---
title: The Cost of Raising a Child Jumps to $233,610
description: The cost of raising a child has increased in the last year, according to a report from the Department of Agriculture
authors:
  - name: Mahita Gajanan
    url: https://money.com/author/mahita-gajanan/
    at_money_since: 2017
    articles: 53
    covers:
      - Personal Finance
      - Banking
      - Business
      - Career Advice
      - Credit Cards
      - Economy and Politics
      - Housing
      - Identity Theft
      - Investing
      - Lifestyle
      - Shopping
      - Taxes
    social:
      - https://x.com/mahitagajanan
    former_staff: true
published: '2017-01-09T22:59:30.000Z'
modified: '2024-05-08T04:20:30.000Z'
section: Personal Finance
tags:
  - Children
  - onetime
word_count: 206
canonical: https://money.com/child-raising-cost-department-of-agriculture-report/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

> **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/).

![The Cost of Raising a Child Jumps to $233,610](https://img.money.com/2017/01/child-raise-cost.jpg?quality=85&w=1012&h=569&crop=1)

The cost of raising a child has increased in the last year, according to a report from the Department of Agriculture.

For a middle-income family to raise a child born in 2015 through the age of 17, the cost of rearing a child has hit $233,610, according to the report. The price jump is a 3% increase from the previous year, according to the report, with housing taking up a bulk of the expense at 29% of the cost. Food took the second biggest expense at 18%, according to the report.

The report, which tracks seven categories of family spending, including housing, transportation and clothing, helps court systems and government agencies determine the costs of child-support. The report does not track payments for college or financial contributions from non-parental sources, including government aid, [Bloomberg reported](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-09/children-don-t-come-cheap-cost-of-raising-one-hits-233-610?cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social).

The increase this year falls below the historic average annual increase of 4.3%, according to Bloomberg. Transportation expenses, driving in particular, have fallen due to lower projected energy costs. Among upper-income families, costs for childcare and education have increased.

The report classifies middle-class families as having a before-tax income of $59,200 to $107,000. Families with lower incomes are expected to spend $174,690, while families with higher incomes will likely spend $372,210.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
      "@id": "https://money.com/child-raising-cost-department-of-agriculture-report/#breadcrumb",
      "itemListElement": [
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Home",
          "item": "https://money.com"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Personal Finance",
          "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Expenses",
          "item": "https://money.com/expenses/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "The Cost of Raising a Child Jumps to $233,610"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "https://money.com/#website",
      "url": "https://money.com",
      "name": "Money",
      "publisher": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#organization"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://money.com/child-raising-cost-department-of-agriculture-report/#webpage",
      "url": "https://money.com/child-raising-cost-department-of-agriculture-report/",
      "name": "The Cost of Raising a Child Jumps to $233,610",
      "isPartOf": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#website"
      },
      "datePublished": "2017-01-09T22:59:30.000Z",
      "mainEntity": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/child-raising-cost-department-of-agriculture-report/"
      },
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "breadcrumb": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/child-raising-cost-department-of-agriculture-report/#breadcrumb"
      },
      "dateModified": "2024-05-08T04:20:30.000Z"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "The Cost of Raising a Child Jumps to $233,610",
      "articleSection": "Personal Finance",
      "image": [
        {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/01/child-raise-cost.jpg?quality=85",
          "width": 5760,
          "height": 3840
        }
      ],
      "author": [
        {
          "@type": "Person",
          "name": "Mahita Gajanan",
          "url": "https://money.com/author/mahita-gajanan/",
          "@id": "https://money.com/author/mahita-gajanan/#author",
          "email": "Mahita.Gajanan@timeinc.com",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://x.com/mahitagajanan"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization",
      "datePublished": "2017-01-09T22:59:30.000Z",
      "description": "The cost of raising a child has increased in the last year, according to a report from the Department of Agriculture",
      "abstract": "The cost of raising a child has increased in the last year, according to a report from the Department of Agriculture",
      "@id": "https://money.com/child-raising-cost-department-of-agriculture-report/",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "dateModified": "2024-05-08T04:20:30.000Z",
      "wordCount": 206,
      "keywords": [
        "Children",
        "onetime"
      ],
      "about": [
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Personal finance",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance"
          ]
        },
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Expense",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expense"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```