Childcare for two kids is now more expensive than rent in about 80 percent of the country, according to a new report.

The findings are based on data from 618 communities, urban and rural, released by the Economic Policy Institute, a worker advocacy organization (PDF). They assume a family of four: two parents, plus children ages 4 and 8.



The biggest disparity between childcare and housing costs is in Binghamton, a small city near the southern border of New York state, where childcare costs three times as much as the average rent: $2,011 vs. $692.

At the other end of the spectrum is San Francisco, where childcare is “only” about half the cost of housing—largely because rent costs are soaring there, averaging nearly $2,000 a month.

Across the country, families with young children are looking at tough numbers. In Chicago, housing costs stack up to $979 a month, while childcare for two is $1,294. In rural Iowa, where rent costs are on the low end at $608 a month, the same story unfolds: Childcare also exceeds rent by $300 in the family budget.

In the nation’s capital, where everything is more expensive, housing adds up to $1,469 a month and childcare for two is a whopping $2,597.



Childcare costs have skyrocketed 168 percent since 1990, though consumer prices overall have grown at less than half the pace, about 70 percent, during the same time period, according to Bloomberg.



Housing is supposed to take up no more than about 30 percent of income, at least according to the (contested) rule of thumb. And childcare should constitute only around 10 percent of income, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendation.



You can run the numbers for your city using the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator.

Annual income necessary to secure a modest yet adequate standard of living for a two-parent, two-child family in 2014, according to the Economic Policy Institute

