Massachusetts median income is 114k, child is 44k.
Mississippi median income is 56k, child is 19k. Using 2 data points, it looks like it scales.
Data source: https://www.fool.com/money/research/average-us-income/
this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2026
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I estimated the cost per year for our 3 years old in South Korea. Compared what government estimations are we are about 20% below, probably we are kind of frugal.
| Category | KRW/year | USD/year (≈1,400 KRW/USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Food (home) | 882,000 | ~630 |
| Kindergarten | 8,400,000 | ~6,000 |
| Clothes | 420,000 | ~300 |
| Toys | 180,000 | ~130 |
| Flights | 750,000 | ~540 |
| Eating out | 720,000 | ~510 |
| Seasonal items | 100,000 | ~70 |
| Miscellaneous | 100,000 | ~70 |
| Books / educational items | 50,000 | ~35 |
| Birthday / celebrations | 50,000 | ~35 |
| Health / supplements | 50,000 | ~35 |
| Total | 11,702,000 | ~8,360 |
Oh and if he was Korean the Kindergarten would be even half of that cost.
You get what you pay for
Live in MA and pay a nanny about $55k a year. Its brutal and pushing our finances to their limits but we tell ourselves its temporary pain (2 years) to ensure the long term wellness of our child.
In CA and we pay north of $40k in daycare alone for each kid.
Gee... WhY ArEnT PeOpLe HaViNg KiDs???