Child care costs are highest in these states, study finds

Watch: Trump's answer on fixing child care crisis

At an Economic Club of New York forum, Donald Trump was asked what he would do about the child care crisis. Economists and activists later called his answer an "incoherent word salad" and "incomprehensible at best.'

It’s no secret that child care is very expensive in the United States, and a new study is identifying the states with the highest and lowest child care costs. 

WalletHub analyzed the prices of family-based and center-based child care and adjusted them by median income.

New York has most expensive child care

By the numbers:

The study found that New York is the state with the most expensive child care, costing around 11%-13% of the median income for married couples.

Single-parent households have things even tougher, needing to shell out around 38%-45% of the median income for child care.

New Mexico had the second-highest child care costs, at 11% to 11.6% of the median income for married couples. In addition, single parents in New Mexico spent 35-36% of the median income on child care, depending on the type, according to the data.

These high percentages are largely due to the fact that New Mexico has low incomes. New Mexico has the seventh-lowest median income for single parents, at $31,822 per year, and the second-lowest median income for married couples, at $99,636 per year.

States with most expensive child care

See the full report here.

What they're saying:

"It costs a lot of money to take care of a child’s needs, and many parents are left with the dilemma of whether to forgo one salary to do their own child care for the first few years or to shell out a significant chunk of their income for child care services," Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst said. "Married parents who both work can expect to spend as much as 13% of what they earn on child care, while single parents’ costs can amount to an astounding 51%."

Child care costs soar

Dig deeper:

Last year, a Zillow’s analysis found that a mortgage payment and child care now taking up at least 66% of an average household’s monthly income in 31 of the 50 cities analyzed.

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