately billed homes account for 58.8% of all occupied homes; the remaining 41.2% have water included in rent or condo/HOA fees, or are not charged, and are outside the primary cost distribution. The billing distinction matters because it changes the denominator: among all occupied homes, Collier's share in the $1,000-plus band is 28.7%, placing it seventh by point estimate, while Charlotte's share of all occupied homes is 32.8%, placing it third. That is why the study's main ranking counts only separately billed homes.
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 Southwest Florida—Charlotte, Collier, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota counties—35.2% of separately billed occupied homes fall in the $1,000-plus bracket, 6.6 points above the statewide share. The statewide spread is wide: 54.6% in Flagler versus 6.4% in Gadsden, a 48.2-percentage-point gap.
Selected neighboring counties show substantial differences. Gaps in the share of separately billed occupied homes in the annual $1,000-plus bracket include Collier over Lee at 17.2 percentage points, Charlotte over Lee at 9.3, Sarasota over Manatee at 4.4, and Pinellas over Hillsborough at 13.8—all descriptive comparisons. Collier's 48.8% estimate has an approximate margin of error of ±1.3 percentage points.
Joshua Chastain, general manager of Bullseye Home Services, advised homeowners to start by checking whether water and sewer are billed separately or included in another housing charge, then review the billing period, charges and usage information, and ask the provider to explain an unexpected change. He noted that the county figures can give homeowners and buyers context but cannot explain why an individual bill changed or why counties differ.
The findings highlight why a property's billing arrangements belong alongside its reported costs in any comparison. The analysis is based on American Community Survey 2020–2024 five-year estimates, the newest uniform county data available. Bullseye Home Services serves homeowners in Osprey and across Southwest Florida, and more information is available from Bullseye Home Services. The estimates are survey-based and do not establish average bills, consumption, utility prices, leaks, waste, inefficiency, hardship or savings, or explain county differences; the open-ended $1,000-plus band describes how common an annual cost threshold is, not a $1,000 difference in bills between counties.
