Nevada Child Support Calculator

Nevada sets support as a percentage of the paying parent’s monthly income before taxes (gross income). For one child it is 16% of the first $6,000, 8% of the next $4,000, and 4% above $10,000, so $4,000 a month gives $640. The percentages are higher for more children.

The table converts weekly pay to monthly (× 52 ÷ 12) and assumes the children live mostly with the other parent, whose income doesn’t change the amount. The first rows, about $230 to $460 a week, use the 2026 low-income schedule. Under about $230 a week, a judge sets the amount; the table shows the schedule’s lowest amount, as Nevada’s official calculator does. The percentages for every number of children are in NAC 425.140.

Nevada uses a percentage of income formula. The paying parent pays a set percentage of their monthly income before taxes, or a lower amount from the low-income schedule if they can’t afford the percentage. The other parent’s income doesn’t change the amount unless the parents share custody. The court then adds a fair share of child care and medical costs.

The rules are in NAC 425.117 and the sections it points to:

1. Find gross monthly income. Count wages, steady overtime and bonuses, self-employment income after business expenses, and other income such as unemployment or alimony, before taxes. Child support received, SNAP, SSI, and other public assistance don’t count, under NAC 425.025.
2. Apply the percentage for the number of children, or the low-income schedule when the parent can’t afford the percentage.
3. Apply custody. When the children live mainly with one parent, only the other parent’s amount counts. With joint physical custody, the amount is worked out for each parent, and the parent who owes more pays the difference.
4. Add child care and medical costs, split as the court finds fair.
5. Make any adjustments for the reasons the rules list.

Example

One parent earns $4,000 a month and the other $2,000, and their child lives mostly with the lower earner. For one child, 16% of $4,000 is $640 a month. At $8,000, the amount would be 16% of the first $6,000 plus 8% of the other $2,000, or $1,120.

Yes, once each parent has the children at least 40% of the time (146 nights a year, or 12 to 18 nights a month in the calculator above), which Nevada calls joint physical custody. Then the percentage is applied to each parent’s income, and the parent who owes more pays the difference. With one child and gross pay of $4,000 and $2,000 a month, the higher earner pays $640 a month with less than 40% of the time, and $320 anywhere from 40% to 60%, equal time included.

The 40% line comes from Nevada case law, as the Nevada courts’ self-help center explains, and the judge decides which kind of custody a schedule is. In the example, the higher earner owes $640 and the lower earner $320, so the higher earner pays the $320 difference. With equal incomes the two amounts cancel and support is $0. When each parent has most of the time with different children, each parent’s amount is worked out for the children living with the other parent, and the parent who owes more pays the difference. See NAC 425.115.

The court splits reasonable child care costs in a way it finds fair. Nevada has no set formula for the split.

The judge weighs the cost of the care each parent proposes, cheaper reasonable options, what each parent can afford, whether a parent works less to care for the child, and whether the care lets a parent get job training or schooling, under NAC 425.130.

Every Nevada order must cover the children’s medical needs. The court splits the cost of reasonable health insurance and medical bills in a way it finds fair.

• Reasonable cost: the premium is no more than 5% of the gross monthly income of the parent providing it, and the plan’s copays, deductible, and out-of-pocket limit are reasonable too.
• Usable where the children live: a plan limited to one area must cover the area where the children live.
• Medicaid and Nevada Check Up: this public coverage can count as medical support.

The rules are in NAC 425.135.

If the children live with you and you get TANF (cash assistance), you have to help the state get child support from the other parent, for example by naming them and going to paternity tests and court dates. The state keeps the support it collects. Food stamps (SNAP) don’t require this.

• TANF: if you don’t help without a good reason, your cash benefits stop, under the TANF manual’s child support chapter.
• Support kept by the state: none of the support collected is added to your TANF check; the state keeps it to repay assistance, as its child support manual notes.
• Food stamps (SNAP): Nevada doesn’t require you to help with child support to get SNAP, according to the USDA SNAP State Options Report.
• Benefits as income: SNAP, SSI, and other public assistance aren’t counted as a parent’s income, under NAC 425.025.

If helping could put you or your children in danger, you can ask to be excused (Nevada calls this “good cause”). The Nevada child support guide has more on benefits and child support.

When a parent with gross pay from $998 to $1,995 a month can’t afford the regular percentage, support comes from Nevada’s 2026 low-income schedule. Below $998, a judge sets an amount that weighs the parent’s own needs against the children’s. Nevada’s official calculator, and ours, use the schedule’s lowest amount there.

• $998 to $1,995 a month: the 2026 low-income schedule gives a flat amount for each income band, from $105 to $319 a month for one child. Nevada’s official calculator uses it for every income in this range, and so does ours, even in the top bands where it is a few dollars above the regular percentage.
• Under $998 a month: the judge sets support from the parent’s whole financial situation, under NAC 425.145. Nevada’s official calculator uses the schedule’s lowest amount ($105 for one child), even for a parent with no income, and so does ours. With joint physical custody, a $4,000 earner and a parent with no income come to $535 a month for one child.
• Earning less by choice: a judge can base support on income a parent could earn if they don’t work or work less without a good reason, under NAC 425.125.
• Jail or prison: it doesn’t count as choosing not to work, so support isn’t based on income the parent could earn, under NAC 425.155.

The schedule follows the federal poverty guidelines and is updated by March 31 each year.

No. Nevada has no dollar cap. The percentage drops on income above $6,000 and again above $10,000 a month, so support keeps rising with income, just more slowly.

For one child at $12,000 a month, that is 16% of $6,000 ($960), plus 8% of the next $4,000 ($320), plus 4% of the last $2,000 ($80), for $1,360 in all. The rates for every number of children are in NAC 425.140.

Yes. A judge can raise or lower support for reasons the rules list, like a child’s special education needs or the cost of travel for visits. The judge must write down the guideline amount and the reasons.

The reasons listed in NAC 425.150 include a child’s special education needs, a parent’s duty to support others, public assistance paid for the child, travel costs for visits, the incomes of both households, and the paying parent’s ability to pay. Social Security benefits a child gets because of a parent can be subtracted from that parent’s support.

Parents can also agree in writing to a different amount if the agreement states the guideline amount and the parent receiving support isn’t getting TANF. A judge must approve it, under NAC 425.110.

Either parent can ask for a review every three years, or sooner when circumstances change. A change of 20% or more in either parent’s gross monthly income is enough for a review.

• When: every three years on request, or sooner after a change in circumstances such as a 20% change in either parent’s gross monthly income, under NRS 125B.145.
• Through the child support program: if your case is with the state program, ask it for a review. It also reviews an order when the paying parent will be in jail more than 180 days, under its case processing manual.
• Through the court: the self-help center explains how to change an order and has the Motion to Modify Child Custody, Visitation and/or Child Support.

Keep following the current order until it changes. The Nevada child support guide walks through each step.

Yes. The free Nevada Child Support Guidelines Calculator, supported by the Nevada Division of Social Services, works out the base amount for primary, joint, and mixed custody.

Pick 2026 as the calculation year in the Nevada Child Support Guidelines Calculator. It uses the low-income schedule automatically, even in the few bands where the schedule is a few dollars higher than the regular percentage, so its result can differ slightly from the calculator above.