WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- They sure are cute, but raising your kids is going to set you back some serious cash, according to recently released government data.

Family expenses for a child born in 2009 through age 17 will range from about $160,000 for households in the lowest income group to $222,000 for those in the middle to $369,000 for those in the highest income group, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Read full report.

Those amounts are in 2009 dollars, and the estimates are for the younger child in a family with a husband, wife and two children.

For middle-income families, spending on kids gained about 22% in real terms over the past 49 years, to $222,000 last year, from $183,000 in 1960.

Parents' outlays are up less than 1% from 2008, with the bulk of that increase coming from rising costs for child care, education and health care.

Those categories "saw the largest percentage increases related to child rearing from 2008, whereas expenses on transportation actually declined," according to the government press release. "This decline in transportation expenses [for] a child mitigated the increases in the other expenses."

One bright spot is that costs per child decrease as families have more kids -- families with three or more kids spend 22% less per kid than families with two children, according to a statement from the Agriculture Department.

"As families have more children, the children can share a bedroom, clothing and toys can be handed down to younger children, food can be purchased in larger and more economical packages, and private schools or child-care centers may offer sibling discounts," according to the government.

Housing eats up the budget

By category, housing makes up the largest piece of the child-rearing budget pie, accounting for 31% of expenditures for a child born in 2009 in a middle-income family. Housing also constituted 31% of spending for kids in 1960, according to the report.

Here are the other categories that make up spending for kids born in 2009 versus 1960:

Child care and education: 17% in 2009 versus 2% in 1960

Food: 16% in 2009 versus 24% in 1960

Transportation: 13% in 2009 versus 16% in 1960

Health care: 8% in 2009 versus 4% in 1960

Clothing: 6% in 2009 versus 11% in 1960

Miscellaneous: 9% in 2009 versus 12% in 1960

The most striking increase in costs is for the child care and education category, the report said, adding that the 1960 data included families with and without the expense.

"In 1960, child-care costs were negligible, mainly consisting of in-the-home babysitting," according to the report. "Since then, the labor force participation of women has greatly increased, leading to the need for more child care."

Meanwhile, food costs dropped steeply.

"Changes in agriculture over the past 50 years have resulted in family food budgets being a lower percentage of household income," according to the report.

Technological changes and globalization have likely made clothing less expensive in real terms, the report added.