The Cost for Single Parents To Raise a Family in Every State

Being a single parent often means determining how to give your children the best opportunities in life on a single income. No matter where you live, figuring out how to budget so your little ones can thrive is challenging. However, some states are certainly more affordable than others.

To give single parents a broader perspective on the cost of raising a family across the country, GOBankingRates searched for the annual expenditures for single parents with at least one child.Any parent knows that the annual costs of groceries, housing, utilities and transportation are essential to the budget, so these expenses were key in figuring out the costs of raising a kid in every state.

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $49,660

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $70,412

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $60,964

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $50,054

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $77,892

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $59,108

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $63,439

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $56,859

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $56,634

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $51,066

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $101,401

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $55,453

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $51,797

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $51,178

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $50,785

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $48,985

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $51,741

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $51,178

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $61,808

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $65,520

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $82,392

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $50,953

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $52,922

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $48,535

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $49,772

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $57,871

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $51,122

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $56,802

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $64,170

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $64,057

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $52,866

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $70,806

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $53,597

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $53,203

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $53,259

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $48,479

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $64,507

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $53,765

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $62,258

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $53,597

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $51,966

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $50,785

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $52,134

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $58,040

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $64,845

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $57,309

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $65,238

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $49,322

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $53,484

• Annual Expenditures for a Single Parent: $51,966

Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates used the 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the consumer unit of “Single Parent with at least one child” and found the annual cost of expenditures for that consumer unit, as well as the annual cost of necessities (groceries, housing, utilities and transportation) using the 2023 composite cost-of-living data from the Missouri Economic and Research Information Center. All data was collected and is up to date as of Feb. 26, 2024.