Denver is in the top five most expensive cities in America to raise a kid, beating out LA and New York

If you’re a Denver parent currently staring at a back-to-school supply list that reads like a mortgage application, congratulations, a new national ranking just confirmed what your bank account has been screaming for years.

Denver landed at No. 5 on SmartAsset’s list of the most expensive U.S. cities for raising a child in 2026, with an estimated annual cost of $34,712 per kid. That’s more expensive than Los Angeles (13th at $32,191), New York City (15th at $31,144), and basically every other city people assume is more brutal on parents’ wallets. The ranking analyzed 48 major metro areas and factored in childcare, food, housing, healthcare, transportation and other necessities for two working adults with a small child.

Only San Francisco ($43,171), Boston ($42,584), San Jose ($41,817) and Seattle ($36,282) ranked higher than Denver — meaning the Mile High City is officially pricier for parents than San Diego, Sacramento and Portland. Seven of the top 10 cities are in the West.

For comparison, the cheapest city on the list is Memphis, Tennessee, at $19,222 a year, roughly $15,000 less than Denver and about the cost of a semester of travel baseball in Douglas County.

So the next time someone asks why you’re still packing last year’s lunchbox and calling it “vintage,” just tell them you live in the fifth most expensive city in America to raise a kid, and that lunchbox is doing just fine.