BEDFORD REAL ESTATE - The 10 most expensive places to raise a family in the U.S.

In some spots in this country, it costs parents well into six figures just to eke by.

The amount that a two-parent, two-child family needs just to pay the bills (but not have money left over for savings) ranges from about $50,000 to more than $100,000 depending on where a family lives, according to data from the nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank the Economic Policy Institute.

“This does not mean a middle-class lifestyle,” says Elise Gould, a senior economist with EPI. “This is just living, no savings.”

The study looked at 618 metro areas and calculated the cost of living in each based on the costs of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and other necessities (such as school supplies and clothing), as well as taxes.

Perhaps surprisingly, child care is the single most expensive line item for these families: In 500 of the 618 areas that EPI looked at, child care was parents’ biggest annual expense, averaging about $12,500 a year nationwide and climbing above $30,000 a year in one city.

Here are the 10 cities where it is most expensive for two parents to raise two children ...

3. Westchester County, N.Y.

Like Long Island, this suburban region outside New York City is notably pricey for families — $99,592 on average. The area shares many of the characteristics of Nassau–Suffolk County, including high taxes ($15,589 a year on average).