Over the course of a child’s first 18 years an upper-middle-class family can expect to spend up to half a million dollars keeping their kids fed, clothed and happy. But some families go above and beyond that for their little darlings, eager — perhaps overeager — to make sure their little darlings have the latest Lego toys and American Girl dolls. And now, a consumer rating and market research site can tell you where these kids live.
According to Bundle.com, the most spoiled children in America are in New York City, where parents spending nearly double that of the average U.S. household on toys, clothes and other services for their kids. The runner-up is Brooklyn, just over the East River — technically, a borough of the Big Apple itself.
(MORE: Why Spoiled Babies Grow Up to Be Smarter, Kinder Kids)
Miami comes in third place, but whats surprising is that even-keeled Minneapolis comes in at fourth place. Residents there spend about 50 percent more than the average parent. Fifth place goes to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
To arrive at their results, the website examined spending by households with children at stores that sell toys, clothing and other services. They then identified all locations for which they had a reasonable sample size of data and “determined the average spend by these households over the past three years.” Each city was than ranked based on how they compared to the U.S. average. However, we’re not really sure if the study also accounts for cost of living, which would certainly factor in — living in Manhattan is far more expensive than, say, Nashville, Tenn., which falls right in line with the national average.
(MORE: The Man Who Remade Motherhood)
Wondering which major U.S. city spoils their kid the least? Madison, Wisconsin.
The top 10 cities are:
- New York, New York
- Miami, Florida
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Tulsa, Oklahoma,
- Dallas, Texas
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Los Angeles, California
- San Diego, California
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Fort Worth, Texas
Erica Ho is a contributor at TIME and the editor of Map Happy. Find her on Twitter at @ericamho and Google+. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2114427,00.html