By The Number$: The Cost of Raising a Child in NJ in 2024

The good news is that New Jersey is not the most expensive state to raise a child in 2024.

The bad news is we are close.

New Jersey ranks as the 13th most expensive state to raise a child in the new SmartAsset Study.

Kids Are Expensive to Raise in New Jersey

This new study determined that the annual cost to raise a child in New Jersey is $26,870.

That includes $13,674 for childcare, $4,054 in additional housing, and $2,068 for food. The total cost also includes medical care, transportation, and other necessities.

SmartAsset, a financial service, says the national average child-raising cost is $22,850 -- $4,020 less than it costs in New Jersey.

How Did They Determine the Child-Raising Cost?

SmartAsset compiled costs assuming two working parents and one child for its study of the cost of raising children across America.

It used the MIT Living Wage Calculator data to compare the costs of a household with two working adults and one child with a childless household with two working adults.

What's Driving the High Costs?

Another recent study on child costs by Lending Tree says that the cost of child care surged nearly 20% between 2016 and 2021, the latest year for which complete data is available.

That means the typical family is spending about $237,482 over 18 years to raise a child — and that does not include the cost of college.

Things Could Always Be Worse

The most expensive state for child-raising was Massachusetts, with an annual cost of $35,841, followed by Hawaii at $35,049, and Connecticut at $32,803.

Mississippi is the least expensive state to raise a child, with an annual cost of $16,151.