How much does it cost to raise a child?
This cost of raising a child calculator estimates what a child costs each year and in total until their 18th birthday. For the United States it uses the most recent official estimates — the US Department of Agriculture’s “Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015” — and brings them up to today’s prices with the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). Choose married-couple or single-parent families, your area, income group and number of children, and see the cost by category: housing, food, transport, clothing, health care, child care and education, and everything else.
For the UK, India or anywhere else, switch to My own budget: enter what you spend in a month in each category, and the calculator projects it to age 18, with a yearly increase if you want one. It is information only, a rough guide rather than a forecast.
How to use the Cost of Raising a Child Calculator
- Choose the USDA estimate (US) or My own budget.
- Enter your child’s age now and, if you want to project future prices, a yearly inflation rate.
- US: choose the family type, area, income group and number of children. Budget: choose the currency and replace the example monthly amounts with yours.
- Read the total to age 18, this year’s cost, the category breakdown and the year-by-year table.
Cost of Raising a Child Calculator features
USDA tables
All seven 2015 tables: overall US, four urban regions, rural areas and single-parent families, three income groups.
Today’s dollars
Scaled by CPI-U from the 2015 average (237.017) to the latest index, which you can update.
Family size
The USDA’s own adjustments: an only child costs 27% more, each of three or more children 24% less.
Your own budget
Eight categories in pounds, rupees, dollars or euros for countries without official figures.
What the USDA estimate includes
The USDA estimated how much families spend on a child from birth to 17, using the Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2011–15. In 2015 dollars, a middle-income married couple (income $59,200–$107,400) spent about $233,610 on the younger of two children from birth to 17; lower-income families about $174,690 and higher-income families about $372,210. Housing is the largest share, then food and child care and education. The figures do not include the cost of pregnancy and birth or college.
These are the latest USDA figures — the series has not been updated since — so this page inflates them with CPI-U. Spending patterns, especially child care costs, have changed since 2015, so treat the result as a rough guide. For childcare in particular, the childcare cost calculator gives a more precise figure.
Budgeting in the UK, India and elsewhere
- There is no official government estimate of the cost of a child in the UK or India that can be reused here, so the budget mode starts from your own numbers.
- Include a share of housing (a bigger home or rent), food, childcare and school fees, clothing, transport, health, activities and holidays.
- Add a yearly increase to reflect rising prices and a growing child; older children usually cost more.
- Early costs are covered by the baby registry checklist and the diaper calculator.
Cost of Raising a Child Calculator FAQ
How much does it cost to raise a child to 18?
Using the USDA’s 2015 estimate for a middle-income US married couple — $233,610 — and CPI-U inflation to September 2026, about $332,000 in today’s dollars. It varies widely by income, region and family size.
Is the USDA cost of raising a child still updated?
No new edition has been published since the 2015 report (released in 2017). This calculator adjusts those figures for inflation with the Consumer Price Index.
How much does a child cost per year?
For a middle-income US family, roughly $17,500–$20,000 a year in today’s dollars, depending on age. Use the year-by-year table for your situation.
What is the cost of raising a child in the UK?
Use the budget mode with your own figures. Childcare is often the biggest single cost for young children in the UK; see the childcare cost calculator for help with funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare.
Does an only child cost more?
Per child, yes: the USDA estimates a single child costs about 27% more than each of two, and each of three or more about 24% less, because of shared housing, clothing and economies of scale.