Cost of Raising a Child in 2026: USDA Estimate, Adjusted for Inflation

USDA’s latest cost-of-raising-a-child figures by income, age and category, restated to today’s prices with a stated CPI formula, and what the 2026 child tax benefits give back.

USDA’s latest estimate is $233,610 to raise a child from birth through age 17, for a middle-income married couple with two children, in 2015 dollars (USDA, Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015). Restated with the Consumer Price Index to September 2026 prices, that is about $332,100 — roughly $18,450 a year (our CPI adjustment, not a new USDA survey). College is not included.

Last updated 2026-11-04. Sources are linked next to each figure and listed at the end.

Cost of raising a child to 18, by family income

USDA totals for birth through age 17, younger child in a two-child married-couple family (USDA, Table 1), restated with the CPI-U (BLS). Income bands are 2015 before-tax income. Rounded to $10.
Family income (2015)	USDA total, 2015 dollars	In 2025 dollars	In September 2026 dollars
Before-tax income less than $59,200 (average $36,300)	$174,690	$237,280	$248,340
Before-tax income $59,200 to $107,400 (average $81,700)	$233,610	$317,320	$332,100
Before-tax income more than $107,400 (average $185,400)	$372,210	$505,580	$529,130

How the adjustment is done. September 2026 dollars = 2015 dollars × (CPI-U September 2026 ÷ CPI-U 2015 annual average) = × 336.940 ÷ 237.017 = × 1.4216. For 2025 dollars the factor is 321.943 ÷ 237.017 = 1.3583. Series CUUR0000SA0, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (BLS). This assumes every category rose with overall prices since 2015. Individual categories such as child care, housing and health care need not have moved with the overall index, and spending habits change, so treat the restated figures as estimates. USDA itself projected $284,570 for a child born in 2015 at an assumed 2.2% inflation a year (USDA, Table 10).

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Yearly cost by age of the child

Estimated yearly spending on a child by age group, 2015 dollars, by family income band (USDA, Table 1); last column: the middle-income figure restated to September 2026 with the CPI factor above.
Age	Lower income	Middle income	Higher income	Middle, September 2026 dollars
0–2	$9,690	$12,680	$19,770	$18,030
3–5	$9,700	$12,730	$19,790	$18,100
6–8	$9,330	$12,350	$19,380	$17,560
9–11	$9,960	$13,180	$20,700	$18,740
12–14	$9,570	$13,030	$21,050	$18,520
15–17	$9,980	$13,900	$23,380	$19,760

Where the money goes (middle-income family)

Middle-income total, birth through 17, by category, 2015 dollars (USDA, Table 1); child care and education is averaged over all families, including those with no such expense.
Category	2015 dollars	Share	September 2026 dollars
Housing	$66,240	28%	$94,170
Food	$41,400	18%	$58,850
Transportation	$35,490	15%	$50,450
Clothing	$13,260	6%	$18,850
Health care	$21,720	9%	$30,880
Child care and education	$38,040	16%	$54,080
Miscellaneous	$17,460	7%	$24,820

Housing is the largest share, then food and child care. USDA also found that a family with only one child spends about 27% more on that child than a two-child family spends on each, and families with three or more children about 24% less per child (USDA). The estimates leave out college and the time and earnings parents give up.

Tax benefits that offset the cost in 2026

Child tax credit: up to $2,200 per qualifying child under 17, of which up to $1,700 is refundable as the additional child tax credit; it phases out above $200,000 of modified AGI ($400,000 joint) (IRS; IRC §24). Details: child tax credit 2026.
Credit for other dependents: $500 for a dependent who does not qualify for the child tax credit, such as a 17- or 18-year-old (IRC §24(h)(4)).
Earned income credit: larger with each qualifying child, for lower and moderate earners. See earned income credit 2026.
Dependent care: a dependent care FSA can exclude up to $7,500 of child care from pay in 2026 (IRC §129), or the child and dependent care credit applies. Compare them on dependent care FSA limit 2026.

Federal income tax after credits, 2026, computed by the tax engine: a married couple, both 40, earning $84,780 in wages (the 2025 U.S. median household income, by state), and a single earner, 35, earning $40,000 (filing single with no children, head of household with them); children under 17, standard deduction. A refund is money paid back beyond the tax (refundable credits).
Household	No children	1 child	2 children
Married, $84,780	$5,813	$3,613	$1,413
Single earner, $40,000	$2,623	−$2,461 (refund)	−$6,730 (refund)

For the married couple each child lowers federal tax by $2,200, the full child tax credit. For a single earner at $40,000 the earned income credit adds to it: two children change the result from $2,623 owed to $6,730 back. Try your own numbers in the tax refund calculator.

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Common questions

How much does it cost to raise a child to 18?

USDA’s estimate is $233,610 in 2015 dollars for a middle-income married couple, birth through 17 (USDA). Adjusted for inflation with the CPI-U to September 2026, about $332,100. Lower-income families spent about $174,690 and higher-income families about $372,210 in 2015 dollars.

Is there a newer USDA cost of raising a child report?

No. The 2015 edition, published in 2017, is the last one USDA has released; restating it with the Consumer Price Index is the usual way to bring it to current prices, with the caveat that categories such as child care have risen at different rates.

How much does a child cost per year?

In 2015 dollars, $12,350 to $13,900 a year for a middle-income family, rising with age (USDA); about $17,560 to $19,760 restated to September 2026.

Does the cost include college?

No. USDA counts direct spending from birth through age 17: housing, food, transportation, clothing, health care, child care and education, and miscellaneous. College and parents’ lost earnings are not included.

How much is the child tax credit in 2026?

Up to $2,200 per child under 17, up to $1,700 of it refundable (IRS). See child tax credit 2026.

Sources

USDA figures are copied from Table 1 of the report (research/data/cost-of-raising-a-child-2026.json); the CPI-U values are BLS series CUUR0000SA0, retrieved 2026-11-04. Tax figures are computed by frontend/js/calc/household-tax-2026.js, the federal engine copy held to POST /api/federal-tax. QuantCalc is calculation software, not tax, legal, insurance or investment advice.

Child tax credit 2026 → Dependent care FSA limit 2026 → Earned income credit 2026 → Median household income by state → Tax refund calculator 2026 →