A new report from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) shows some states were harder hit than others during and after the pandemic in 2020.
Kansas turned out to be the nation's most affordable state for child care; a typical Kansas household spends 11% of its income on child care ($915 per month). In New York, that monthly burden nearly tripled to $2,446, according to the report.
There were 21 states seeing improvements in affordability from the pandemic onwards; prices didn’t drop in these regions, but it's where local income growth outpaced the rising cost of living.
Kansas led this group, with households spending 5% less of their total income on cost-of-living essentials (food, gas, shelter, etc.) compared with 2019. New Mexico followed closely at 4.7%, with Utah seeing a 4.1% improvement.
For Kansas and New Mexico, the advantage was largely luck in dodging the massive pandemic-era affordability rush where costs skyrocketed in regions like the Sun Belt; because demand remained steady, their baseline costs didn't explode.
