{"id":261693,"date":"2026-04-10T21:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261693\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T21:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:37:08","slug":"staggering-cost-to-raise-a-child-in-california-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261693\/","title":{"rendered":"Staggering cost to raise a child in California revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>California is among the most expensive places in the nation to raise a child, as new data shows families are facing rapidly rising costs driven by housing, child care and insurance.<\/p>\n<p>Across the U.S, it now costs an average of $303,418 to raise a child from birth through age 18, or about $16,857 per year, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lendingtree.com\/debt-consolidation\/raising-a-child-study\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LendingTree analysis<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The report reflects a broader national trend, with costs rising 1.9% over the past year and increasing in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Getty Images\/Maskot<\/p>\n<p>The estimate is based on a married, two-income <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/27\/lifestyle\/how-much-money-it-takes-to-be-rich-in-every-us-state\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">household earning the national median income<\/a> of $83,730, and includes major costs such as housing, food, child care, transportation and health insurance, with tax credits factored in.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/25\/us-news\/californias-taxes-cost-of-living-crisis-crushes-six-figure-salaries\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">California ranks as the fourth most expensive state<\/a> to raise a young child, with families spending about $33,692 annually during a child\u2019s first five years.<\/p>\n<p>Several states, including Nebraska, Montana, Maine and Wisconsin, recorded double-digit increases. FG\/Bauergriffin.com<\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s high costs are tied to multiple factors, including elevated housing prices, child care expenses, transportation, food and health insurance premiums. <\/p>\n<p>Mickey Mouse was created in 1928.  Walt Disney Resorts via Getty Im<\/p>\n<p>Only Hawaii, Maryland, and Massachusetts rank higher.<\/p>\n<p>The 10 most expensive states, plus D.C. to raise a small child are:<\/p>\n<p>District of Columbia<\/p>\n<p>Connecticut<\/p>\n<p>Family enjoys a quiet evening in, proving that the best seat in the house is always next to the four-legged guest of honor. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, the most affordable states are largely in the South. Mississippi, Alabama and South Dakota report significantly lower annual costs, driven in part by cheaper child care and housing.<\/p>\n<p>The 10 least expensive states to raise a small child are:<\/p>\n<p>Nationally, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/07\/10\/us-news\/child-care-costs-are-major-problem-for-most-us-adults-poll\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">child care remains one of the largest financial pressures<\/a>. The average annual cost for care for an infant and a 4-year-old is $28,190, based on data cited from Child Care Aware of America.<\/p>\n<p>To keep those costs within the federal affordability benchmark of 7% of household income, a family would need to earn about $402,708 per year. <\/p>\n<p>By comparison, the average household income for families with two children is $145,656.<\/p>\n<p>SoFi Stadium is located in Inglewood, California. AP<\/p>\n<p>The report reflects a broader national trend, with costs rising 1.9% over the past year and increasing in 39 states and the District of Columbia. <\/p>\n<p>Several states, including Nebraska, Montana, Maine and Wisconsin, recorded double-digit increases.<\/p>\n<p>There was a slight decline in costs during a child\u2019s first five years, which edged down 0.3% to $29,325, largely due to a modest drop in child care prices.<\/p>\n<p>Despite that small decrease, the overall cost of raising a child continues to rise across most of the country, with California remaining among the most expensive places for families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California is among the most expensive places in the nation to raise a child, as new data shows&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,2305,7182,4182,3586,1264],"class_list":{"0":"post-261693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-children","12":"tag-finances","13":"tag-metro","14":"tag-us-news","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}