A child born to a mid-income family in 2010 will cost $226,920 (or $286, 860 with inflation) for his family raise him, providing him with food, shelter and basic necessities for his first 17 years, according to the latest Expenditures on Children by Families report by United States Department of Agriculture.

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A parent’s income changes their cost of raising a child. A family that earns less $57,600 will spend $163,440. on a child over the next 17 years.  If the family income is $57,600 to $99,730, their cost will be $226,920.  And if their income is more than $99,730, their child-rearing costs will be $377.040.

The cost per year changes, increasing each year as the child gets older. For a middle-income, two-parent family the cost increases from $11,880 to $13,830 per year.

Housing is the largets expense (31 percent), followed by child care and education (17 percent, then food (16 percent).  And these cost-of-raising-a-child estimates do not include pregnancy costs, or the cost of a college education.

Where you live influences your child-rearing costs. Families in the South or in rural areas have lower costs.  Those who live in the Northest urban areas have the highest costs.

And the more children per family, the less that family pays per child, with children sharing bedrooms and clothing and toy being passed down to younger children.