How expensive is it to raise kids in Las Vegas?

The Las Vegas Valley is the seventh most expensive metro in the country to raise children, according to a new study from Upgraded Points.

The most expensive place to raise children is Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Las Vegas was just behind Los Angeles and beat out cities such as San Francisco, Denver and Boston. The study used the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator and compared two adult households to households with a couple with no kids.

The study estimates the total annual cost for a household with two parents and two kids is $94,080, meaning a household with two incomes needs to bring in that amount to break even financially, as opposed to a household with two people and no kids ($52,296).

The study’s author Alex Miller said in the report that having kids is more expensive than it’s ever been.

“Raising children significantly increases household expenses in the U.S., with the costs varying depending on the number of children in the household,” he said. “According to the latest data, on average, having one child increases household costs by 40.4 percent annually, while having two children raises costs by 70.3 percent.”

Las Vegas is fast becoming an unaffordable city for most residents as a recent study estimates a household needs to make at least $111,416 to “live comfortably” according to a Go Banking Rates study. Most of the burden is coming from the valley’s housing crisis where a number of factors have pushed up the cost of homes, mortgage rates and rental rates. Costs for daily items such as food, gas and groceries have also risen exponentially since the beginning of the pandemic.

The biggest chunk of money goes to child care, said Miller, adding that according to a recent Pew Research Survey 36 percent of adults ages 18 to 49 who don’t have kids said affordability was the top reason for their decision not to have children. Data from the Federal Reserve also showed that only 64 percent of existing parents said they were doing “okay” financially in 2023, which is down from 75 percent in 2021 and is the lowest level since 2016.

“While the high cost of child care, often exceeding $1,000 per month in some areas receives the bulk of attention, families with kids must also manage added expenses across housing, food, health care, transportation, and other necessities,” said Miller.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.