How This Is Calculated
Annual cost × 18 years, split by category share. An only child costs 1.27× the two-child per-child rate; families with 3+ children pay 0.76× per child.
Source: USDA Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015 (last official edition, published 2017; USDA discontinued this report after 2017). Dollar figures CPI-adjusted from 2015 to 2026 using a ~1.38x ratio derived from BLS CPI inflation data. · Updated 2026-07-07 · Full methodology
Cost Breakdown by Category (Middle Income, 2-Child Family)
| Housing (29%) | $93,506 |
| Food (18%) | $58,038 |
| Childcare & Education (16%) | $51,589 |
| Transportation (15%) | $48,365 |
| Health Care (9%) | $29,019 |
| Clothing (6%) | $19,346 |
| Miscellaneous (7%) | $22,570 |
What to Know
- Housing is the single largest cost category at 29% of the total, followed by food (18%) and childcare/education (16%).
- An only child costs about 27% more per child than in a two-child family, while families with three or more children spend about 24% less per child — sibling economies of scale are real but modest.
- These figures are inflation-adjusted from USDA's last official study (2015 data, published 2017) — the US government has not published a newer estimate since.
Frequently Asked Questions
An average of $322,434 from birth to age 18, for a middle-income, two-child married-couple family — ranging from $241,110 for lower-income families to $513,720 for higher-income families.
Housing (29%), food (18%), childcare & education (16%), transportation (15%), health care (9%), clothing (6%), and miscellaneous costs (7%).
USDA published these figures annually through 2017 (covering 2015 data), then discontinued the report — no newer official US government estimate exists. We inflation-adjust the last official figures to 2026 dollars using published CPI data, and we'll switch to a newer government source if one is published.
Not per child. An only child costs about 27% more than a child in a two-child family (no sibling economies of scale), while families with three or more children spend about 24% less per child.
No — this page shows the national average. State-by-state cost pages (driven by local childcare rates and income) are in progress and will let you compare your specific state.