Raising kids isn't easy and it's certainly not cheap. The high cost of raising a two-child family can soar "well into the six figures" just to make ends meet, as per a recently published MarketWatch article.

Depending where parents live and decide to raise their kids can be a huge factor as to how much it'll cost them. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) dove deep into this topic and assessed 618 metro areas in the United States, taking a look at variables including costs of childcare, housing, food, healthcare, transportation, clothing and school-related costs, and area taxes.

The study looked at all sorts of families, zeroing in on 10 family types – for instance, single-parent households, how many children are in the home, ages of kids, etc. Naturally, the bigger the family, the greater the expenses.

As an example, as per EPI, "Monthly child care costs for a two-parent, one-child household can be as low as $344 in rural South Carolina and as high as $1,472 in Washington, D.C. In the latter, monthly child care costs for a two-parent, three-child household are $2,784—nearly 90 percent higher than for a two-parent, one-child household." It's no surprise that parents are feeling the burn in their wallets.

Are you living or planning to move to one of these top 10 most expensive cities to raise a child? These attractive communities have their perks, but is the high cost of raising children there worth it? Take a peek at the most expensive 10 and a few facts about each as to what makes them fall on the high end of the spectrum.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. was ranked the overall most expensive city to raise children. As per MarketWatch, who also addressed this topic, "A family of four needs $106,493 just to get by. Child care here is particularly pricey, at $31,158 a year, on average."

Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.

Not only is the cost to raise kids in these Long Island counties well into the six figures, but taxes are a whopping $16,822 on average per year.

Westchester County, N.Y.

Don't expect to save much by moving upstate, as Westchester County isn't far behind Long Island with high taxes and overall high expenses to raise a family – nearing $100,000.

New York City, N.Y.

It looks like New York is scoring high on high expenses. A family of four will need close to $100,000 to get by in the Big Apple. The one area of savings is on transportation, as most city residents take advantage of public transportation.

Stamford-Norwalk, C.T.

Housing costs make Stamford-Norwalk climb in the ranks at an average of $22,290 annually. Taxes are a killer too.

The rest of the top ten include Honolulu, H.I., Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, N.Y., Ithaca, N.Y., San Francisco, C.A., and Danbury, C.T.

For more specific stats and to see where other cities fell on the list, see the full EPI report.

Don't have or plan to have kids but are seeking to move to a new city? Here's the list of the top ten cities with the best real estate markets. Looks like you may be heading to Texas!

Are you seeking to better budget your family's expenses? Make use of the EPI monthly and annual budget calculator.