New Hampshire Ranked As “Most Expensive State To Raise Children”

Toni Verdú Carbó, Flickr

In an article for The Fiscal Times, reporter Steve Yoder calculated the cost of raising children by state, using the following:

• Average yearly cost of full-time child care
• Average yearly housing cost
• Average in-state tuition and fees at public university
• Average yearly food costs by region

Based on these metrics, New Hampshire came in first for most expensive state in the country in which to raise children. New Jersey and Massachusetts came in second and third, respectively. However, the ranking is skewed by the fact the University of New Hampshire — the state’s only public university — has among the highest in-state tuitions of any state school in the country.

For childcare alone, New Hampshire ranks 15th and 16th in a list of least affordable states for childcare for infants, and four year-olds, respectively. Those numbers come from the report from Child Care Aware of America upon which Yoder based much of his findings, use childcare costs as a percent of a two-parent income.

Housing costs are also high, but not remarkably so. New Hampshire has the 9th highest monthly mortgage payments and 14th highest monthly rent in the nation — but the 3rd highest median income.

See how other states ranked at the original article on The Fiscal Times.