Raising a child as a single parent in Georgia takes about $78,751 a year before taxes, new data reveals, yet the median household income in the state is $77,355, with single-mother households making approximately $39,964. This discrepancy can make a huge difference to the 309,992 single-parent households with children younger than 18.
Georgia isn’t even close to requiring the highest salary for single parents, and Columbus does even better. Go Au Pair, an exchange agency providing live-in childcare, compiled data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator, which puts Georgia 30th out of the 48th contiguous states for costs associated with raising a child alone.
The cost for single parents in Columbus
Columbus’ costs are lower than the Georgia average in most categories.
Yearly costs:
- Annual taxes: $9,166
- Housing/rent: $13,078
- Childcare: $7,809
- Food: $6,507
- Medical: $8,383
- Transportation: $9,852
- Total salary needed before taxes: $68,346
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data put the hourly rate for childcare workers in Columbus at about 11-15% less per hour than the Georgia average. This difference may explain the region’s lower-than-state-average childcare bills.
However, lower costs isn’t the only factor for single parents. About 44% of Georgia residents live in a childcare desert, areas with insufficient providers to meet demand, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.
The cost to raise a child alone in Georgia
The study breaks the number down into nine cost categories for one adult and one child.
Yearly costs:
- Annual taxes: $11,716
- Housing/rent:~$18,733
- Childcare: $9,227
- Food: $6,490
- Medical: $8,455
- Transportation: $10,717
- Total salary needed before taxes: $78,751
National comparisons
The national data from the Au Pair rankings reveal the most and least expensive states for single parents to raise children. These are the highest and lowest salary requirements to raise a child alone in the United States.
5 most expensive states
- Massachusetts: $121,175
- California: $111,362
- Connecticut: $107,141
- New York: $106,589
- New Jersey: $103,875
5 least expensive states
- Mississippi: $67,982
- Kentucky: $69,720
- Arkansas: $69,843
- Louisiana: $71,048
- West Virginia: $71,380
Although Georgia’s rank is somewhere in the middle, these numbers point to a substantial affordability gap for many Georgians, especially single mothers. Childcare is often a major pressure point because a single parent requires it to maintain employment, yet the cost eats through a huge portion of the earned income…