Raising a Kid Costs $245K

This is the best form of birth control: A child born in 2013 will cost an estimated $245,340 to raise, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to its annual Expenditures on Children by Families report, a middle-income family can expect to spend hundreds of thousands in food, housing, childcare and education (not including college tuition costs). The price tag is lower in the urban South and rural areas, while it's highest in the urban Northeast. This year's costs show a 1.8 percent increase from 2012.