Here’s How Much Child Care Costs At Every Age

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When the Economist Intelligence Unit (the research arm of The Economist) compiled data for its Worldwide Cost of Living 2022 report, it found San Francisco to be the eighth most expensive city in the world, behind only New York City (tied for first) and Los Angeles (tied for fourth) in the U.S.

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However, when it comes to child care expenses, the City by the Bay reigns supreme. After housing, child care is often the most significant expense for families, and San Francisco outdistances NYC and LA (and the 47 other most populated cities in America) in terms of child care costs.

Whether you decide to entrust your child to center-based or home-based care, you’re going to be paying a lot of your income towards those expenses, depending on where you live. As Business Insider reported last year, the cost of childcare increased 41% on average from 2018 to 2020 (from $9,977 to $14,117 per year), and now sits at a record high.

Child care expenses have become untenable for many families throughout the nation and many have been calling for greater government investment to help. According to Care.com’s 2024 Cost of Care Report released in January, a majority of parents surveyed expect to pay more than $7,000 this year on child care, or $600 or more a month.

“Within the first five years of their child’s life, parents are being forced into a financial hole that is nearly impossible to climb out of,” said Brad Wilson, CEO of Care.com. “A healthy economy depends upon the ability for people to save and spend, but given the crushing weight of child care costs, those pillars are crumbling.”

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How Much Does Child Care Cost at Each Stage of Childhood?

Gathering child care data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Childcare Prices by Age of Children and Child Care Setting document, GOBankingRates found the average annual costs for child care at different stages in childhood among America’s 50 largest cities.

The total cost to raise a child in each city from birth to the age of 12 was found by adding the total childcare cost to the total cost of living data. This data was collected from a variety of sources and calculated using the average costs of child care and the total cost of living without children. The methodology is presented following the data.

As noted above, parents in San Francisco pay the most in child care — regarding kids from birth to the age of 12 — in the country, to the tune of $218,681 if the child attends a center-based facility and $219,062 for home-based child care fees. Adding cost of living expenses, the cost to raise a child to 12 years old using center-based child care is $364,939 in San Francisco (and $365,320 in a home-based environment). Annual median costs for child care are the most expensive, or the second-most expensive, in San Francisco across all childhood life stages.

To show how much location matters, parents in Wichita, Kansas — which has the lowest total child care costs among the 50 most populated cities in America — can expect to pay around almost $59,000 and close to $74,000 in center-based and home-based child care expenses on their kids for the first 12 years of their lives, respectively.

Here are the overall average total child care costs — and average total costs — to raise a child to 12 years, plus the average annual median costs for child care at each Department of Labor childhood life-stage among the 50 largest cities in the U.S.

Overall

• Child Care Total Cost (Center-Based): $130,963

• Child Care Total Cost (Home-Based): $109,103

• Total Cost to Raise a Child 12 Years (Cost of Living plus Center-Based Child Care): $201,161

• Total Cost to Raise a Child 12 Years (Cost of Living plus Home-Based Child Care): $179,301

Infant (0-2 years/0-23 months)

• Average Annual Median Child Care Cost (Center-Based): $15,465

• Average Annual Median Child Care Cost (Home-Based): $10,661

Toddler (3 years/24-35 months)

• Average Annual Median Child Care Cost (Center-Based): $12,917

• Average Annual Median Child Care Cost (Home-Based): $9,938

Preschool (4-5 years/36-60 months)

• Average Annual Median Child Care Cost (Center-Based): $11,854

• Average Annual Median Child Care Cost (Home-Based): $9,688

School-Age (6-12 years-60-144 months)

• Average Annual Median Child Care Cost (Center-Based): $9,058

• Average Annual Median Child Care Cost (Home-Based): $8,352

_{Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed the cost of childcare in America’s 50 largest cities to find the average cost of living for a family. First GOBankingRates found the 50 largest cities in terms of population as sourced from the US Census American Community Survey. Next GOBankingRates found the average home value for single family homes in March 2024 as sourced from Zillow Home Value Index and calculated the average mortgage cost by assuming a 10% down payment and using the national 30 year average fixed rate mortgage as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data. For each city the cost of living indexes were sourced from Sperling’s Bestplaces and using the average expenditure costs for married couples with kids as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average expenditure cost for each city can be calculated. Using the average expenditure cost and the mortgage, the total cost of living without childcare in each city can be calculated. By using the childcare cost data from the US Department of Labor’s Childcare Prices by Age of Children and Child Care Setting, the average annual cost for childcare in different life stages can be found. Using the average costs of childcare and the total cost of living without childcare, the average total cost of living with childcare can be calculated. The data was kept separate to show the different prices for a child at home versus center-based centers as well as the four different life stages for children. By using the life-stages set by the US Department of Labor, the average cost for childcare can be calculated with the annual childcare cost and the amount of time at each stage. Adding the total childcare cost to the total cost of living gives the total cost to raise a child in each city from birth to the age of 12. The data was sorted from the highest to lowest total cost of raising a child at center-based programs. All data was collected on and is up to date as of April 18, 2024.}

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Here’s How Much Child Care Costs At Every Age