Metros With The Highest Costs Of Living For Four-Person Families

In Washington, D.C., a family of four needs $106,493 just to pay the bills. And that’s without putting anything aside for savings.

MarketWatch found the 10 most expensive places for a two-parent, two-child family in the U.S., and the nation’s capital ranked first.

Using data from the Economic Policy Institute, the study looked at 618 metros and calculated the cost of living in each based on housing, child care, health care, transportation, food, and other necessities. Taxes were also factored in. The cost of living does not count money invested or saved.

New York City and several of its suburbs in Long Island and southwest Connecticut also made the list. Nassau-Suffolk was second, as it takes $103,606 a year for a four-person family there.

Honolulu’s expensive food costs ($11,244), due to shipping expenses, landed it at No. 6, and San Francisco’s high housing costs ($23,472 a year) got it the No. 9 spot.

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