Everyone knows that having a baby is incredibly expensive, from delivery or adoption costs to outfitting a household with strollers, bottles, cribs and layettes. But even if friends and family come together to provide everything needed on day one, there are ongoing costs of raising a child. So how much should a typical couple expect to budget each month?To find out, we looked at some average costs (and one tax credit), both by state and for the 100 largest metros in the U.S.:

• The difference in rent between a typical one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartment
• Average cost of a day care center
• Average cost of baby apparel, diapers and wipes
• Average additional food costs
• Average cost of adding a dependent to workplace insurance
• Federal tax credit

These are just the basic costs. Parents who prioritize higher-end goods, parent-and-me classes, baby sitters and other little luxuries to help with parental stresses can expect to spend more.

Hover over a state to review its costs and tax credit.

Key takeaways

• The average monthly cost of raising a baby across all 50 states is $1,037.
• San Jose, Calif., is the most expensive metro to raise a baby, with an average base cost of $1,705 a month. Little Rock, Ark., is the cheapest of the 100 largest metros, with an average base cost of $707 a month.
• Massachusetts is the most expensive state for raising a baby, at an average cost of $1,521 a month. Arkansas is the cheapest state, with an average monthly cost of $723.
• Day care costs are far and away the largest monthly expense, representing 72% of monthly costs, on average. The proportion is highest in New York state at 85% and lowest in Alaska at 59%.
• New parents in 22 out of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, can expect their monthly costs to go up by at least $1,000 — just for the basics.
• Parents in 63 of the 100 largest metros can expect to increase their monthly costs by at least $1,000.

People in the 10 most expensive states (and District of Columbia) to raise a baby can expect their monthly budgets to balloon by over $1,200 a month.

Living in a large metro can mean having to set aside more money each month for a new baby. Residents in the 10 most expensive metros can expect their bills to increase by between $1,368 and $1,705 a month.

Here is a breakdown of average baby costs in every state. The difference in cost between the most expensive and least expensive state is almost $800 a month.

How baby budgets compare in the 100 largest metros

Why parents struggle with the cost of a baby

A lot of new families incur significant debt when having a baby. Those who get pregnant may face hefty maternal and prenatal medical bills and those who adopt may see high legal and travel bills. Parents may also rack up credit card charges, such as to get a car seat, bassinet or maternity clothes.

Many families don’t have access to paid parental leave, so they are forced to forgo several weeks of at least part of their income. All this can put new parents into debt even before their monthly expenses increase, and those families can add monthly debt payments (including interest) to the very basic monthly cost increases we describe here.

That — combined with any other pre-existing debt, such as car payments or credit card bills ripe for consolidation — can create daunting challenges to people who are expecting or planning for a first child. In a perfect world, everyone would be on secure financial footing before having a baby, but that’s not always realistic, and most American parents find managing the additional monthly expenses to be challenging.

How to reduce these costs of having a baby

Here are some of the ways that parents can trim costs in each of the categories we surveyed.

Methodology

Researchers used the following data to estimate the basic budget changes a family would experience with the arrival of a first child, both at the state level and for the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S.

• Rent: The difference in cost between an average one-bedroom and an average two-bedroom from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
• Child care: The average cost of in-center child care, as reported by Care.com. In instances where an average was not available for a particular metro, the state average was used.
• Baby apparel, diapers and wipes: The former was taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey regional tables, and the latter two were reported by Walmart.
• Additional food costs: This was calculated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey by indexing the average total food costs reported in the regional table and applying that multiple to the difference between married couples with no children and married couples with children younger than 6 from the household units table.
• Insurance: The difference in cost between the statewide average employer-subsidized plan for an employee and the employee plus another person plan from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.