Which makes more dollars and sense for families — living in the city, or in the suburbs? For Denverites, it’s the city, at least when it comes to child care and housing costs. 

That’s according to a new report from Care.com (NYSE: CRCM) and Zillow (Nasdaq: ZG), which analyzed major cities and their surrounding suburbs to see which is more cost effective for families based on three costs:

• Child care.
• Property taxes.
• Mortgage payments.

Denver bucks the national trend where it’s typically more cost effective to live in the suburbs.

That’s because in Denver, the average family living in the city spends $62,424 a year on housing and child care, whereas in the suburbs they spend an average of $66,059 a year, $3,635 more.

Nationally, families spend $9,073 more a year to live in the city compared to the suburbs.

But, suburbanites typically do have the benefit of a larger home. The median home in suburban parts of Denver metro is 427 square feet larger than the median urban home, according to the report.

And suburbanites’ commute time is longer — with an average of 27.1 minutes, compared to 24.9 for people who live in the city limits.

Original Source: Denver Business Journal