The Department of Agriculture says a middle-income family with a child born in 2010 can expect to spend nearly 227-thousand dollars for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise that child over the next 17 years. That figure goes up to nearly 289 thousand if projected inflation costs are factored in. This represents a 2 percent increase from 2009. Expenses for transportation, child care, education, and health care saw the largest percentage increases related to child rearing from 2009. There were very small changes in housing, food, clothing, and miscellaneous expenses on a child since 2009.

The report by USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion notes that family income affects child rearing costs. A family earning less than 57,600 dollars per year can expect to spend a total of 163,440 in 2010 dollars on a child from birth through high school. Similarly, parents with an income between 57,600 and 99,730 can expect to spend 226,920; and a family earning more than 99,730 can expect to spend 377,040 dollars.

The report notes geographic variations in the cost of raising a child, with expenses the highest for families living in the urban Northeast, followed by the urban West and urban Midwest. Families living in the urban South and rural areas have the lowest child-rearing expenses.