Here's how much your family needs to earn to have a stay-at-home parent

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It’s no surprise that raising a young child can my costly and often leads to considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services. 

With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing one parent to stay home to raise a young child.

With this in mind, SmartAsset ranked all the U.S. states based on the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child – foregoing the major cost of childcare but also additional income. 

"These findings can help families objectively consider the tradeoffs between a career and child-raising," Jaclyn DeJohn, the director of economic analysis at SmartAsset, said in a statement to FOX Local. "While everyone’s individual situation will be unique to them, some baseline figures for what it costs to cover necessities in the early years of a child’s life can help families initiate important conversations about their long-term income and childcare strategies." 

Families in Hawaii need to earn most for 1 parent to stay at home

By the numbers:

The data found that a single earner with a small family in Hawaii needs to earn at least $102,773 to cover the basic expenditures for two adults and a young child. But if both parents are working, $119,226 is needed between the two of them. When a child is in daycare, the annual cost of raising a child in Hawaii is approximately $33,363.

FILE: Young woman doing laundry, setting a washing machine. (Credit: Getty Images)

This was followed by Californians, who had the second-highest income needed to keep a parent at home at $97,656. If two parents are working, the family needs to earn at least $115,814 to cover everything. 

In contrast, states with the lowest income threshold to support a three-person family on one income included West Virginia ($68,099); Arkansas ($68,141); Mississippi ($70,242); Kentucky ($70,408); and North Dakota ($70,949). 

What they're saying:

 "Single income households may face more financial risk than dual income households, as they may be more susceptible to catastrophic impacts from the sole earner losing their job," DeJohn continued, adding, "It may also be more difficult to save for long-term goals depending on the sole-earners income and the family’s lifestyle. If one parent plans to return to work once the children get older, it may be more difficult to find a desirable opportunity with a large gap in their resume. On the other hand, the relative financial security of dual-income households often comes at the cost of less time with the children, and thus less direct influence in their formative years."

DeJohn added: "Additionally, in some cases, stress can build up when one person is solely responsible for either work or childcare. So it’s important for partners to communicate about the perceived efficacy of their arrangement."

Income needed for one parent to stay home

1. Hawaii: $102,773
2. California: $97,656
3. Massachusetts: $97,261
4. New York: $92,290
5. Connecticut: $90,542
6. Washington: $90,459
7. New Jersey: $89,918
8. Maryland: $87,651
9. Colorado: $86,320
10. New Hampshire: $85,800

See the full report here.`

Raising a child costs nearly 300K

Big picture view:

Another recent study published earlier this year revealed just how expensive it’s gotten to raise kids.

LendingTree analysts looked at the annual costs of raising a child, factoring in child-specific and household expenses like child care and rent.

RELATED: It now costs nearly 300K to raise a child; here’s where it’s most expensive

The data found that the cost of raising a child has surged 25%, reaching a staggering $297,674 over an 18-year period.

Among the tracked categories, day care costs jumped the most since 2023, rising 51.8% from $11,752 to $17,836. Food (29.6%) and health insurance premiums (25%) followed.