Family Budget · 50 States + DC

Cost of Having a Kid by State (2026)

A consolidated look at what raising a child actually costs in every US state — daycare prices, paid family leave rules, car seat laws, school cutoffs, and the family-budget calculators that tie them together.

The honest answer to "how much does it cost to raise a kid?" depends almost entirely on which state you live in. Daycare alone swings from ~$900/month in Wichita to $3,000+/month in San Francisco — a 3.3× spread that dwarfs differences in housing or food. State laws layer on top of that: paid family leave exists in some states and not others, kindergarten cutoff dates determine when your kid starts (and when daycare stops), and car seat rules add or remove year-or-two of booster requirements.

These 51 pages pull together both sides of that picture per state. Each one combines the daycare cost data from our 107-city dataset with all five state-parenting-laws topics into a single "real cost" view. Useful if you're deciding where to move, planning a baby, or just budgeting realistically.

All 51 states

AlabamaNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet Alaska$1400/mo infant care Anchorage, AK Arizona$1500/mo infant care Scottsdale, AZ ArkansasNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet California$3000/mo infant care San Francisco, CA Colorado$1900/mo infant care Denver, CO ConnecticutNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet DelawareNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet Florida$1300/mo infant care Miami, FL Georgia$1400/mo infant care Atlanta, GA Hawaii$2000/mo infant care Honolulu, HI Idaho$1100/mo infant care Boise, ID Illinois$1900/mo infant care Chicago, IL Indiana$1100/mo infant care Indianapolis, IN Iowa$1100/mo infant care Des Moines, IA Kansas$900/mo infant care Wichita, KS Kentucky$1100/mo infant care Lexington, KY Louisiana$1100/mo infant care New Orleans, LA MaineNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet Maryland$1800/mo infant care Baltimore, MD Massachusetts$2800/mo infant care Boston, MA Michigan$1100/mo infant care Detroit, MI Minnesota$1800/mo infant care Minneapolis, MN MississippiNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet Missouri$1100/mo infant care Kansas City, MO MontanaNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet Nebraska$1100/mo infant care Omaha, NE Nevada$1300/mo infant care Reno, NV New HampshireNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet New Jersey$2100/mo infant care Jersey City, NJ New Mexico$1000/mo infant care Albuquerque, NM New York$3200/mo infant care New York, NY North Carolina$1400/mo infant care Raleigh, NC North DakotaNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet Ohio$1100/mo infant care Columbus, OH Oklahoma$900/mo infant care Oklahoma City, OK Oregon$1700/mo infant care Portland, OR Pennsylvania$1700/mo infant care Philadelphia, PA Rhode IslandNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet South CarolinaNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet South DakotaNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet Tennessee$1300/mo infant care Nashville, TN Texas$1700/mo infant care Austin, TX UtahNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet VermontNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet Virginia$1300/mo infant care Virginia Beach, VA Washington$2300/mo infant care Seattle, WA West VirginiaNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet Wisconsin$1500/mo infant care Madison, WI WyomingNational avg~$1,500/mo No city data yet District of Columbia$2500/mo infant care Washington, DC

How to use these pages

If you're researching where to move, start with the state pages of your top 2-3 candidates and compare daycare-plus-leave numbers head to head. If you're budgeting for a new baby, find your state, multiply infant daycare by 12 to get your year-one childcare floor, then layer in $80-$180/month for diapers and formula. If you're navigating your employer's leave policy, the paid-family-leave row tells you what your state mandates so you know whether you're getting better, worse, or equal terms.

What's in the source data

  • Daycare costs come from our Daycare Cost by City dataset (107 US cities, infant/toddler/preschool monthly + yearly).
  • Parenting laws come from our US Parenting Laws by State engine (5 topics × 50 states = 250 indexed pages).
  • National averages for diapers, formula, pediatric copays, and initial gear are drawn from BLS, Care.com, and Child Care Aware data.
Hub US Parenting Laws by State All 50 states × 5 topics indexed and searchable. Hub Daycare Cost by City Monthly + yearly daycare cost across 100+ US cities. Pillar Childcare Guide Daycare vs. nanny vs. home-based, plus what to ask on tours. Guide FMLA Eligibility Who qualifies for federal unpaid leave, and what to do if you don't.