More than 3.8 million babies were born in the United States in 2017. Raising a family has never been cheap — a typical American family of four today spends over $6,000 each month on housing, food, transportation, health care, childcare, taxes, and other necessities. In some areas, these costs are thousands of dollars more.
To determine the most expensive places to raise a family, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed median cost of living data from the Economic Policy Institute for a family of four — two parents and two children — for each U.S. county and county equivalent. Only counties and other equivalent areas with at least 10,000 residents were considered. Data on the median family income, monthly childcare costs, and population also came from EPI.
The most expensive places to raise a family tend to be some of the best places for children. Places with a high cost of living tend to have highly affluent residents, who have the means to pay for better schools and services for children. Highly impoverished places, on the other hand, may also struggle with other socioeconomic issues and cannot always provide the best environment for children. These are the worst cities to raise kids.
The 30 most expensive places to raise a family in the United States are concentrated in just seven states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C. Each of these states has among the highest overall costs of living, so it makes sense that these heightened expenses would carry over into childcare as well. Though the most expensive places overall tend to concentrate in high-cost of living states, there are urban centers in each state where goods and services tend to cost more than in the state as a whole. These are the most expensive cities to live in every state.
This list contains 30 counties or county equivalents. In Alaska, boroughs are used instead of counties. The state’s population is fairly spread out and isolated, so population centers like Anchorage and Juneau are treated as county equivalents as well.
Click here to learn more about the most expensive places to raise a family.
30. Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,460
> Median annual family income: $88,678
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,739
> Population: 98,679
[in-text-ad]
29. Juneau City and Borough, Alaska
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,465
> Median annual family income: $107,061
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,678
> Population: 32,524
28. Arlington County, Virginia
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,493
> Median annual family income: $150,294
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,801
> Population: 226,092
27. San Benito County, California
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,501
> Median annual family income: $81,188
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,290
> Population: 58,051
[in-text-ad-2]
26. Fairfax County, Virginia
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,509
> Median annual family income: $135,002
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,752
> Population: 1,132,887
25. Middlesex County, Massachusetts
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,529
> Median annual family income: $114,307
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,250
> Population: 1,567,610
[in-text-ad]
24. Broomfield County, Colorado
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,572
> Median annual family income: $100,925
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,897
> Population: 62,449
23. Anchorage Municipality, Alaska
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,587
> Median annual family income: $96,376
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,906
> Population: 299,321
22. Honolulu County, Hawaii
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,632
> Median annual family income: $91,787
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,548
> Population: 986,999
[in-text-ad-2]
21. Douglas County, Colorado
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,689
> Median annual family income: $121,483
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,950
> Population: 314,238
20. Kings County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,707
> Median annual family income: $57,604
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,686
> Population: 2,606,852
[in-text-ad]
19. Orange County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,814
> Median annual family income: $88,883
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,431
> Population: 376,242
24/7 Wall St.
18. Dutchess County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,821
> Median annual family income: $92,789
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,405
> Population: 295,905
17. Norfolk County, Massachusetts
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,870
> Median annual family income: $116,716
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,331
> Population: 691,218
[in-text-ad-2]
16. Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $9,952
> Median annual family income: $90,759
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,929
> Population: 100,150
15. Alameda County, California
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $10,160
> Median annual family income: $99,211
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,499
> Population: 1,605,217
[in-text-ad]
14. Washington, D.C.
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $10,331
> Median annual family income: $90,917
> Monthly childcare costs: $3,279
> Population: 659,009
24/7 Wall St.
13. Contra Costa County, California
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $10,473
> Median annual family income: $101,088
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,537
> Population: 1,107,925
12. Richmond County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $10,490
> Median annual family income: $89,833
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,632
> Population: 473,324
[in-text-ad-2]
11. Santa Clara County, California
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $10,758
> Median annual family income: $116,568
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,559
> Population: 1,885,056
10. Westchester County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $10,764
> Median annual family income: $112,894
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,724
> Population: 969,229
[in-text-ad]
9. Queens County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $10,777
> Median annual family income: $67,780
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,863
> Population: 2,310,011
24/7 Wall St.
8. Rockland County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $11,298
> Median annual family income: $103,555
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,826
> Population: 322,642
7. Putnam County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $11,563
> Median annual family income: $116,190
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,708
> Population: 99,408
[in-text-ad-2]
6. Suffolk County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $11,564
> Median annual family income: $107,019
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,873
> Population: 1,498,130
5. New York County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $11,649
> Median annual family income: $96,058
> Monthly childcare costs: $3,041
> Population: 1,634,989
[in-text-ad]
4. Nassau County, New York
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $11,702
> Median annual family income: $121,489
> Monthly childcare costs: $2,908
> Population: 1,356,801
3. San Francisco County, California
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $11,777
> Median annual family income: $105,562
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,672
> Population: 850,282
2. Marin County, California
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $12,919
> Median annual family income: $132,846
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,753
> Population: 259,358
[in-text-ad-2]
1. San Mateo County, California
> Monthly cost of living (family of 4): $13,024
> Median annual family income: $117,300
> Monthly childcare costs: $1,787
> Population: 754,748
Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
