Having a baby is expensive. And I’m not talking about the whole adding a member to your family (toys, clothes, a room, extra food) or supplies part of it. The actual giving birth part is crazy expensive. This means what should be a time full of joy and celebration can always bring a lot of stress upon new parents. The average conventional delivery in the U.S. costs over $3,000 with insurance, and without insurance, you could owe as much as $10,000. And that’s not a price tag most people can just shell out. But as with anything certain places are better than others and having a baby is no exception. And well, North Carolina is one of the worst places to have a baby, unfortunately.
And don’t think you’re going to go across the border to South Carolina to make it better. The Palmetto state is worse. This comes from a study by our friends at WalletHub. They took into consideration the costs, quality of health care services, and the environments in which to care for children. To determine the most ideal places in the U.S. to have a baby, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 32 key measures of cost and healthcare accessibility, as well as baby- and family-friendliness. The data set ranges from hospital conventional-delivery charges to annual average infant-care costs to pediatricians per capita.
If you are pregnant or looking to be in the near future, and happen to have relatives in the northeast it might be time to pay them a visit. All of the top locations were in that area of the country. Keep reading to see where North Carolina ranked and the other worst and top places to have a baby. You can view the full WalletHub study here.
51. Alabama
Total Score: 24.89
Cost: 50
Health Care: 51
Baby-Friendliness: 44
Family-Friendliness: 43
50. Mississippi
Total Score: 25.34
Cost: 17
Health Care: 49
Baby-Friendliness: 50
Family-Friendliness: 50
49. South Carolina
Total Score: 26.31
Cost: 46
Health Care: 47
Baby-Friendliness: 49
Family-Friendliness: 47
48. Louisiana
Total Score: 29.62
Cost: 2
Health Care: 48
Baby-Friendliness: 46
Family-Friendliness: 48
47. Georgia
Total Score: 32.08
Cost: 28
Health Care: 46
Baby-Friendliness: 48
Family-Friendliness: 41
46. Arkansas
Total Score: 33.86
Cost: 6
Health Care: 50
Baby-Friendliness: 28
Family-Friendliness: 44
45. West Virginia
Total Score: 34.77
Cost: 16
Health Care: 41
Baby-Friendliness: 51
Family-Friendliness: 45
44. Oklahoma
Total Score: 35.21
Cost: 18
Health Care: 44
Baby-Friendliness: 32
Family-Friendliness: 46
43. Nevada
Total Score: 36.73
Cost: 32
Health Care: 36
Baby-Friendliness: 30
Family-Friendliness: 42
42. Florida
Total Score: 36.82
Cost: 44
Health Care: 37
Baby-Friendliness: 29
Family-Friendliness: 39
41. North Carolina
Total Score: 37.21
Cost: 48
Health Care: 31
Baby-Friendliness: 47
Family-Friendliness: 37
40. Tennessee
Total Score: 39.41
Cost: 48
Health Care: 31
Baby-Friendliness: 47
Family-Friendliness: 37
39. Arizona
Total Score: 39.89
Cost: 26
Health Care: 39
Baby-Friendliness: 18
Family-Friendliness: 40
38. Indiana
Total Score: 40.41
Cost: 19
Health Care: 45
Baby-Friendliness: 33
Family-Friendliness: 33
37. Texas
Total Score: 40.79
Cost: 49
Health Care: 30
Baby-Friendliness: 39
Family-Friendliness: 30
