Income for single mom in DC

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Infant child care is the highest in DC, averaging around $1200-1800 a month. I say $200k is the needed salary with the cost of living.

LOL what? I'm not a single mom but my husband and I don't earn that much combined.

OP, I'd say $80-100K is a good range if you want to be comfortable. If you're ok with tightening your belt, $60K would be sufficient. You have lots of options WRT where you live and childcare. I toured an in-home daycare that would have cost $185/week for my infant. And of course there are still plenty of areas in the DC metro area that are not exorbitantly expensive.

Best wishes to you!

I actually agree with this. I'm a single mom and was making $190K before I got DOGEd. We were not that comfortable, financially. We live in a small condo and always had plenty for essentials but never had enough for things like trips or electronics or meals out.

Keep in mind that a single mom has to pay for things that you don't have to pay for in a family with 2 adults -- extra child care costs, extra fees for convenience (like grocery delivery when your child is sick). It's more expensive to be a single parent.

Lol you are horrible at money management if you and your dh are struggling with a 190k hhi

report

07/13/2025 14:24

Subject: Income for single mom in DC

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Anonymous

*dc

report

01/07/2026 07:10

Subject: Re:Income for single mom in DC

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Anonymous

Arlington native. I’m 39 and my sister and I were raised by a single mom when she got divorced in 1998. Even before that she had little support.

The crazy part is that my mom worked minimum wage jobs most of her life. When she retired this year she was making $18/hr working at a hotel. I don’t know how she did it. She never got child support or alimony.

We lived in various low income housing and I joined the military at 18. Later I helped her but she never needed me to for her basic cost of living. God bless this woman’s ability to make ends meet and never show frustration.

We didn’t have nice things but I never went without a healthy meal at least once a day or clean clothes.