What is the average cost of child care in Tennessee?
Tennessee's average annual child care is between $7,500 and $8,500, with costs being toward the higher end for infant care. This comes out to between around $700 to $800 per month. If we break this down by age group, the costs as of 2019 look like this: The average monthly cost of infant care in Tennessee – $829/month.
In the most expensive state, Massachusetts, full-time care costs $16,781 a year on average – just over half the income of a typical single parent.
The average price of a year of child care increased 5% from $9,687 in 2019 to $10,174 in 2020. Over the same time period, the inflation rate was just 1.2%.
Tennessee families pay $7,406 on average for child care at a center and if they hire a nanny, the average cost nearly quadruples to $27,438 annually.
UrbanSitter's 2020 National Childcare Rate Survey found that, on average, parents pay babysitters $17.73 for one child, $20.30 for two children, and $21.49 for three children.
On a medium-budget spend, parents will need around $304/week to raise a child ($15,834/year); on a high-spend budget that goes up to $405/week. Food and nutrition supplies (breastfeeding gear, bibs, solid food (from when your baby is six months old) and utensils) cost around $1470/year on average.
Your growing baby is fitting into new clothes on a regular basis now. Baby clothes are the most common gift that new parents receive, but the average cost of clothes is around $50 a month for the first year.
If you take into account an average annual inflation rate of 2.2 percent — as well as the fact that one-child households spend an average of 27 percent more on the single child — that $12,680 could be over $17,500 in a one-child, middle-income household in 2019, which equals out to almost $1,500 a month. Whoa, baby.
Diapers: Diapers also vary in cost, but experts advise that you should budget at least $1000 for diapers and $450 for wipes for the first year alone. That's approximately $120 a month.
From 2019 to 2020, rates rose just 3.9%, making this year's increase nearly triple what we've seen in recent years past. The average hourly rate for a babysitter nationally is $20.57 for one child and $23.25 for two kids.
How much does it cost to raise a child in 2022?
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average cost of raising a child to age 18 was $233,610 as of 2015. 1 With an annual adjustment for inflation of 2.2% each year factored in, the lifetime cost of raising a child born in 2022 could be estimated at $272,049.
The primary reason child care costs so much is that teacher-to-child ratios are kept low for infants and toddlers in order to provide safe, nurturing environments. In Washington state, those ratios are one care worker to four infants, one worker to seven toddlers, and one worker to 10 preschoolers.

It costs an average of $13,261 to give birth in Tennessee hospitals. Country star Maren Morris continued to perform throughout her pregnancy in 2019. She gave birth to a son in Nashville in March 2020.
In Memphis, monthly childcare costs are — on average — higher than median rent. Memphians spend about $2,300 on both rent and childcare a month, or about $27,000 annually.