D.C. Child Support Calculator

It depends on both parents’ incomes, the number of children, and how much of the year the children spend with each parent. If you earn $5,000 a month before taxes, the other parent earns $3,000, and the children live with the other parent, you would pay about $801 a month for one child and $1,084 for two. Child care and health costs are added to that.

The table converts weekly pay to monthly pay (× 52 ÷ 12). In the first row, support can’t be more than the paying parent’s income above the self-support reserve (see the low-income section below), so two and three children come to the same amount. Below about $418 a week ($1,810 a month), a judge decides what the paying parent can pay. The amounts stay the same until the paying parent has the children 11 nights a month. D.C.’s yearly schedule, which lists the total for both parents together by their combined income, is in D.C. Code §16-916.01a.

D.C. uses an income shares formula, which means both parents’ incomes count. It adds both parents’ incomes before taxes (after a few adjustments), looks up the basic support for that total, and has the paying parent pay their share of it. That share is then adjusted for shared custody and the children’s other costs.

The rules are in D.C. Code §16-916.01:

1. Find each parent’s adjusted gross income. Start with income before taxes from all sources, like wages, self-employment profit, Social Security, unemployment, and alimony received. Subtract alimony paid to the other parent, support paid for other children, half of any self-employment tax, and an allowance for other children in the home. TANF, SSI, and SNAP don’t count.
2. Add the two incomes and look up the schedule amount for that income and the number of children.
3. Split it by income share.
4. Use the shared custody formula if each parent has the child at least 35% of the year.
5. Add health insurance, uninsured medical costs, and child care, split the same way, and subtract any SSDI benefits the child gets from the paying parent’s record.
6. Apply the limits: the low-income limit, and a cap of 35% of the paying parent’s income.

Example

One parent earns $4,000 a month and the other $2,000, so their combined income is $72,000 a year. The schedule amount for one child is $12,332 a year. The higher earner has 67% of the income, so with the child less than 35% of the year with them, they pay about $689 a month.

Yes, once the child spends at least 35% of the year (about 128 nights) with each parent. That is 11 to 19 nights a month in the calculator above. Below that, time doesn’t change the amount. With one child and gross pay of $4,000 and $2,000 a month, the higher earner pays $689 a month with 10 or fewer nights a month, $468 with 11, $416 with 12, and $262 at equal time (15 nights a month).

From 35%, D.C. raises the schedule amount by half (× 1.5) to cover the cost of two homes. Each parent then owes their share of it for the time the child spends with the other parent, and the parent who owes more pays the difference. The result is never more than the amount without shared custody. Either parent can ask the judge not to use it by showing it would be unfair for their family. See D.C. Code §16-916.01(q).

Reasonable child care needed for either parent’s job or schooling is added to basic support and split by each parent’s share of income.

The amount is what the family actually pays. If there is no actual cost, or it isn’t in the child’s best interest, the judge uses the cost of licensed care. See D.C. Code §16-916.01(k).

Every order provides for the children’s medical expenses. The added cost of putting the children on a parent’s health plan, and uninsured medical costs over $250 a year per child, are split by each parent’s share of income.

• Reasonable cost: coverage is reasonable if adding the children costs the parent no more than 5% of their gross income.
• Uninsured costs include copays, deductibles, orthodontia, dental, vision, and physical therapy. Regular, predictable costs go into the monthly amount; a parent who pays others up front is repaid their share within 30 days of sending proof.

See D.C. Code §16-916.01(i) and (j).

If the children live with you and you get TANF (D.C.’s cash assistance program), you have to help the Child Support Services Division get support from the other parent unless you have a good reason, such as a risk of harm. The District keeps most of the support collected, but your family gets up to the first $200 a month. Food stamps (SNAP) don’t require this.

• TANF: you sign your right to support over to the District. OAG’s case management page says not helping CSSD can cut your TANF by 25%.
• What your family keeps: since October 1, 2025, up to the first $200 of current support paid each month, under the change OAG announced. Some OAG pages still show the old $150.
• Food stamps (SNAP): D.C. doesn’t require help with child support for SNAP, according to the USDA SNAP State Options Report.

If going after support could harm you or your children, file a “good cause” claim with CSSD; you don’t have to help while it is pending, per OAG’s case management page. The D.C. child support guide covers what helping involves.

The paying parent keeps $20,815 a year to live on (this is called the self-support reserve), and support can’t be more than their income above that amount. When their income is less than $900 a year above it, a judge decides what they can pay, and the calculator above shows “A judge sets this amount.” If the judge finds they can pay something, the starting point is $75 a month.

• Example: a paying parent earning $1,900 a month ($22,800 a year) has $1,985 a year above $20,815, so support for one child is limited to $165 a month.
• Below the $900 line: the judge looks at the parent’s actual situation. Evidence can lower the $75 presumption to $0 or raise it.
• The other household: if the lower amount would leave the children facing extreme hardship, the judge can raise it, up to the regular amount.
• Earning less by choice: a judge can count income a parent could earn only if they lowered their income on purpose to affect support (in bad faith), and never for a parent who can’t work or gets means-tested benefits.

The $20,815 is 133% of the federal poverty guideline for one person. It is updated every two years on April 1, so the next update is due April 1, 2027. See D.C. Code §16-916.01(d), (g), and (m).

Total support, including child care and medical costs, can’t be more than 35% of the paying parent’s adjusted gross income. There is no dollar maximum. Above $240,000 a year in combined income, support is at least the formula amount at $240,000, and a judge can order more.

At $240,000 a year, basic support is $33,051 a year for one child. A judge who orders more must explain it based on the child’s reasonable needs. See D.C. Code §16-916.01(h) and (n).

Yes. A judge can order a different amount when the formula amount would be unfair. The judge has to explain why in writing.

Reasons the law lists include a child’s exceptional needs, a paying parent with much lower income than the other parent, a property settlement that provides for the child, a parent supporting other dependents, a short-term reduction to repay a necessary debt, a child with regular income of their own, and a paying parent who is 18 or younger and a full-time student. Parents’ agreements to a different amount also need the judge’s approval. See D.C. Code §16-916.01(o) and (p).

Ask the Child Support Services Division (CSSD) to review your order, or file a motion in D.C. Superior Court to change it. If the formula now gives an amount at least 15% different from your current order, that is usually enough reason for a change. Keep paying the current order until it changes.

• Through CSSD: every three years CSSD tells both parents they can ask for a review, and either parent can request one.
• Through the court: file a Motion to Modify Child Support Order with D.C. Superior Court.
• Without the 15% test: a parent can still ask for a change after a big change in the child’s needs or the paying parent’s ability to pay.

The rules are in D.C. Code §16-916.01(r). The D.C. child support guide walks through each step.

Yes. The Office of the Attorney General’s Child Support Guideline Calculator asks about both parents’ income, the children’s costs, and custody, and shows the guideline worksheet.

Open the Child Support Guideline Calculator with recent pay stubs, health insurance costs, and any other support orders at hand.