CHICAGO — Thinking of having your first baby in Chicago?
Expect to spend about $25,500 extra during your child's first year, a new study says.
Redfin, a real estate site, calculated the bottom line by looking at the higher costs likely for housing, child care, health care, baby items and energy.
Here's how Redfin figured the costs of a baby in Chicago:
Housing: $5,900
"Accommodating a kid or two will require something more than the your two-bedroom condo at the center of the city," the report says. The authors based the figure on the average cost of upgrading from a two-bedroom home to a three-bedroom home, spread over a 30-year fixed loan at 4.5 percent.
Child Care: $10,300
The report looked at child care costs by state from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and Bureau of Labor Statistics statistics. "Since child care doesn't typically start until the baby's third month, we estimated child care costs for the first nine months of care."
Health care: $5,600
The study says "health care costs are the great wild card for babies in the United States."
Geographic location, maternity hospital costs, the level of one's insurance and medical complications for the mother and baby can all "have a huge impact on the cost of pregnancy and childbirth."
Baby items: $3,000
The study figured in buying diapers, food, toys, strollers and other supplies, though the costs can be cut with gifts and hand-me-downs.
Energy: $800
Being home more, you'll probably have the heat and air conditioning running longer, plus extra trips to the store and to see family "can add up," the study says.
Total: $25,600
It could be worse: Of the 40 cities it examined, Chicago came in as the 20th most expensive. Chicago was $11,200 cheaper than New York and $4,600 less than Los Angeles.
The most expensive city studied was San Jose, Calif., where new baby costs were $41,600 in the first year.
