Raising a child has long been called priceless. The bill, though, is getting harder to ignore.
The cost of raising a child through age 18 in the U.S. now stands at $303,418, according to LendingTree’s latest annual analysis—the first time the estimate has topped $300,000 since the company began tracking it in 2023. That works out to about $16,857 a year, up 1.9% from $297,674 in the prior year’s report. Over a longer stretch, the climb is steeper: The 18-year total is up 27.8% from LendingTree’s first report.
The latest figures, released in April and based mostly on 2024 data, actually reflect a slowdown from earlier jumps. Housing was the biggest driver this time: The extra rent households with children pay compared with households without them rose 48.9%, to $1,680 a year. Infant day care, meanwhile, fell 3.2%, to $17,264 a year—the only category to drop by more than a fraction of a percentage point. Still, LendingTree chief consumer finance analyst Matt Schulz told Fortune that inflation is “just taking a toll, clearly, on people.”
The estimate models a married, two-earner couple with one child earning the national median family income of $99,999. It counts rent, food, infant day care, clothing, transportation, and health insurance premiums, minus tax exemptions and credits. It doesn’t include college, extracurriculars, or other extras, and the figures aren’t adjusted for inflation.
Where you live can swing the bill by $210,000
Hawaii is the most expensive state to raise a child by a wide margin, with a projected 18-year cost of $412,661—nearly $50,000 more than second-place Alaska ($365,047). Families in six states face totals above $300,000: Hawaii, Alaska, Maryland, California, New Jersey, and Kansas.
At the other end, projected costs in New Hampshire ($201,963), the District of Columbia ($202,115), and South Carolina ($204,213) are less than half of Hawaii’s.
Some states moved sharply in a single year. Projected 18-year costs in Kansas and Alaska each rose 23.5%, and Montana’s climbed 21.7%. New Hampshire saw the steepest drop, down 29.3%, followed by North Dakota, down 20.3%.
The first five years cost the most
The early years are by far the priciest, largely because LendingTree counts day care only for a child’s first five years. Families spend an estimated $29,325 a year during that stretch, compared with $12,061 a year for the following 13. The early-years figure dipped 0.3% from last year’s report but is up 35.3% from LendingTree’s 2023 analysis.
On average, those early-years costs eat up 21.9% of family income, ranging from 13.9% in D.C. to 27.4% in Hawaii. In 22 states, parents should expect to spend at least 20% of their income raising a small child.
The annual cost of raising a young child rose in 39 states and D.C. from last year’s report, including 14 states where it climbed at least 10%. The biggest increases came in Nebraska (27.4%), Montana (24.5%), Maine (24.4%), and Wisconsin (23.3%), mostly sparsely populated states. Costs fell in 11 states, led by New Hampshire, down 19.5%.
The squeeze is shaping family decisions. In a separate LendingTree survey, 4 in 5 parents said child-rearing costs are rising, and 2 in 5 said finances are limiting how many kids they have.
Why Massachusetts and D.C. look cheap over 18 years
The rankings hold some surprises. Massachusetts ranks third for the annual cost of raising a small child but 18th over 18 years. D.C. ranks ninth for a small child but 50th over 18 years.
In both places, LendingTree’s data show that households with children actually pay less in rent than those without—about $684 less a year in Massachusetts and $4,140 less in D.C. Day care in both is among the most expensive in the country. But once those bills stop after age 5, the lower rent pulls the long-run totals down sharply.
The South is cheapest for young kids
For families with young children, annual costs are lowest across much of the South. Mississippi ($17,148) and Alabama ($18,019) rank as the least expensive states, followed by South Dakota ($18,622)—the only non-Southern state among the seven cheapest. All three have infant day care costs below $10,000 a year.
New Mexico ranks 45th over 18 years at $218,588. Those figures largely predate the state’s move to universal free child care, which began in November 2025 and is funded by an oil and gas windfall.
Among the four most populous states, California is fourth-most expensive over 18 years at $312,300. Florida ($280,280) and New York ($278,051) rank 14th and 15th, while Texas comes in 39th at $229,891. Florida saw the biggest jump of the four, at 10.3%.
The full state-by-state breakdown
States are ranked by estimated 18-year cost, with the annual cost for a child’s first five years alongside.
Source: LendingTree analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, MIT Living Wage Calculator, Child Care Aware of America, Care.com, KFF, Tax Foundation, and IRS data. Figures assume a married, two-earner couple with one child earning $99,999 and are not adjusted for inflation.
How parents can prepare
LendingTree advises would-be parents to start a dedicated savings fund early, even years before a child arrives, and to park it in a high-yield savings account so interest can compound. Once a baby is on the way, it recommends asking HR about parental benefits and using a dependent care flexible spending account to pay for child care with pretax dollars. Parents should also make sure they claim every tax credit they qualify for. LendingTree’s model values the federal child tax credit at $2,200 per child, up from $2,000.
Paying down high-interest debt frees up more room in the budget. For everyday items, consignment shops, clearance racks, and hand-me-downs from friends and relatives can cut costs. Some families are going further: Multigenerational setups like backyard “granny pods” are gaining ground as grandparents step in to help with child care.
For more, read Fortune’s coverage of child care costs.
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