Kids may be small, but the cost of raising them is anything but.

Between food, housing, clothing, transportation, child care, and health insurance, the price of parenthood is on the rise — and, over the first 18 years of a child’s life, can now rival the cost of a brand-new Ferrari.

How Much Does It Cost To Raise a Child?

While any mom or dad will likely tell you that you can’t put a price tag on parenthood, LendingTree has gone ahead and done it anyway. For the fourth year in a row, the financial website has pulled an exhaustive amount of data (primarily dating to 2024) in order to tally up the cost of what it takes, money-wise, to raise a child. The result is a bigger number than ever before: $303,418, up 1.9% from the 2025 report, when that figure topped out at $297,674. 

The cost is even more jaw-dropping when you consider how it has changed since 2023, when LendingTree first created this report. Back then, the estimated cost of raising a kid during their first 18 years was $237,482, meaning that the total has climbed a whopping 27.8% in just three years.

Much of the disparity boils down to two major expenses: housing and child care. 

Child care costs remain one of the biggest financial burdens facing parents, claiming between 10% and 33% of a household’s median income. And according to The New York Times, that number is rising even faster than inflation.

Sarah Rittling, executive director of the First Five Years Fund, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable child care and education, said in a statement about the report, “Child care costs stretch household budgets to the breaking point. When the early years of raising a child are also the most expensive, it puts enormous pressure on parents who are trying to work and support their families.”

Housing, meanwhile, saw the sharpest year-over-year increase, rising 48.9%. Whether you rent or own, the nationwide trend is an upward one, with some states costing more than others.

What Is the Most Expensive State To Raise a Child?

While it’s impossible to predict every expense parenthood will bring, LendingTree found that a child’s earliest years tend to be the most expensive. (As the report tracks expenses only up to 18 years of age, college tuition bills were not factored into the data.) The costs vary greatly depending on where you live — and nowhere are they higher than in Hawaii. 

Ocean views, black sand beaches, and active volcanoes don’t come cheap. In Hawaii, the estimated annual cost of raising a small child for the first five years is $40,342 — nearly 10% higher than in the second costliest state, Maryland ($36,419), followed by Massachusetts ($34,247) in third. 

Coastal living appears to come with a particularly steep parenting premium. Of the 10 most expensive states to raise a small child in — which are listed below — only one, Colorado, is not on a coast. 

The 10 Most Expensive States To Raise a Small Child

1. Hawaii – $40,342
2. Maryland – $36,419
3. Massachusetts – $34,247
4. California – $33,692
5. New Jersey – $31,948
6. Washington – $31,937
7. Colorado – $31,000
8. New York – $30,209
9. Washington, D.C. – $30,146
10. Connecticut – $29,674

Meanwhile, many of the least expensive states to raise a child in are concentrated in the South. 

The 10 Least Expensive States To Raise a Small Child

1. Mississippi – $17,148
2. Alabama – $18,019
3. South Dakota – $18,622
4. South Carolina – $18,910
5. Arkansas – $19,204
6. Georgia – $20,365
7. Texas – $20,968
8. Iowa – $21,137
9. Oklahoma – $21,218
10. Louisiana – $21,303

The joys of parenthood may be universal, but the costs can vary wildly depending on your ZIP code.

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Since the dawn of commerce, many of the world’s greatest thinkers have debated what it truly means to be rich. Some measured wealth in freedom, others in happiness, purpose, or time. But alongside those philosophical definitions sits a far more concrete one: the income and net-worth thresholds that determine who, exactly, qualifies as “rich.”

If you’re looking for a by-the-numbers benchmark, the answer is somewhat easier to define — albeit with a few caveats. 

Wealth is relative, after all: A salary that signals affluence in one city might barely register in another, and a seven-figure net worth can fund a life of luxury for one person and simply a comfortable retirement for another, depending on where you live and how you spend.

How Much Money Makes You Wealthy?

Still, researchers and economists have spent years trying to quantify what it means to be wealthy in America. According to Charles Schwab’s latest Modern Wealth Survey, Americans say it now takes an average net worth of $2.3 million to be considered “wealthy,” which is down from $2.5 million — an 8% reduction — from the previous year. 

But the answer doesn’t simply end there. Age also plays into the equation. While millennials and Gen-Xers agree that having $2.1 million in the bank makes you rich, baby boomers set the bar a bit higher at $2.8 million. Gen Z, meanwhile, is happy with $1.7 million as that benchmark — making it clear that generational opinions on money differ. 

Of course, the Modern Wealth Survey isn’t the only yardstick out there. Other analyses, including the U.S. Census Bureau, look at figures like household income to delineate levels of wealth. In those cases, salaries of $170,000 to $190,000 generally put people in the top 20% of earners, while $650,000 to $700,000 per year is enough to land you in the top 1%.

Yet again, however, the numbers tell only part of the story. Surveys consistently find that even many high-income Americans don’t actually feel rich, due to factors such as inflation, debt, housing costs, and the phenomenon known as “lifestyle creep,” which is when you spend more as you earn more, often without even realizing it. In other words: Being wealthy on paper doesn’t necessarily make you feel wealthy in real life. 

What Makes People Feel Wealthy

Much like those philosophers of yore, today’s high-net individuals have their own definitions of wealth, which aren’t always tied to how much money is in their investment portfolio.

According to Schwab’s Modern Wealth Survey, when asked to explain what makes them feel “wealthy,” nearly half of respondents — 45% — declared happiness as a clear indicator. Surprisingly, just 44% pointed to the amount of money they have. (Physical health, mental health, and strong personal relationships were some of the other metrics mentioned.)

“The concept of wealth can feel distant, abstract, or even aspirational, while financial comfort is something people might see as more tangible and associated with the everyday realities they’re facing right now,” Rob Williams, CFP, managing director of financial planning at Charles Schwab, said in a press release. “It can be hard to navigate these concepts side by side in the form of short- and long-term financial goals. But both are important when it comes to understanding and managing your full financial life.”

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