The cost of youth sports: what the evidence shows

“How much does youth sports cost?” has a dozen different answers online, from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands. Most of them trace back to a small number of surveys of parents, each measuring something slightly different. This review sets out what those surveys found, how they were done, and why their numbers do not line up.

What families spend

Sourced factIn the 2024 National Youth Sports Parent Survey, parents reported spending an average of $1,015.64 over the past year on their child’s primary sport, and a further $475.02 on that child’s other sports.¹ The Aspen Institute summarizes this as $1,016 on the primary sport and “nearly $1,500” in total for one child.²

Sourced factThe survey reached 1,848 parents of children aged 6 to 18 who played sports regularly, online, between November 5 and December 19, 2024. Its authors describe the sample as nationally representative; the report does not describe how the sample was weighted.¹

AnalysisRegistration, the cost most families see first, was under a fifth of average primary-sport spending (about 19%). Travel and lodging was the largest category on its own. Budgeting from the registration fee alone will understate the cost for most families.

AnalysisThese are averages of very uneven spending. The report’s standard deviation for the primary-sport total ($2,068.06) is about twice the average, and totals ran from $0 to $24,600.¹ A small number of very high spenders pull the average up, so a typical family probably spends less than the average. No median is published that would confirm this.

How spending varies with income

Sourced factFamilies earning $100,000 or more spent on average $987 more per year on a child’s primary sport than families earning under $50,000.¹ (An Aspen news summary gives a $1,471 gap for the primary sport;² that figure matches the gap for all sports combined in the full report, so we use the report’s own figures.)

Cost and who gets to play

Sourced factFederal surveys show a steep income gradient in who plays at all. In 2023–2024, 36.7% of children aged 6 to 17 in families below the poverty threshold played on a sports team or took sports lessons, compared with 74.1% in families at 400% of the threshold or more.⁸ In 2020, 31.2% of children aged 6 to 17 in families below the federal poverty level took part in organized sports, compared with 70.2% in families at 400% of the poverty level or more.⁶ An analysis of 2017–2018 data found participation ranging from 32.7% to 79.9% across household income levels among children aged 6 to 9.⁷

Sourced factIn a 2025 commercial survey of 1,036 parents of children aged 7 to 18 in youth sports, 20% said they had to reduce or stop their children’s participation because of financial constraints.⁵

AnalysisThe income gap in participation is consistent with cost being a barrier, but these surveys do not show that cost causes it: income is tied to many other things, including neighborhood facilities, schedules and transportation. The spending surveys only include families whose children already play, so they cannot show what cost keeps out.

How spending varies by age and sport

Sourced factAverage primary-sport spending rose with age: $697.00 for children aged 6 to 10, $1,130.65 for ages 11 to 14 and $1,345.69 for ages 15 to 18. Rural families spent less on average ($659.80) than urban ($1,041.87) or suburban ($1,112.53) families.¹

Sourced factThe 2019 survey, which averaged spending across every sport a child played, reported much higher averages for some sports it could compare then, including ice hockey ($2,582.74), skiing and snowboarding ($2,248.84) and gymnastics ($1,580.28), and lower ones for track and field ($191.34).³ The 2019 report does not print the number of parents behind each sport.

Is youth sports getting more expensive?

Sourced factThe Aspen Institute reports that average spending on the primary sport rose 46% from 2019 to 2024, which it describes as twice the rate of inflation over the period.²

AnalysisTreat the size of that increase with caution. The 2019 figure, $692.53, was the average spent per child per sport across all sports a child played,³ while the 2024 figure, $1,015.64, is for the primary sport only;¹ the 46% matches the ratio of these two different measures. The 2022 survey reported $883 for the primary sport, “down 6% from pre-pandemic costs,”⁴ which implies yet another 2019 baseline. The surveys agree that spending rose between 2022 and 2024; the exact five-year rate depends on which baseline is used.

Other estimates you will see

• Sourced factAbout $3,000 a year. New York Life’s 2025 survey reported that parents spend $3,000 a year on average on their children’s sports.⁵ This appears to cover all of a family’s children and all their sports, not one child or one sport, which is why it is higher. It is a survey by a life insurer, run online with a stated margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points; the release does not name the firm that ran it or describe weighting.
• Sourced factMore than $40 billion a year nationally. The Aspen Institute estimates that U.S. parents spend more than $40 billion a year on youth sports, “based on the latest parent survey data and other existing research.”² It does not publish the calculation.

What these numbers leave out

• Time. None of the spending surveys measures the hours parents spend driving, waiting and organizing, or income lost to time off work.
• Families who do not play. The spending surveys only include families whose children already play regularly.
• The typical family. Without medians, we cannot say what the middle family spends, only the average.
• Inflation. Dollar figures are not adjusted, so comparisons across years mix price changes and real changes in spending.

What this can’t tell you

How to cite this evidence review

Alec Bantel. “The cost of youth sports: what the evidence shows.” And The Little Ones Too, October 5, 2026. https://andthelittleonestoo.com/research/cost-of-youth-sports