Baby cost calculator: what published figures say a first year costs

First-year total from the lines you have selected (United States)

$16,716

Lines included: 2
Money expressed in: 2023 and 2025figures from different years are not made comparable by adding them

Every line here is a figure somebody published, shown with the year its money is expressed in. Nothing is inflation-adjusted and nothing is estimated. This is what the sources say, added up - not a prediction about your household, which no calculator can see.

Region

Two regions, because two could be sourced. Australia is absent: the most recent verifiable AIFS estimate is from 2018 and costs a six-year-old and a ten-year-old, not a baby.

What to includeChild care, infant, in a center$15,636(2025 money)Full-time center-based child care for an infant, national average, Child Care Aware of America's Average of Averages method.Child care, infant, in a family child care home$11,673(2025 money)Full-time family child care home for an infant, national average, same method and same release as the center figure.Child care, national average across ages and settings$13,184(2025 money)The headline national average price of child care for 2025, averaged across CCAoA's three methods and across ages and settings. Shown for context; the infant rows above are the ones that apply to a first year.Diapers$1,080(2023 money)The National Diaper Bank Network publishes a monthly cost of $80 to $100 or more per baby, alongside a figure of up to 12 diapers a day. The annual range here is that monthly range multiplied by twelve, which is our arithmetic and not NDBN's, and NDBN's own wording is or more at the top end. NDBN does not state which year the dollars are expressed in; the sheet cites its 2023 Diaper Check, so 2023 is the earliest year it can be.USDA total for a child aged 0 to 2, middle income$12,680(2015 money)USDA's estimate of total annual spending on a child aged 0 to 2 in a middle-income married-couple family with two children, in 2015 dollars. It already includes its own child care and education line of $2,870, so it overlaps the child care rows above and must not be added to them. The lowest and highest income groups in the same table are $9,690 and $19,770.

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Every published figure available for United States
Line	Amount	Money of	Source
Child care, infant, in a center	$15,636	2025	Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2025 Price and Supply
Child care, infant, in a family child care home	$11,673	2025	Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2025 Price and Supply
Child care, national average across ages and settings	$13,184	2025	Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2025 Price and Supply
Diapers	$960 to $1,200	2023	National Diaper Bank Network, Fast Facts on Diaper Need
USDA total for a child aged 0 to 2, middle income	$12,680	2015	USDA, Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015 (published January 2017), Table 1

Child care prices are Child Care Aware of America's 2025 national averages, calculated by its Average of Averages method from the 47 states for which it had price data. State prices vary enormously around these averages - CCAoA's own state tables run from roughly $8,600 to over $26,000 a year for infant center care - so the national figure is an anchor rather than a prediction for your county.

What is deliberately missing.

Infant formula, United States: The only US government figures found were USDA Economic Research Service figures expressed in 2000 dollars, and neither was published as an annual total. Carrying a 25-year-old monthly figure into a 2026 calculator would be wrong by an unknown factor, so formula is absent rather than estimated.
Australia: The most recent Australian Institute of Family Studies estimate that could be verified dates from 2018 and costs a 6-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy - it says nothing about a baby. No current Australian government figure for infant costs or infant childcare could be verified, so Australia is not offered as a region at all.
A first-year total for the United Kingdom: The Child Poverty Action Group's Cost of a Child report publishes totals to age 18 rather than by age, so it holds no first-year figure to cite. The UK region therefore carries the DfE hourly childcare fee and nothing else.
Gear, furniture and equipment, all regions: No authoritative published price series for cots, pushchairs, car seats or clothing was found for any region. Retailer prices are not a source in the sense this site uses the word, so there is no gear tier here and the tool says so rather than inventing budget, mid and premium bands.
Toddler childcare prices, United States: The Child Care Aware 2025 national tables publish infants and four-year-olds only. There is no toddler row, so none is shown and none is interpolated between the two.

The USDA report Expenditures on Children by Families is the figure most people mean by the cost of raising a child. Its most recent edition was published in January 2017 and estimates costs for a child born in 2015; USDA's own page states that it is evaluating the methods used to inform the report. There has been no newer edition in the nine years since. The age 0-2 figure below is therefore genuine and dated, not current, and it is the only line in this pack that is not from the last two years.

No figure in this pack is inflation-adjusted. A 2015 USDA figure is stored and displayed as 2015 dollars, and the tool says so beside it rather than quietly uprating it to today. Adjusting published figures forward would produce a number that no source stands behind, which is the failure mode this pack exists to prevent.

Every figure on this page

Working out what you actually need to buy? The registry checklist follows the NHS newborn list, quantities included, and the name generator runs on published ONS data rather than lists someone invented.

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This first-year baby cost calculator adds up published figures rather than estimates: Child Care Aware of America 2025 child care prices, the National Diaper Bank Network nappy range, and the USDA 2015 age nought to two total. Each line shows its source and the year its money is expressed in.

First-year cost, summed from published figuresconvention — total = sum of the published annual figures selected, each shown with the year its money is expressed in. Verified 2026-07-30 against Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2025 Price and Supply (A sum of national averages is not a forecast of a household. Child care prices in particular vary by a factor of three across US states, and figures from different years are not made comparable by adding them - this tool shows each currency year rather than converting them into a common one.)
US child care prices, 2025 (Child Care Aware of America) — infant, center $15,636/yr; infant, family child care home $11,673/yr; national average across ages and settings $13,184/yr. Verified 2026-07-30 against Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2025 Price and Supply (National averages across 47 states. CCAoA's own state tables for 2024 run from roughly $8,600 to over $26,000 a year for infant center care, so the national figure describes the country and not a county. CCAoA publishes no toddler figure in the 2025 national tables, so none is shown or interpolated.)
USDA expenditures on a child aged 0 to 2 (2015 dollars) — middle-income married-couple family, two children: $12,680 a year at age 0-2; $9,690 lowest income group, $19,770 highest. Verified 2026-07-30 against USDA, Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015 (Expressed in 2015 dollars and not adjusted forward here. USDA's own page states that the most recent version of the report was published in 2017 and estimates the cost of raising children born in 2015, and that USDA is evaluating the methods used to inform the report; there has been no newer edition since.)

Everything you type here is computed in your browser. Nothing you enter is stored on a server, sent anywhere, or shared — there is no account and no health data to leak.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a baby cost in the first year?

There is no single published answer, which is why this tool shows lines rather than one number. Child Care Aware of America puts full-time center-based infant care at $15,636 a year nationally for 2025; the National Diaper Bank Network puts nappies at $80 to $100 or more a month. Your total depends on which lines apply.

Why is there no cost for a cot, pushchair or car seat?

Because no authoritative published price series for baby equipment could be found for any region. Retailer prices are not a source in the sense this site uses the word, so there is no budget, mid or premium gear tier here - there is a gap, and the page says so.

Is the USDA cost-of-raising-a-child figure current?

No. The last edition was published in January 2017 and estimates costs for a child born in 2015, and USDA states on its own page that it is evaluating the methods used to inform the report. The figure here is shown in 2015 dollars and is not adjusted forward.

Why can I not add the USDA figure to a child care price?

Because the USDA age nought-to-two total already contains its own child care and education line of $2,870, so adding a Child Care Aware price on top counts child care twice. The tool detects that combination and says so rather than quietly returning an inflated total.

Why is there no Australian option?

The most recent Australian Institute of Family Studies estimate that could be verified is from 2018 and costs a six-year-old girl and a ten-year-old boy, which says nothing about a baby. Rather than stretch it, Australia is not offered as a region.

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