Ongoing costs
Want the occasional useful email?
New calculators, updated cost data, and the occasional money-saving guide. No account needed, and you can leave any time.
By Alex Diaz · How we calculate this
Homeschooling costs swing enormously depending on which path a family chooses. A full boxed curriculum from a major publisher typically runs $300 to $600 a year per child, while an accredited online academy with live teachers can cost $1,500 to $3,000 a year or more. It's an ongoing monthly cost rather than a one-time expense, so this estimate weighs curriculum, activities, and other monthly costs against your income and any existing debt to show how much room it would leave in your budget.
These key factors affect homeschooling affordability
Curriculum format and rigor
How much this line item runs depends less on grade level than on which of three basic paths a family picks. A full boxed curriculum from a publisher like Abeka or Bob Jones lands around $300 to $600 a year per child, an accredited online academy with live teachers runs $1,500 to $3,000 a year or more, and an eclectic mix of free or low-cost resources and library materials can bring the number down to a few hundred dollars. Most families don't stick with one path forever, so it's worth re-pricing this whenever a child moves up a grade or a parent's available teaching time changes.
Co-ops, field trips, and testing
Curriculum is rarely the biggest add-on. Co-op dues alone commonly run $50 to $150 a month per child once group science classes, PE, or foreign language instruction get added in, since those are hard to replicate well at home. Testing requirements are a separate wildcard that varies by state: some states require an annual standardized test or portfolio review, while others, like Texas, ask for almost no proof of academic progress at all, which is part of why the testing and tutoring default here is modest compared to the curriculum line.
Opportunity cost of a parent's income
The line items above are usually the smaller piece of what homeschooling actually costs a family. When one parent leaves paid work or cuts hours to teach full-time, the forgone salary is typically many times larger than curriculum and activity spending combined, so it's worth running that number separately from what's entered here, since this calculator only totals the direct expenses, not the income given up to make room for them.
How to use your results
- If the total shows as low risk, you likely have room to invest in a stronger curriculum or add a co-op without straining your budget.
- If it's borderline, look at which extras are optional this year - field trips and supplies are usually easier to trim than core curriculum or required testing.
- If it's high risk and a parent's lost income is the real driver, weigh part-time work, remote work, or a hybrid homeschool option against continuing full-time.
Ways to make homeschooling more affordable
- Use free or low-cost public resources like library reading programs, free online curricula, and open educational resources for core subjects before buying a full boxed program.
- Join a homeschool co-op to split the cost of group classes, shared materials, and field trips across several families.
- Buy used curriculum through homeschool resale groups or swap with other families once a child outgrows a level.
- Check whether your state offers homeschool tax credits, education savings accounts, or a public virtual academy option that covers curriculum costs.
More family & kids calculators
Peer comparison data
Bureau of Labor Statistics (median income by age), Experian (credit score by age)
Used by the “how you compare” figures in the sidebar, not by the costs on this page.
Every figure on this site, with its source and the date it was last verified
How you compare
Income
Credit score
Nothing added yet - add something to see your risk.