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There is no doubt that raising a child is expensive. However, the number of victims continues to increase.
LendingTree analyzed the cost of raising a child over an 18-year period and found that the new national average was $303,418, an increase of 1.9% from the company’s report from the previous year.
Here’s what you need to know about LendingTree’s methodology and what else we found in the company’s report.
LendingTree methodology
To determine the cost of raising a child, LendingTree considered a combination of child-specific expenses, such as childcare fees, and regular household expenses that may be affected by raising a child, such as rent.
LendingTree said it primarily obtained data for 2024 because that year was available. However, some national food and child care data are more recent.
Here’s a breakdown of the categories included in LendingTree:
- Rent: LendingTree looked at the average rent paid by households without children and households with children under 18.
- Food costs: To assess food costs, LendingTree looked at the difference in food costs between two-person households and two-person households with children.
- Childcare: LendingTree looked at the annual cost of full-time, center-based childcare per infant to determine the national average.
- Apparel: The company looked at the average amount that couples with children spend on apparel for girls ages 2 to 15.
- Transportation costs: LendingTree looked at the difference in typical transportation costs between a two-person household and a two-person household with children.
- Health Insurance Premiums: The company looked at annual premium costs per person with workplace insurance (double for two adults) and compared them to a single workplace-based family plan.
- State tax exemptions or deductions: For the purpose of its analysis, LendingTree assumed that two parents filing jointly earned the national average income.
The “minimum cost” of raising children
Below is a breakdown of the minimum child care costs in LendingTree’s 2026 report, and the percentage change from the company’s 2025 report for comparison.
- Rent: $1,680 (48.9% increase)
- Groceries: $4,208 (down 0.2%)
- Infant child care fee: $17,264 (3.2% decrease)
- Girls’ Apparel: $313 (up 26.7%)
- Transportation: $4,422 (0.9% increase)
- Premium: $3,638 (0.8% increase)
- Federal tax credit: -$2,200 (10.0% increase)
- Annual cost for first 5 years: $29,325 (0.3% reduction)
- Annual cost for the next 13 years: $12,061 (4.1% increase)
- Average annual cost over 18 years: $16,857 (1.9% increase)
- Total cost over 18 years: $303,418 (1.9% increase)
In most cases, the numbers above represent a dramatic slowdown in child care costs, according to LendingTree.
But “despite that slowdown, the overall cost of raising a child increased by 27.8% between the 2023 and 2026 reports, which primarily evaluated data from 2021 and 2024, with annual costs for the first five years increasing by 35.3%,” LendingTree said.
Most expensive/least expensive state to raise a child to adulthood
Hawaii is the most expensive state to raise a child to adulthood, with an estimated cost of $412,661.
LendingTree said the projected total cost for Hawaii is “nearly $50,000 more than the next most expensive state (Alaska at $365,047) and more than $85,000 more than the third most expensive state, Maryland, at $326,360.”
Below is a list of the 10 most expensive states to raise a child to age 18, their estimated total costs, and their rankings.
- Hawaii: $412,661 (#1)
- Alaska: $365,047 (#2)
- Maryland: $326,360 (#3)
- California: $312,300 (#4)
- New Jersey: $312,295 (#5)
- Kansas: $303,250 (#6)
- Washington: $297,341 (#7)
- Arizona: $294,982 (8th place)
- Nebraska: $294,926 (9th place)
- Montana: $293,926 (#10)
Conversely, the least expensive states to raise a child are:
- New Hampshire: $201,963 (#51)
- District of Columbia: $202,115 (#50)
- South Carolina: $204,213 (49th place)
- Mississippi: $208,621 (#48)
- Alabama: $212,121 (#47)
Where in the country is it most expensive/cheapest to raise a small child?
According to LendingTree, parents in Hawaii pay the most for their young children, costing an average of $40,342 per year for the first five years. Maryland and Massachusetts follow, with averages for the first five years of $36,419 and $34,247, respectively.
Below is a list of the 10 states with the highest child care costs for young children, along with their ranking and average annual costs over the first five years of a child’s life.
- Hawaii: $40,342 (#1)
- Maryland: $36,419 (#2)
- Massachusetts: $34,247 (#3)
- California: $33,692 (#4)
- New Jersey: $31,948 (#5)
- Washington: $31,937 (#6)
- Colorado: $31,000 (#7)
- New York: $30,209 (8th place)
- District of Columbia: $30,146 (#9)
- Connecticut: $29,674 (#10)
“Of the 10 states with the highest child care costs for young children, only Colorado (7th place at $31,000 per year) is not on the coast,” LendingTree noted.
On the other hand, the annual cost of raising a young child is lowest in the South.
“The lowest costs for the period analyzed were Mississippi ($17,148) and Alabama ($18,019),” LendingTree said. “South Dakota ($18,622), the only non-Southern state among the seven least expensive states, ranks third.”
Notably, the three least expensive states to raise young children all have childcare costs of less than $10,000 per year, which LendingTree says is “a key reason why they rank among the most affordable states to raise children.”
What else did LendingTree’s analysis reveal?
A total of 14 states saw child care costs increase by at least 10% annually, with four states seeing increases of 20% or more, according to LendingTree.
Overall, 39 states and the District of Columbia experienced annual cost increases.
“Nebraska (27.4%), Montana (24.5%), Maine (24.4%), and Wisconsin (23.3%) all saw significant year-over-year increases in the annual cost of caring for young children,” LendingTree said.
In six states, families are projected to spend more than $300,000 to raise a child over 18 years.
