Where Can Parents Affordably Raise a Child From Infancy to Teenhood?

Whether purchasing strollers and diapers or stocking the kitchen for a growing teenager, raising kids costs a pretty penny no matter where you live. With the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that consumer spending was up 3.7% in September 2023 compared to the previous year, understanding the cost of living in different areas is more critical than ever for effective family budgeting.

MoneyGeek analyzed data for 381 metropolitan areas from the MIT Living Wage calculator to find the most affordable metro areas for raising children. We learned that the average family will use at least 19% of their annual income to afford the costs of raising young children to their teenage years. MoneyGeek also found that metro areas in the South tend to have the lowest yearly expenses for raising children, regardless of age.

To find the average cost of raising a young child nationally and in specific metros, MoneyGeek utilized data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator. This data source defines a "young child" as a child that's four years old, so the data presented here represents the average expenses associated with raising a four-year-old.

MoneyGeek found that, on average, raising a young child costs $25,610 annually, which accounts for about 22% of yearly income in dual-earner households. However, in places like Morristown, Tennessee, and Sumter, South Carolina, this figure drops to below $18,000.

Southern metro areas take 18 of the top 20 spots for affordability. In the Northeast, Pennsylvania's metros, including Altoona and Johnstown, keep these early childhood expenses under $22,500. Yuma, Arizona, stands out in the West, with an average cost of around $21,388; that annual expense is similar to affordability in Midwestern areas like Terre Haute, Indiana, and Manhattan, Kansas — both with costs under $20,000.

To find the average cost of raising a school-age child nationally and in specific metros, MoneyGeek utilized data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator. This data source defines a "school-age" child as a child that's nine years old, so the data presented here represents the average expenses associated with raising a nine-year-old.

We found that, in the U.S., raising a school-age child costs $21,456 yearly, on average. However, in 213 metro areas, parents can expect to spend less than this. The most affordable areas are Longview, Texas; Morristown, Tennessee; and Jackson, Tennessee, where average annual costs fall below $16,000.

Two Arizona metros (Lake Havasu and Yuma) and Pocatello, Idaho, ranked best in the West. In these Western metros, parents can expect an average of $17,000 annually for children around nine.

To find the average cost of raising a teenager nationally and in specific metros, MoneyGeek utilized data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator. This data source defines a "teenager" as a child that's 15 years old, so the data presented here represents the average expenses associated with raising a 15-year-old.

For teenagers, parents can expect to spend a few thousand dollars less annually than they did in their childhood, with national average costs around $20,600. Southern metros lead in affordability for raising teenagers, with eight in the top 10. Sumter, South Carolina, has the lowest average annual cost; there, it costs less than $12,000 annually to raise a 15-year-old. Jackson, Tennessee, and Longview, Texas, follow close behind, costing about $1,000 more. Parents in these top areas spend less than 14% of their income on expenses for their teens.

Although teenagers are typically less expensive to raise than younger children, 91 metros see higher costs. The starkest example is Honolulu, Hawaii, where expenses for a 15-year-old reach $34,000. In places like Tucson, Arizona, and Spokane, Washington, the cost gap between a nine-year-old and a teenager is minimal.

Various metros across the United States provide a financially favorable environment for growing families, with manageable cost increments as family size increases. The following actionable tips offer a roadmap for growing families to make well-informed decisions in their quest for affordable metro living.

Using the MIT Living Wage Calculator, MoneyGeek analyzed data for 381 metro areas to find the cost of raising a young child, a school-age child and a teenager in each metro.

The MIT Living Wage Calculator defines these childhood stages as follows:

• Young Child: 4 years old
• School-Age Child: 9 years old
• Teenager: 15 years old

The MIT Living Wage Calculator's assumptions for family composition include a young child in one-child families, a young child and a school-age child for those with two kids, and a young child, a school-age child and a teenager in families with three children. We used these assumptions to calculate the individual annual costs for these childhood stages.

We calculated the average percentage of a family’s annual income that these costs comprised using the average yearly income for a dual-earner family ($117,107) from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2022, the most recent year of data available.

The costs considered are food, childcare, housing, health care, transportation, taxes and other expenses like personal care items, clothing and more. The data is for 2022, the most recent year of data available.

With an average cost of $25,610 to raise a child, the data contrasts Southern affordability against the steep expenses of metros in the West. Below is the complete data set of variables we examined to determine our findings.