Just How Expensive Is It to Raise a Family in the Hudson Valley?

The top ten list of most expensive places to raise a family in the United States was released, and surprise! The Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metro area came in at number #7. According to Market Watch, It costs a family of four $92,837 to pay the bills in the Mid Hudson Valley.

The data was released Wednesday by the nonprofit, nonpartisan group the Economic Policy Institute. Elise Gould a senior economist with EPI stressed that this wasn't about maintaining a middle class lifestyle. According to her, it was simply about 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, as well as taxes.

Not only do cities like Poughkeepsie and Newburgh rank very high, but our entire region is outrageously expensive. Yeah, duh. Nassau-Suffolk counties ranked second, only to the Washington DC metro area. Westchester County came in third. New York City at #4. Stamford-Norwalk, CT ranked fifth. Ithaca was number eight. And Danbury, CT rounded out the top tier of the nation's most expensive places list at ten.