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What It Costs to Raise a Toddler

According to the most recent data from the United States Department of Agriculture, parents can expect to spend close to $235,000 to raise a child, an all-time high. While this exact amount might be news to some, the main point isn't. Raising a kid is expensive, and while parents may not know exactly what they spend on diapers, Elmo juice boxes and Magic Erasers in a year, they know it's a lot, and they know that they struggle to keep up with it.

The staff decided to crunch the numbers and see just what parents are getting into when they decide to raise a child. Specifically, what should they expect to pay during the toddler years? How much cash should they stuff under the mattress to finance that blur (of Boogie Wipes, Cheerios and potty training DVDs) that occurs between the ages of 1 and 3?

Using the USDA's Cost of Raising a Child Calculator, we limited our search to the "Overall U.S." region and assigned our hypothetical couple a combined annual salary of between $59,410 and $102,870. Based on those figures, we created an infographic that gives you an overall look at what they can expect to pay before shipping Junior off to preschool.

For a detailed look at how the costs are broken down, click here.

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