Two New England States Rank Among the Most Expensive for Childcare

Thank god I am not at this chapter of my life, because KIDS ARE EXPENSIVE.

I knew it cost a lot of money to start a family. You have the obvious charges: $1,000+ just to give birth, THOUSANDS in diapers, clothing every few months since they grow like weeds, etc.

One cost you can count on after your first year or two of raising your little munchkin is childcare.

If you are a parent now or your kids are grown, you already know this. If you're like me and don't have kids, you're about to find out that childcare is expensive. Like, more expensive than college (as crazy as that is to believe).

Childcare cost is directly affected by your location, specifically the state you live in.

"In Florida, for example, center-based infant care costs about $9,238 per year and public college tuition and fees cost about $4,455 per year," according to a World Population Review article. "In Washington, D.C., infant care is $24,243 annual, more than four times the annual cost of college tuition."

The World Population Review found that after the District of Columbia, Massachusetts was the most expensive state for childcare.

In Massachusetts, the annual cost of childcare racked up to $20,913, according to the World Population Review.

I cannot even fathom that number. If you're like me and thinking about having children in the next five or so years, maybe bump that timeline back; that is a lot of coin.

The next most expensive state for childcare in New England was Vermont. This surprised me, truthfully. Vermont was ranked the eighth most expensive overall, with an average annual cost of $12,835 for childcare.

New Hampshire came in around $11K for annual childcare, and Maine was at about $9K, according to the World Population Review.