So, you just welcomed a new baby. Congratulations! That daycare bill is now going to be neck-and-neck with your mortgage, so if you’re not making enough at work to justify such an expense, maybe you’re considering being a stay-at-home parent. Great idea! After all, there was a time when that was the norm in the U.S. Some might call those the glory days and others might not be able to imagine it — because as a new study shows, if one parent is going to stay home, the other needs to bring in around $100,000 a year to make it happen.
What the Study Found
Researchers at SmartAsset crunched the numbers on household budgets, childcare costs, and average wages, and the math wasn’t subtle. With daycare prices soaring and the cost of … well, everything … climbing, a household needs close to six figures coming in from the working partner to cover basics like housing, food, health insurance, car payments, and the occasional sanity-saving Target run.
In high-cost places like California, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, the working partner may need to earn well over six figures for a single-income household to stay above water. In some major metros, the realistic number creeps closer to $140,000–$160,000 once you factor in daycare, food costs, and insurance. Meanwhile, states with lower living expenses — Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and parts of the Midwest — may allow a stay-at-home setup on something closer to $70,000–$85,000 — still a big number, but a far cry from coastal salary requirements.
What Makes $100K the Magic Number?
The study also found that childcare pricing is the biggest variable (surprise, surprise). Daycare tuition has exploded over the last decade, often rivaling what people pay for their homes. In many cities, full-time infant care can cost $1,500 to $2,500 per month. Multiply that by 12, and suddenly the idea of staying home starts to feel less like a luxury and more like a financial trade-off.
Add in the price of groceries, housing, and health insurance, and the budget gap widens quickly. For families who’d lose most (or all) of one partner’s income to childcare anyway, the stay-at-home route becomes the more logical — albeit still tight — option.
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