How much does it cost per year to have a baby and toddler in San Francisco?

I dont live in San Francisco and I also dont have a child but I think its safe to assume there isnt a set standard for “how much a child costs.” Depending on your income, what you may spend is going to be wildly different from what someone else may spend. Are you talking about doctor’s fees, or diapers, food, and clothing? Do you have insurance? All of these factors will make it difficult to put a number on a baby. Depending on how you would like to raise your child and what type of lifestyle you lead is another variable.

MarcIsMyHero is right. It depends on your income and it depends on whether it is a two-parent or single parent family.

In the Urban West, the annual cost from 0–2 is $8,770 (compares to $7,830 for average whole U.S.) for a two-parent household and from 3–5 the annual cost rises to $8,970. ($8,020 is the national average.) These are 2007 figures. Here is the entire document from the US government.

I agree with Marci. I raised two children in the bay area and there are a lot of variables. At the time we were young and just starting out, didn’t have much. You would be amazed at how many creative ways there are to cut corners if you put your mind to it.

I’m sure Pietro knows that it depends and that there are many variables, but that’s just why real-life examples by real people are useful ~ and that’s just what Fluther’s for.

I would give them but I don’t have kids. My cousin in San Diego said ~$1000/month for her infant, and I think much of that was for daycare (after just 6 weeks!). Thanks Marina for the national stats—- any personal stories? @basp, how did you cut costs? how much did it save? Anybody doing it now any willing to share a rough budget?

zina
One way to cut costs is to belong to a ‘mothers’ group. We traded baby sitting, passed along clothes, strollers, high chairs, etc.
We also belonged to the food co op which helped with food prices.
Another thing, the bay area has a lot of free or nearly free activities for young families.
That is about specific as I can get, zina. My toddlers are grown men now and that was many years ago. I imagine most families have a sense f where they can tighten the purse strings.

Many large cities do have residents who do keep track of things like this as do some municipal governments, and city newspapers sometimes print information like this.

try some searches on google like: <“San Francisco” “cost to raise a child”>

Whatever it is that child will pay you back in joy I promise. ...first hand experiance I have Three

PS: I never looked for this kind of information myself but many years after it was a moot point our paper did have an article. Seeing that information prior to having children would have been highly persuasive to not.

To add a bit to gooch’s comment, from the child’s perspective, your money is less important than your time.

I have a baby/toddler in the bay area. It is not cheap. Day care alone for an infant is anywhere from $1000–1700/month. A nanny or nanny share would be more than that (at least $2000/month). Diapers, formula, clothes, books, etc. also add up. So, depending on how you plan on caring for the baby (self, day care, nanny), it could range from the cost of incidentals (lets say $300/month) to more than $2000/month.

The numbers Marina provided should be at least doubled or tripled if you’re including the doctors and hospital, as stated in the question. That’s coming from my experience working in a hospital and having random discussions with my friends in billing :)

Thanks everyone. I have wanted a general range. Yes, I know that all variables considered, the question is meaningless. The national averages were what I was going for – well, averages in the Bay Area. I am not doing a cost benefit analysis of having children or not. I have decided on having kids and I just want to prepare by getting a job that pays well enough to take care of a baby.