Report: Child care, housing make it more expensive to live in the ’burbs than Prov.

A NEW REPORT from Zillow and care.com said it's more expensive to live in the Providence suburbs than Providence itself. / COURTESY ZILLOW AND CARE.COM
A NEW REPORT from Zillow and care.com said it's more expensive to live in the Providence suburbs than Providence itself. / COURTESY ZILLOW AND CARE.COM

PROVIDENCE – City living comes with a premium in most major metros, except Providence, where it’s less expensive to live than in the suburbs.
A cost of living analysis by Zillow, the real estate marketplace, and Care.com, an online destination for finding and managing family care, found that families nationally spend an average of $9,073 more per year to cover basic housing costs and child care costs in the city than in the suburbs.
However, in Providence, it costs nearly $7,000 more to live in the suburbs, which is sixth highest in the nation, according to the study. In the Philadelphia area, families could pay up to $14,000 more a year to live in the suburbs – the most in the U.S.

According to the data, annual property taxes and mortgage payments average $16,394 in Rhode Island’s suburbs, approximately $4,000 more than in Providence. Annual child care costs for two children also are higher – at $20,473 in the suburbs and $17,504 in the city. Total annual housing and child care expenses are estimated at $36,867 in the suburbs, compared with $29,893 in the city. The only edge urban living has over suburban living, according to the study, is in commute time, and it’s slight – the average is 22.8 minutes versus 25.3 minutes.
Suburban dwellers also tend to have roomier living quarters, averaging 1,483 square feet in the suburbs, compared with 1,296 square feet in the city, the study said.
Nationally, the study said families living in the city spend $43,652 a year on housing and child care, compared with $34,579 in the suburbs. New York has the highest variance between urban and suburban living, with city dwellers paying as much as $71,237 more a year, or nearly $6,000 extra a month.
“Figuring out where your family will live and grow is arguably one of the most exciting and daunting times in a parent’s life,” Joyce Hodel, data scientist at Care.com, said in a statement. “While moving to the suburbs often brings significant cost savings, city living can still be the right choice for some families and is less expensive in certain metro areas. The Care.com and Zillow Cost of Living Report aims to help families understand how their family’s housing and child care costs may change before making that big family move.”
Annual child care costs are based on rates listed in Care.com child care center profiles in 2016 for two children in the same center. U.S. Census data also was used for commute times.

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