---
title: This Is How Much It Costs To Raise A Ballerina
description: Raising children is expensive. But raising graceful little toe-touching leotard-clad ballerina children—now, that's the big ticket.
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published: '2015-08-20T15:49:46.000Z'
modified: '2024-04-16T06:36:15.000Z'
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![ballerina-children](https://img.money.com/2015/08/ballerina-children.jpeg)

As any parent knows, raising children is expensive. [According to the U.S.D.A.](https://money.com/245340-usda-cost-of-raising-a-child-having-baby-245000-304480-department-of-agriculture/), the cost of getting a kid born in 2013 to age 18 is around $250k.

But raising graceful little toe-touching, leotard-clad ballerina children—now, *that's* a big ticket item.

According to a new analysis by [FiveThirtyEight](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/high-price-of-ballet-diversity-misty-copeland/), raising a top-trained ballerina who begins to dance at age 3 could put you out more than $100,000 by the time he or she turns 18. This estimate takes into account 15 years of tuition and fees at a top-tier ballet school ($55,000); six summer intensives programs ($32,000); new pointe shoes every three months or so beginning in sixth grade ($29,000); and 15 years of tights and leotards ($2,000). And the author calls the final figure "conservative"—after all, your aspiring [Misty Copeland](http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/theater/2015/08/19/misty-copeland-takes-turn-broadway/31847087/) won't make it to lessons if the car's out of gas.

[FiveThirtyEight](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/high-price-of-ballet-diversity-misty-copeland/) points out that the exorbitant cost of a quality ballet education is one of the major barriers to greater diversity and accessibility for lower-income families in the ballet world—causes that the actual Misty Copeland, the first black woman to become a principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre, has been vocal about during her ascent as a ballerina.

But at nearly $120,000 a head, this estimate suggests top-tier ballet may be out of the hands of more than just minorities and low-earning Americans.

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