The cost of raising a child has ballooned in major metros like Dallas-Fort Worth, forcing many families to weigh the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas, that amount is $74,734.

Of all the states, Texas came in at about the middle. The state with the highest income requirement was Hawaii, where the income would have to be $102,773. On the other end, the state with the lowest income requirement was West Virginia, where the income required was $68,099.

These are the five states with the highest incomes required:

• Hawaii $102,773
• California $97,656
• Massachusetts $97,261
• New York $92,290
• Connecticut $90,542

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in North Texas, however, is slightly more affordable: A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $22,337 to raise a child in Dallas-Fort Worth.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

The states with the very lowest minimum income threshold — even lower than Texas — to support a three-person family on one income are:

• West Virginia – $68,099
• Arkansas – $68,141
• Mississippi – $70,242
• Kentucky – $70,408
• North Dakota – $70,949
• Oklahoma – $71,718
• Ohio – $72,114
• South Dakota – $72,218
• Alabama – $72,238
• Nebraska – $72,966