The Urban vs. Suburban Living Disparity

By Miriam Bornstein

Choosing a new home for your family can be exciting, but the shopping journey often requires patience and endurance. The process can be tedious — evaluating neighborhoods, community amenities, school districts for your kids and your must-have home features — but it can pay off.

Zillow and Care.com teamed up to compare the cost of living in urban and suburban areas for families with two children. In the U.S., the total annual housing and child care costs for families living in the city are $9,073 higher than for families living in the suburbs. Nationally, living in the suburbs saves families the most bang for their buck, but there are certainly exceptions.

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Paying a Premium for Urban Living

Living in the city offers benefits such as easy access to public transportation, a short commute time and nearby neighborhood necessities like coffee shops, markets, parks, daycares and offices. For some, close proximity to routine locations make city living worth the extra cost.

The cost of homes in most major metros increased in recent years, and home values are expected to continue appreciating for the foreseeable future. In Chicago, for example, urban mortgage and tax payments average $45,335, compared to a far lower median of $28,408 in the suburbs. When housing and child care costs are combined, raising two kids in the Chicago metro costs a median of $67,266 per year versus $48,794 in the burbs – an $18,472 premium for city living.

Of all the metros on Zillow’s list, city-dwelling families who pay for child care experience the largest cost of living burden in New York City, Chicago and Dallas. On average, families with children in daycare save anywhere from $14,128 (Dallas) to $71,237 (New York) annually when living outside of the city.

Child care costs aside, the combined costs of property taxes and mortgage payments on the median-priced U.S. urban home total more than $22,000 a year, which is $7,000 more than the median suburban home.

Finding Urban Affordability

Although opting for the suburbs can provide financial relief for families, in some cases city living offers greater savings. In Philadelphia, Las Vegas and San Diego, families actually pay less for an urban lifestyle.

In the East, families within Philadelphia’s city limits can expect to pay $13,859 less annually, on average. If you’re looking to move out West, three metros in California offer cheaper alternatives for families looking to live in the urban core: Los Angeles, San Jose and San Diego. In San Diego, when housing and child care costs are combined, raising kids in the city costs $4,555 less per year than in the suburbs.

Paying for a home and raising a family is costly regardless of settling in the city or suburbs, but location plays a major role. While finding a home may seem daunting, gathering all the necessary details about costs, schools, child care, commute and community helps make an informed financial decision.