Best and Worst States to Have a Baby

With the average conventional birth costing over $2,600 for mothers with insurance and nearly $15,000 for mothers without insurance, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2024’s Best & Worst States to Have a Baby, as well as expert commentary, to identify where prospective parents will experience the highest quality care at the best cost.

WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 31 key measures of cost, health care accessibility and baby-friendliness. The data set ranges from conventional-delivery charges at hospitals to average annual infant-care costs to the number of pediatricians per capita.

Best vs. Worst

• West Virginia has the lowest average annual cost for early child care, which is 3.2 times lower than in New York, the highest.
• New Hampshire has the lowest share of childbirths with low birth weight, which is 1.9 times lower than in Mississippi, the highest.
• Hawaii has the most obstetricians and gynecologists (per 100,000 residents), which is 18.7 times more than in Missouri, the fewest.
• Massachusetts has the highest parental leave policy score, 160, while 9 states, such as Alabama, Michigan and South Dakota, tie for the lowest at 0.

South Dakota came in at #13, ranking 8 in Cost, 30 in Health Care, 38 in Baby Friendliness and 8 in Family Friendliness.  Things considered in the rankings were things like parental leave policies, the number of Mom support groups in the state, the amount of childcare centers as well as how many of them are state or nationally certified, the birth rate of babies and how supportive state programs are of parents and children.

To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-to-have-a-baby/6513