Cost of having a baby: Hospital bills are shockingly high in states you wouldn’t expect

(NEXSTAR) – It’s no secret raising a kid is expensive. Countless diapers, 18 years worth of food, childcare and, for some, the cost of college tuition. But before all that even starts, there’s one big bill many parents will be forced to pay: the hospital bill.

Even routine deliveries can cost families a shocking sum, depending on their insurance coverage. When things go wrong, the costs mount even higher.

The cost of having a baby in the U.S. is so high, it has become a subject of global fascination, with videos of people recounting their itemized bills going viral .

In one short video , a woman shows her bill on camera. The grand total was $45,000. “Thankfully my insurance covered the majority,” the voiceover says. She still apparently owed $1,982.93.

While that figure is a shock to anyone without a huge savings account, it’s not even abnormal. In fact, it’s below average, an analysis of medical bills by MoneyGeek found.

After analyzing claims data from 2021 to 2023, the personal finance site found the average out-of-pocket cost of a vaginal delivery was $2,563 and a C-section was $3,071. These estimated totals include the cost of staying at the hospital, the line item charges for medication, and seeing different types of physicians (obstetricians, anesthesiologists, etc.).

The states with the highest bills, surprisingly, are places often thought of having a low cost of living, like Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Average deliveries in all three states can cost patients upwards of $2,500 out-of-pocket.

People with high-deductible insurance plans or complicated deliveries can end up paying as much as $5,000, the analysis stated.

Meanwhile, in Michigan, the average delivery costs $974 out-of-pocket. What accounts for such a big difference? In most cases, it comes down to what hospitals have negotiated with insurers, according to MoneyGeek.

As the California Health Care Foundation explains, differences in price between different hospitals has little to do with the quality of care received. It has more to do with how much competition there is in a market.

“Decades of research shows that prices for inpatient and outpatient services — from C-sections to CT head scans — are higher when there is less competition,” write Kristof Stremikis and Catherine Teare . “This happens when hospitals, medical groups, or health plans merge or buy their competitors. With fewer choices, a big system in one area can set higher prices and anti-competitive contract terms.”

Search the table below to see the average cost of having a baby in your state:

Note: The analysis only covered 45 states and Washington, D.C., with Alabama, Hawaii, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming not reporting enough provider data to be included. See the full dataset here .

Even if you’re one of the lucky ones with a sub-$1,000 hospital bill, you should probably stash away any extra savings. LendingTree estimates it costs about $303,418 to raise a child over 18 years.