Chip and Joanna Gaines, the stars of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper,” are expecting their fifth child — and they’ll need to spend on more than a nursery renovation.
For a married-couple family with two children, the cost of raising a child from birth until 17 years old is more than $233,000, including child-rearing costs such as clothing and transportation, food, child care and education, according to a 2015 analysis by the U.S.Department of Agriculture, which has been tracking the cost of raising a child since 1960.
There’s one saving grace for Americans like the Waco, Texas-based Gaines family who have bigger families. Families with three or more children spend an average of 24% less on each subsequent child, the Department of Agriculture report found, because children can share a bedroom, clothing or toys, food can be purchased in bulk and private schools may offer sibling discounts.
The Gaineses are outliers. Nearly half of Americans (48%) say two children is the ideal number of children, according to a 2015 study by the Pew Research Center, up from 1971 when only 38% of people told Gallup that two children was the ideal number.
Pew cited the availability of the birth control pill in the 1960s and the growth of women’s participation in the workforce as among the demographic reasons for families having fewer children. But the cost of raising more than two children plays a significant role.
The annual cost of raising a two-adult, four-children family in Waco, Texas, is at least $71,664, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s family budget calculator. Chip and Joanna Gaines can expect to spend more than that with the arrival of their fifth child.
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Larger families may need to move to a bigger home, upgrade to cars that are more spacious and safer, not to mention the extras like soccer league and summer camp. Summer camp alone can cost anywhere from $100 to $500 a week for day camp or anywhere from $690 to as much as $2,000 a week for sleepaway camp, according to the American Camp Association.
The larger the family, the more expensive child care is as well, which is a major factor for many couples when deciding whether or not they should have more children, according to a Care.com survey. Child care costs families as much as 20% of their income, though it shouldn’t exceed 7%, as recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Of course, expenditures also vary by location. Families in the northeast spent the most on children, according to the USDA report, followed by those in the urban west, South and Midwest. Families in rural areas spent the least on a child.
States with least affordable child care
| State | Annual cost of infant day care | Married couple median income | Percentage of median income |
| Massachusetts | $20,125 | $117,207.00 | 17.2% |
| Colorado | $15,138 | $90,857.00 | 16.7% |
| Utah | $12,249 | $76,736.00 | 16.0% |
| California | $13,671 | $85,762.00 | 15.9% |
| Oregon | $12,249 | $77,465.00 | 15.8% |
| Source: Child Care Aware of America | |||
States with most affordable child care
| State | Annual cost of infant day care | Married couple median income | Percentage of median income |
| South Carolina | $6,673 | $76,465 | 8.7% |
| Kentucky | $6,105 | $74,992 | 8.1% |
| Alabama | $5,715 | $75,403 | 7.6% |
| Mississippi | $5,178 | $70,729 | 7.3% |
| Louisiana | $5,683 | $85,842 | 6.6% |
| Source: Child Care Aware of America |
Also see: How does raising children affect retirement risk?
Children obviously become more expensive to take care of the older they get. Overall, annual expenses rose $900 for teenagers between 15 and 17, because of higher food and transportation costs, which may include the costs for a second car.
The costs start at the very beginning of a child’s life. The average cost of giving birth is almost $9,000 for a natural delivery and $11,500 for a cesarean section, according to health care technology firm Castlight Health.
In fact, a lifetime supply of diapers costs $2,000, approximately the same as an average month of child care in Washington, D.C. ($1,924), according to Child Care Aware of America, an Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit that advocates for affordable child care.