children don't come cheap

This is how much the cost to raise a child in Austin jumped in one year

It costs more than $24,000 to raise a child in the Austin area in 2025.

A new national study has revealed it now costs nearly $1,800 more in 2025 to raise a child in the Austin area than it did last year.

SmartAsset's report "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2025 Study" compared data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator to determine the annual costs for raising a child in 2024 and 2025 across the 48 biggest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Factors that contributed to each metro's total included the cost of childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs, and "other necessities."

In 2025, it will cost $24,118 annually to raise a child in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos region, the report found. That amount has risen nearly 8 percent since 2024, when child-rearing in the Austin area cost $22,406 a year.

Austin has the highest annual child-raising costs out of the four biggest Texas metros.

"The cost of raising a child can change quickly, making it important for budding families to keep an eye on trends in their locale," the report says. "Between 2024 and 2025 alone, the average projected annual cost of raising a small child changed by a range of -15 percent to +22 percent, depending on the metro area."

Even though the cost of raising a child in Austin has increased sharply in the last year, it's still on the low end nationally. The Austin metro only ranked 29th (out of 48) in SmartAsset's ranking of metros where the cost of raising a child is the highest.

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts led the nation with the highest annual cost for raising a child, totaling more than $39,000, up from $37,758 in 2024.

Costs for raising a child in other Texas metros
There's better news for families in San Antonio. The San Antonio-New Braunfels area clocks in as the fifth most affordable U.S. metro in the study. In 2024, it cost $21,014 to raise a child in the Alamo City, but in 2025, it costs 0.33 percent less, at $20,945.

This is how much it costs to raise a child in San Antonio, according to SmartAsset:

Cost of childcare: $9,123
Housing costs: $3,232
Food costs: $1,644
Medical costs: $2,590
Transportation costs: $3,090
Civic costs: $474
Other costs: $791

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ranked as the eighth most affordable U.S. city for raising a child, even though its child-rearing costs increased 2.21 percent year-over-year. It now costs $21,868 annually to a raise a child in the Houston area.

Raising a child in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington now costs $22,337 per year, which is only $411 more than it did in 2024.

austin childcare costs reports round rock san marcos smartasset families

let loose atx

Austin slips on new list of America's most fun cities for 2025

Rowing Dock downtown Austin Congress Avenue Bridge bats kayaking

Rowing Dock Facebook

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A new WalletHub study ranking the most fun American cities in 2025 has revealed Austin needs to learn how to let loose a little more next year.

Austin currently ranks as the 8th most fun city in the U.S., with Houston surpassing it as 6th most fun American city and the No. 1 most fun city in the Lone Star State.

WalletHub's "Most Fun Cities in America (2025)" study compared 182 U.S. cities across 65 metrics – spanning from the number of sports venues, music venues, and shopping centers per capita to the average cost for a restaurant meal – to determine how "fun" each city is. The metrics were split among three main categories: entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and cost.

Las Vegas, Nevada, continued its multi-year streak as the No. 1 most fun American city.

Across the three key dimensions, Austin scored the highest for its nightlife and parties rank (No. 6), but its entertainment and recreation rank (No. 22) and costs rank (No. 82) still leave room for improvement. But overall, Austin's level of "fun" is far higher than most U.S. cities.

Austin's current "fun" status is two spots lower than its 2024 rank as the 6th most fun American city. In 2023, Austin ranked No. 7 on the list.

Other Texas cities that appeared in the top 100 include: San Antonio (No. 23), Dallas (No. 26), Fort Worth (No. 60), El Paso (No. 62), Arlington (No. 71), Plano (No. 78), and Corpus Christi (No. 94).

"The decision of where to live could save or cost you a lot of money and fun, so it’s fair to wonder what makes a fun city," the report's author wrote. "In a city with enough variety, you won’t have to compromise with your friends, family, or even yourself about the next fun activity to do alone or together."

WalletHub's top 10 most fun U.S. cities in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 2 – Orlando, Florida
No. 3 – Miami, Florida
No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 5 – New Orleans, Louisiana
No. 6 – Houston, Texas
No. 7 – San Francisco, California
No. 8 – Austin, Texas
No. 9 – Portland, Oregon
No. 10 – Cincinnati, Ohio

Surprisingly, both Chicago and New York City dropped out of the top 10 most fun American cities. Chicago now ranks as No. 11, and New York City ranks 14th on the list.

wallethub rankings austin