Washington – USDA: An Average of $226,920 To Raise A Child Born in 2010 To The Age of 18

Washington – A middle-income family could spend an average of $226,920 to raise a child born in 2010 to the age of 18, the US Department of Agriculture reported yesterday.

The estimate is up 2.1 percent from 2009, according to the study, posted on the department’s Web site. Expenses for child care, education, transportation and health services represented the biggest increases in child-rearing costs, according to the USDA.

The typical two-parent family spent from $11,880 to $13,830 on each child last year, the study found. Households that make less spend less, the researchers said. A family earning less than $57,600 a year is likely to spend $163,440 in 2010 dollars to rear a child, while parents earning more than $99,730 may pay $377,040, according to the study.

Annual expenses generally increased with a child’s age, a circumstance true in two-parent and single-parent families alike, the study found.

Expenses were highest for children raised in the urban Northeast, followed by cities in the West and Midwest, the USDA said.

Housing accounts for the biggest portion of expenses, averaging 31 percent over 17 years, the USDA said. Child care and education average 17 percent, with food costs at 16 percent. The estimates don’t include college expenses.