It Costs $24K Each Year To Raise A Child In CA, A New Study Reports. Where The Money Goes

CALIFORNIA — The love for your child is priceless. The little darling's food, clothes, child care and other expenses are not. A study released this week by LendingTree found that it costs about $24,000 per year to raise a child in California — the sixth most expensive place to raise a child in the country.

The expanse that gags parents: infant daycare averages $16,452. Get them past that stage and things ease up a bit.

The study looked at seven variables:

• Rent: The average difference in rent paid between households without children and households with their own child (younger than 18) present.
• Food: The difference (regionally) in typical spending between a two-person adult household and a two-person household with one child.
• Infant day care: The state average of center-based care.
• Girls apparel: The average amount spent each year (regionally) on apparel for girls between 2 and 16. Researchers used girls’ clothing for analysis due to typically higher spending compared to boys’ clothes.
• Transportation: The difference in transportation spending (regionally) for a two-person household compared to a two-adult household with a child.
• Insurance premiums: The difference in average cost of premiums for a single person on workplace insurance (times two for two adults) compared to a single workplace-based family plan.
• State’s tax credit or exemption for one child: This was subtracted from the overall expenses.

Here in California, the study found that rent only increased $12 with a young child present. Rent in Hawaii soared a staggering $4,428.

Food costs in California increased $1,687, in the same ballpark as other states.

Clothing was just $99 for the year on average in the Golden State.

An extra $2,199 is spent on transportation here, in line with other states.

Insurance premiums in California averaged $3,520. The rest of the country has a huge cost difference, from a low of $985 in Michigan to a high of $5,370 in South Carolina.

California parents get a sweet break on dependent exemptions or tax credits, at $383 per child. Only Utah's is higher, at $590, while 18 states have no dependent exemptions or tax credits at all.

Here's a look at the 2021 list of most expensive states to raise a child —

1. District of Columbia: $28,785
2. Hawaii: $25,828
3. Maryland: $25,156
4. Connecticut: $24,111
5. Colorado: $23,981
6. California: $23,586
7. Minnesota: $23,283
8. Virginia: $23,029
9. Washington: $22,679
10. Massachusetts: $22,677

The 2021 list of least expensive states to raise a child —

42. Idaho: $16,519
43. Montana: $16,473
44. North Carolina: $16,444
45. Michigan: $16,203
46. Georgia: $16,165
47. West Virginia: $15,759
48. Arkansas: $15,203
49. Kentucky: $15,157
50. Alabama: $14,614
51. Mississippi: $13,596

Methodology

Analysts compiled data to determine the average annual family expense for a girl younger than 5 for a two-earner household in each state and the District of Columbia. Data points include the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

See the full results online at LendingTree.