It Costs What to Raise a Child in 2026?!

snitzoid
May 2
6 min read

Updated: May 3

This entire story is grossly misleading. Kids are a tremendous value, especially compared to dog which while more entertaining has a significantly lower life earning potential.

And I don't mean just one kid, no I'm talking 3, 4 or even 5. Plus you don't need to be a Bible thumping Catholic who's never practiced birth control to get "in" on the action.

It Costs *What* to Raise a Child in 2026?! (And This Doesn’t Even Include College!)

By Natasha St. Clair, Readers Digest

Published on Apr. 29, 2026

We knew kids were expensive, but we didn't know they were that expensive. Here's how much you'll spend in your state.

You know that moment when your kid outgrows brand-new sneakers after wearing them six times? Or when a “quick” Target run somehow turns into $187 of snacks and stuff they had to have? Yeah, kids are expensive—really expensive. And just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, the numbers jump again.

A 2026 analysis takes a fresh look at what it costs to raise a child in America (excluding college), and even seasoned parents might do a double-take. Costs have climbed fast—in some cases, shockingly fast.

So before you read on, take a guess: What does it cost to raise a child from birth to 18 today? Lock in your number, then keep reading to see how close you come to reality.

How did the study determine how much it costs to raise a child?

To estimate the real cost of raising a child, LendingTree focused on the amount of additional money parents spend because they have a child. That includes both child-specific expenses like day care and everyday expenses that having children affects, like rent, food and transportation. To better capture the true financial impact, the analysis includes the full cost of child care as an added expense but calculates only the difference between households with and without children for categories like rent or groceries.

Most of the data comes from 2024, with newer figures used where available for major categories like food, child care and tax benefits. The study examines costs across key areas—including housing, food, child care, clothing, transportation, health insurance and tax credits—drawing from a mix of national and state-level sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, MIT Living Wage Calculator and industry reports. Together, these inputs create a comprehensive, apples-to-apples estimate of what families can expect to spend raising a child through age 18.

So how much does it cost to raise a child in 2026?

The cost of raising a child through age 18 has increased again, exceeding a whopping $300,000 for the first time since LendingTree began tracking in 2023. More specifically, you can expect to spend around $303,418 to raise a child in America. On average, this works out to about $16,857 per year over 18 years, reflecting a 1.9% increase from the previous year.

Rising costs were widespread across the country. Annual expenses for raising a young child increased in 39 states and the District of Columbia, with 14 states seeing jumps of at least 10%. In some states, this increase was significant: Nebraska (27.4%), Montana (24.5%), Maine (24.4%) and Wisconsin (23.3%) recorded some of the largest year-over-year rises in kid-related costs.

While this report didn’t include college, it’s worth mentioning here, since this cost is on the horizon. Data from U.S. News & World Report shows that for the 2025–2026 school year, private colleges charged an average of $44,961 in tuition and fees. That’s far above the typical cost at public institutions, where in-state students paid about $11,371 and out-of-state students around $25,415. But either way you cut it, if your child is going to college, you can expect a hefty added expense.

Which kiddie costs skyrocketed the most?

Rent was the most significant kid-related cost: In 2026, the average rent was $1,680, up 48.9% from 2025 (when it was $1,128) and up 52.2% from 2023 (when it was $1,104).

Food made a large jump from 2023 to 2026 as well, with a 29.3% increase from $3,254 to $4,208.

Another category where costs went way up? Girls’ clothing, which went up 26.7% from last year ($313 in 2026 vs. $247 in 2025). And while infant day care is slightly lower this year than last year, the cost has soared since 2023, when it was only $11,752; now, it’s $17,264—a 46.9% jump.

The report focused on kid-related costs and doesn’t take into account that basically everything these days costs more than it used to, thanks to recent inflation and economic instability due to the war.

What are the most expensive states to raise a child?

You’ll spend a hefty sum raising a kid for nearly two decades, but some states really strain the budget. LendingTree looked at overall costs, plus how much money you’ll spend during the early years—you know, when child care adds extra expenses. Read on for what the study found.

Where raising a child costs the most

Families in six states are projected to spend more than $300,000 raising a child over 18 years. Here’s how the most expensive child-rearing states stack up:

Hawaii: $412,661

Alaska: $365,047

Maryland: $326,360

California: $312,300

New Jersey: $312,295

Kansas: $303,250

Where those first five years cost the most

The study zoomed in on early childhood and found that residents of certain states pay a higher price when their kids are little. Parents in Hawaii face the highest expenses in the country, spending an average of $40,342 per year during a child’s first five years. That amount also represents about 27.4% of typical household income going toward basic child-rearing costs.

Maryland and Massachusetts follow, with annual costs for the first five years of their kid’s life averaging $36,419 and $34,247, respectively. Of the 10 most expensive states, nearly all are coastal, with Colorado as the only inland exception, ranking seventh at about $31,000 per year for the first five years.

What are the cheapest states to raise a child?

Some states are way more affordable when it comes to raising kids. In fact, parents will spend about half as much money raising kids in the cheapest states as they do in Hawaii.

Where raising a child costs the least

Here’s how the top six cheapest child-rearing states stack up:

New Hampshire: $201,963

Washington, D.C.: $202,115

South Carolina: $204,213

Mississippi: $208,621

Alabama: $212,121

Iowa: $215,443

Where those first five years cost the least

Zeroing in on the first five years of a child’s life, the study found that yearly expenses for raising young children are generally lowest across Southern states. Mississippi ($17,148) and Alabama ($18,019) come in with the smallest price tags for those early years, while South Dakota ($18,622)—the only state outside the South in the bottom group—lands in third place.

A major factor behind these lower costs is child care: All three states report average annual infant day-care expenses under $10,000. Arkansas, which ranks fifth-lowest at $19,204 per year for those first five years, is the only other state to fall below that $10,000 threshold for day care ($9,178), helping keep overall costs more manageable.

Is there any good news here?

Yes, but the good news is minimal: According to the report, the yearly cost of raising a child during the first five years actually ticked down slightly, from $29,419 to $29,325—which is a decrease of about 0.3%. This is because one cost did go down for parents, and it’s not what you’d expect: day care. In fact, day care was the only category to see a meaningful decline, falling by $572 per year (about 3.2%) from 2025 to 2026, while most other expenses stayed nearly the same.

In 11 states, the yearly cost of raising a young child went down from 2025 to 2026—but in most cases, the drop was fairly small (less than 2%). One state stood out: New Hampshire, where costs fell sharply by 19.5% in just one year.

Only two other states saw more noticeable declines: North Dakota, down 9.9%, and Vermont, down 5.2%. Everywhere else, the changes were modest.

Finally, while families spend an average of 21.9% of their income on the basic annual expenses to raise a small child, this number is actually down slightly from 22.6% in the 2025 analysis.

What is the average cost of raising a child in 2026 in every state?

Here is the full list of the average cost of raising a child in 2026 by state, going from highest to lowest:

Hawaii: $412,661

Alaska: $365,047

Maryland: $326,360

California: $312,300

New Jersey: $312,295

Kansas: $303,250

Washington: $297,341

Arizona: $294,982

Nebraska: $294,926

Montana: $293,926

Connecticut: $293,728

Maine: $289,573

Colorado: $285,293

Florida: $280,280

New York: $278,051

Idaho: $278,023

Utah: $276,509

Massachusetts: $273,981

Virginia: $266,117

Indiana: $264,147

Minnesota: $262,330

Wyoming: $262,014

Missouri: $261,380

North Dakota: $259,123

Oregon: $257,569

West Virginia: $254,005

Wisconsin: $253,332

Pennsylvania: $249,441

North Carolina: $247,998

Rhode Island: $245,738

Nevada: $244,944

Illinois: $244,826

Louisiana: $242,450

Oklahoma: $241,405

Delaware: $235,920

Tennessee: $235,164

Michigan: $233,218

Kentucky: $232,131

Texas: $229,891

Vermont: $229,428

Arkansas: $226,354

Ohio: $224,228

South Dakota: $222,976

Georgia: $222,713

New Mexico: $218,588