--- title: The Most and Least Expensive Cities to Raise a Child description: Where you choose to raise your child can have a huge impact on your parenting costs. Here are the cities that will run up your spending the most—and the least. authors: - name: Kerri Anne Renzulli url: https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 185 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://x.com/kerenzulli former_staff: true published: '2014-08-19T16:59:47.000Z' modified: '2024-03-18T14:37:37.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - cheapest cities - child expenses - cost of child care - cost of raising a child - expensive cities - family finance - family money - Kids & Money word_count: 303 canonical: https://money.com/raise-child-most-least-expensive-cities/ 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 Most and Least Expensive Cities to Raise a Child](https://img.money.com/2014/06/140618_money_gen_13.jpg?quality=85&w=1012&h=569&crop=1) Having a child today will set you back close to [a quarter million dollars](https://money.com/cost-raise-child/ "What It Costs to Raise a Child") by the time your offspring reaches 18, an annual study released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found. A middle-income family can expect to shell out on average $245,340 (or $304,480, when adjusted for projected inflation), with the biggest chunk of the budget going to housing, followed by child care costs. Of course, your bottom line could be very different depending on where you live. According to data from personal finance website [NerdWallet,](http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/cities/economics/cost-raising-child/) child-rearing costs can vary by more than $340,000, based on local housing market prices and the cost of daycare (which exceeds the cost of college in 31 states). Families living in cities in more rural areas can expect to pay the least to raise a child to adulthood, but those living in the urban Northwest and on the West Coast should expect to pay far above the average. Here are the cities where you'll pay the most and the least to rear your child. ### Most Expensive Cities to Raise A Child | Rank | City | Cost of raising a child | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | New York (Manhattan), NY | $540,514 | | 2 | Honolulu, HI | $429,635 | | 3 | San Francisco, CA | $402,112 | | 4 | New York (Brooklyn), NY | $400,951 | | 5 | Hilo, HI | $369,559 | | 6 | San Jose, CA | $363,807 | | 7 | Orange County, CA | $353,081 | | 8 | Washington, DC | $342,552 | | 9 | Oakland, CA | $337,477 | | 10 | Fairbanks, AK | $334,562 | ### Least Expensive Cities to Raise a Child | Rank | City | Cost of raising a child | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Norman, OK | $199,298 | | 2 | Harlingen, TX | $199,694 | | 3 | Ashland, OH | $206,793 | | 4 | Salina, KS | $207,525 | | 5 | Pueblo, CO | $208,155 | | 6 | Memphis, TN | $208,322 | | 7 | Temple, TX | $208,593 | | 8 | Richmond, IN | $209,522 | | 9 | Jackson, MS | $211,309 | | 10 | Hattiesburg, MS | $211,451 | **Related:** Why the $245,000 Cost of Raising a Child Shouldn't Stop You From Having One ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/raise-child-most-least-expensive-cities/#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 Most and Least Expensive Cities to Raise a Child" } ] }, { "@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/raise-child-most-least-expensive-cities/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/raise-child-most-least-expensive-cities/", "name": "The Most and Least Expensive Cities to Raise a Child", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2014-08-19T16:59:47.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/raise-child-most-least-expensive-cities/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/raise-child-most-least-expensive-cities/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-03-18T14:37:37.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "The Most and Least Expensive Cities to Raise a Child", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/06/140618_money_gen_13.jpg?quality=85", "width": 1697, "height": 1131 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kerri Anne Renzulli", "url": "https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/05/14-05-21_bio_author_renzulli.jpg?quality=85&w=190&h=190&crop=1", "email": "kerri.renzulli@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/kerenzulli" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2014-08-19T16:59:47.000Z", "description": "Where you choose to raise your child can have a huge impact on your parenting costs. Here are the cities that will run up your spending the most—and the least.", "abstract": "Where you choose to raise your child can have a huge impact on your parenting costs. Here are the cities that will run up your spending the most—and the least.", "@id": "https://money.com/raise-child-most-least-expensive-cities/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-03-18T14:37:37.000Z", "wordCount": 303, "keywords": [ "cheapest cities", "child expenses", "cost of child care", "cost of raising a child", "expensive cities", "family finance", "family money", "Kids & Money" ], "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" ] } ] } ] } ```