10 California metros among 20 costliest places to raise a child

Of the nation’s 20 costliest places to raises a family, half came from California.

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Jaclyn DeJohn, SmartAsset managing editor of economic analysis, analyzed data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator for 381 metropolitan areas to determine the average annual cost of raising one child, two children or three children under 4 for two working adults. The costs include childcare, housing, food, transportation and medical costs for the regions, according to SmartAsset.

So what are the most expensive areas to raise children in United States? Well, 10 are from California.

Here’s the list, with the estimated cost per child per year …

1. Ann Arbor, Michigan ($30,354).

2. San Francisco ($30,062).

3. San Jose ($28,943).

4. Kalamazoo-Portage, Michigan ($28,758).

5. Barnstable, Massachusetts ($28,708).

6. Boston ($28,639).

7. Trenton, New Jersey ($27,395).

8. Santa Cruz ($27,098).

9. Detroit ($26,475).

10. Boulder, Colorado ($26,271).

11. Napa ($25,840).

12. Santa Rosa ($25,673).

13. Ventura County ($25,412).

14. San Diego ($25,138).

15. Los Angeles-Orange County ($24,941).

16. Worcester, Massachusetts ($24,752).

17. New York ($24,723).

18. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara ($24,710).

19. Pittsfield, Massachusetts ($24,595).

20. San Luis Obispo ($24,007).

See the full list and the methodology behind the rankings at smartasset.com/data-studies/second-third-child-costs-2023.

Tribune News and Jonathan Lansner, business columnist for the Southern California News Group, contributed to this report.