PHOTOS: Homes that cost as much as raising a child!

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Thursday, August 21, 2014
This week, the USDA said the average cost to raise a child in the United States is $245,000. To put that in perspective, we found some homes in the Philly area in that price range!
This home at 6239 N 12th St. in Philadelphia is selling for $244,900
This home at 972 West Ave. in Springfield, Pa. is selling for $244,900
This home at 403 Matisse Way in Williamstown, NJ is selling for $244,900
This home at 2201 Knox Ct. in Warminster, Pa. is selling for $246,900
This home at 303 Bismark Way in King of Prussia, Pa. is selling for $250,000
This home at 155 S Shelley Dr. in Claymont, Del. is selling for $250,000
This home at 112 Chancellor Dr. in Deptford, NJ is selling for $244,500
This home at 210 Montgomery Ave in East Norriton, Pa. is selling for $240,000
This home at 2201 Bryn Mawr Ave. in Ardmore, Pa. is selling for $245,000
This home at 527 Edgley Ave. in Abington, Pa. is selling for $248,900
This home at 12 Pelham Rd N in Voorhees, NJ is selling for $240,000
This home at 704 High Ave. in Hatboro, Pa. is selling for $250,000
This home at 4019 Sarah Court in Collegeville, Pa. is selling for $243,900
This home at 1216 Wilson Ave. in Bristol, Pa. is selling for $250,000
This home at 129 Centennial Rd. in Warminster, Pa. is selling for $249,000
This home at 141 Sequoia Dr. in Berlin, NJ is selling for $249,000
This home at 30 Kenwood Dr. in Cherry Hill, NJ is selling for $250,000
This home at 1467 Graeme Way in Warminster, Pa. is selling for $250,000
This home at 626 Erlen Rd. in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. is selling for $244,500
This home at 390 Holly Dr. in Levittown, Pa. is selling for $249,900
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PHOTOS: Homes that cost as much as raising a child!This week, the USDA said the average cost to raise a child in the United States is $245,000. To put that in perspective, we found some homes in the Philly area in that price range!

While the experience of raising a child is priceless, the costs of making it happen can really add up!

This week, the USDA said the average cost to raise a child in the United States is $245,000.

To put that in perspective, we found some homes in the Philly area that cost about that much!

According to the study, a child born in 2013 will cost a middle-income American family an average of $245,340 until he or she becomes an adult, with families living in the Northeast taking on a greater burden, according to a report out Monday.

Those costs - food, housing, childcare and education - rose 1.8 percent over the previous year, the Agriculture Department's new "Expenditures on Children and Families" report said. As in the past, families in the urban Northeast will spend more than families in the urban South and rural parts of the U.S., or roughly $282,480.

When adjusting for projected inflation, the report found that a child born last year could cost a middle-income family an average of about $304,480.

The USDA's annual report, based on the government's Consumer Expenditure Survey, found families were consistent in how they spent their money across all categories from 2012 to 2013. The costs associated with pregnancy or expenses accumulated after a child becomes an adult, such as college tuition, were not included.

In 1960, the first year the report was issued, a middle-income family could spend about $25,230, equivalent to $198,560 in 2013 dollars, to raise a child until the age of 18. Housing costs remain the greatest child-rearing expense, as they did in the 1960s, although current-day costs like childcare were negligible back then.

For middle-income families, the USDA found, housing expenses made up roughly 30 percent of the total cost of raising a child. Child care and education were the second-largest expenses, at 18 percent, followed by food at 16 percent.

Expenses per child decrease as a family has more children, the report found, as families with three or more children spend 22 percent less per child than families with two children. That's because more children share bedrooms, clothing and toys, and food can be purchased in larger, bulk quantities.

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