DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado’s Front Range has grown to be one of the nation’s most expensive areas in the last 10 years, and that means hefty bills for parents.

Colorado’s largest metro areas and cities are some of the most expensive in the country when it comes to kids. The average annual cost of raising a child in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro is the 21st most expensive nationwide.

Financial adviser SmartAsset released a report examining the costs for housing, food, childcare, health care and other necessities across 381 metro areas when a family with two working adults adds one, two or three children into their budget.

Researchers used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the most recent living costs for households.

In the northern Front Range, costs to raise children are roughly even. In the Denver metro, the annual cost of raising a child is $23,803 – about $5,000 more than the national average. Boulder’s costs are even higher at $26,271 annually. In Fort Collins, the cost of a child is $22,962 annually.

Elsewhere in Colorado, the costs of raising children are less but still greater than the national average.

A child costs $24,406 in Greeley, $24,456 in Colorado Springs, $23,212 in Grand Junction and $21,283 in Pueblo.