Having a baby is a daunting task even for the most prepared couples – something that is especially true for the 11 most expensive cities to have a baby in America in 2015. Making, having and raising a child will probably be the biggest investment of time, effort and money in your life followed only by getting prepared for and engaging in family life with someone (for more on that check out our list of the 11 most expensive cities to get married in America in 2015.) However, like many other things in our lives, this is something we’ve been subconsciously preparing for – to a certain extent – for all our lives. We played family when we were barely starting to discover the world around us, we nursed dolls and various other toys and many of us have probably taken care of a demanding and highly active pet too. Having a child is nothing like any of these but they do a very good job at giving you a hint of the mindset you will need to develop by the moment your offspring gets out of the oven. Once you stand there, holding the bundle of millions of years of evolution and pooling up of diverse genetic material that just exited your partner’s body you will know one thing for sure – nothing will ever be the same again.
Albeit an often expected and anticipated one, having a baby is a giant leap in a person’s life, especially in modern times. Our lives have shifted from the good old survive-eat-reproduce-sleep program to the more familiar more-money-and-entertainment one which is highly incompatible with being a full time parent because a child will leech both of those from your life and transform them into dirty diapers and incomprehensible mumble for at least a couple of years. From then on time will seemingly fly until one day the creature that remotely resembled a human seemingly days ago asks you in a well structured sentence why you are not as cool as someone else’s dad/mom.
We all went down that road and most of us will watch our children go down it too. All the “you will know when you have children of your own” you’ve heard will turn from amusing shallow threats to terrifying “I told you so”s. Your life will make a full circle and break apart so it can set the beginning of another circle which will drain and frustrate you out of your vitality but will ultimately leave you with one of the biggest joys in one’s life – children. Let’s take a look at where it’s even more challenging to raise them.
11. Boston
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $332,000+
To start off our list of the 11 most expensive cities to have a baby in America in 2015 is Boston with a lot more than the average to offer for new parents. The amount is seemingly on the rise too.
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10. Fairbanks
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $334,000+
The tenth spot goes to this city in Alaska with just a bit over our previous contender on average. Seemingly small and quiet, Fairbanks’ requirements for first time parents are a lot higher than in other, more welcoming parts of the country.
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9. Oakland
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $337,000+
The ninth spot goes to Oakland with a bigger, yet quite a slight increase in the average estimated cost of raising your own child. With California being an overall expensive state to live in, this entry should not surprise you at all.
8. Washington
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $342,000+
You’d think the capital city of the USA would be farther down the list with an even more substantial increase in costs but it stands at our eighth spot with still just above the sum required by our previous contender.
7. Orange County
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $353,000+
Just like its forerunner, Orange County is a place you’d expect to see lower down the list. While being the seventh most expensive city to raise a child in, a considerable part of Orange County’s inhabitants can probably afford it.
6. San Jose
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $363,000+
San Jose takes the sixth spot in the 11 most expensive cities to have a baby in America in 2015. The third largest city in the state of California makes the first considerable leap in the estimates that you can see on this list.
5. Hilo
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $369,000+
The fifth spot goes to Hilo. This Hawaiian city is a rapidly expanding one that continues from its forerunner with a sizeable step up in the cost of raising a child.
4. New York (Brooklyn)
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $401,000+
New York’s Brooklyn portion takes the fourth best on our list, breaking the four hundred thousand barriers by a narrow margin. New York is generally considered the most expensive place to live in the USA so this entry is easily explainable.
3. San Francisco
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $403,000+
The beautiful and sunny San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities that you could live in. The average cost of raising a child goes with this tendency, surpassing even Brooklyn’s estimates.
2. Honolulu
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $429,000+
The last Hawaiian city on this list is Honolulu, where raising your offspring would drain your savings and overall income with a sum that gets threateningly closer to half a million dollars.
1. New York (Manhattan)
Estimated Cost of Raising a Child: $540,000+
Speaking of half a million dollars, you will have to spend more than that to raise a child in the most expensive of the 11 most expensive cities to have a baby in America in 2015. This prize goes to New York’s Manhattan portion which is also the most expensive place to live in the US.
