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Map: How much it costs to raise kids in your city for 2026

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FOX Local
Family
Published July 17, 2026 8:44 AM MST
Published July 17, 2026 8:44 AM MST
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FILE-A general view of people enjoying a beautiful spring day in Liberty State Park with the Statue of Liberty on May 3, 2020 in Jersey City, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Brief

    • San Francisco is the most expensive metro area to raise a child at over $40,000 annually, the highest in the nation, according to a new report from SmartAsset.
    • Memphis ranks as the least expensive city to raise kids at under $20,000 a year.
    • SmartAsset created its ranking of cities based on categories like child care, housing costs, food, and medical expenses.

Raising children is substantially expensive when it comes to child care costs like food, housing and medical expenses.

While raising a child is an expensive endeavor nationwide, a new report highlights that families in certain major metropolitan areas are bearing a far heavier financial burden. 

Driven by surging childcare and housing costs, some cities are seeing their expenses rise at double the rate of others, leaving parents stretching their budgets to keep pace. 

RELATED: More parents having fewer kids due to rising costs, survey reveals

In a new report, SmartAsset evaluated 48 of the largest metro areas in the United States to forecast the annual cost of raising a small child in a home with two working adults. 

Which cities cost the most to raise kids in 2026?

Why you should care:

SmarAsset created its rankings of cities where it costs the most to raise children in 2026, using the MIT Living Wage Calculator statistics to compare the living costs of a household with two working adults and one child to that of a home without kids with two working adults.

The data covers February 2026 and compares to metrics from February 2025 and February 2024. Costs include additions for food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation and other necessities. 

  1. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA-$43,171
  2. Boston-Cambridge-Newtown, MA-$42,584
  3. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA-$41,817
  4. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, MA-$36,282
  5. Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO-$34,712
  6. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad-$34,705
  7. Hartford West-Hartford East-Hartford, CT-$33,773
  8. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-$33,307
  9. Sacramento-Roseville-Folson, CA-$33,299
  10. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-$32,906
  11. Providence-Warwick, RI-$32,619
  12. Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN-$32,543
  13. Los Angeles-Long Beach, Anaheim, CA-$32,191
  14. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-$31,417
  15. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-$31,144

Separately, Memphis ranks as the least expensive city to raise a child at $19,922, making it the most affordable metro area. To see the complete report and rankings, click here.

Child care costs dipped in two U.S. cities

Local perspective:

According to SmartAsset’s report, Richmond, Virginia and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk are the two metro areas that experienced the cost of raising a child drop from 2025 to 2026. However, child care costs were almost flat in the neighboring metro areas of Washington-Arlington-Alexandria and Baltimore-Columbia-Towson.

The Source: Information for this story was provided by SmarAsset, which examined the 48 metro areas in the United States to determine annual costs to raise kids. This story was reported from Washington, D.C. 



 

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