Pennsylvania Child Support Calculator

It depends on both parents’ net income (pay after taxes and a few other deductions), the number of children, and how many overnights each parent has. With one child and net incomes of $4,000 and $2,000 a month, the higher earner pays about $791 a month when the child lives mostly with the other parent. Child care and health insurance costs are added on top.

Each amount subtracts estimated 2026 taxes from both parents’ pay, as the calculator above does, with a 1% local tax. Philadelphia’s wage tax is higher, which lowers support a little. Amounts at the lowest pay are small because Pennsylvania leaves the paying parent at least $1,255 a month to live on. The rules and schedule in effect since January 1, 2026 set these amounts. The schedule, which lists the amount for both parents together by their combined net income, is in Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-3.

Pennsylvania uses an income shares formula: it adds both parents’ monthly net incomes, looks up what the state says children cost at that income, and has the paying parent pay their share of it.

The steps are in Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-4:

1. Find each parent’s net income. Start with gross income and subtract federal, state, and local income taxes, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement and union dues, and alimony paid to the other parent, under Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-2(c).
2. Add the two net incomes.
3. Look up the schedule amount for that combined income and the number of children. This is what both parents together spend on the children. The schedule runs from $1,300 to $30,000 a month.
4. Find the paying parent’s share. The parent with fewer overnights pays. A parent with 60% of the combined income owes 60%.
5. Adjust for shared custody if the paying parent has at least 40% of the overnights.
6. Apply the low-income rule if the paying parent has a low net income.
7. Add child care and health costs, split by income share.

Example

One parent has net income of $4,000 a month and the other $2,000, so their combined income is $6,000. The schedule amount for one child at that income is $1,186. The higher earner has two thirds of the income, so with the child living mostly with the other parent, they pay about $791 a month.

Yes. Support goes down once the paying parent has the children for at least 40% of the overnights (146 a year), and it goes down more as time gets closer to equal. With one child and net incomes of $4,000 and $2,000 a month, the higher earner pays $791 a month with fewer than 146 overnights, about $672 at 146, $627 at 160, and $554 at equal time.

The reduction starts once the paying parent has the children for at least 40% of the overnights (146 a year). Their share of the schedule amount then drops by one percentage point for each percentage point of overnights above 30%. At 40% of the overnights it drops 10 points (for example, from 60% to 50%). At equal time it drops 20 points.

• Equal time: the parent with the higher net income pays, no matter who asked for support.
• Equalizing cap: with equal time, support can’t leave the receiving parent with more than half of the parents’ combined income. In the rule’s example, parents with net incomes of $3,000 and $2,700 a month, two children, and equal time end up with a $150 order.
• Equal incomes and equal time: the formula gives $0, but child care and medical costs can still be split.

These rules are in Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-4(c).

Reasonable child care a parent needs to work or go to school is split by each parent’s share of income, after any child care subsidy and the federal child care tax credit. The paying parent’s share is added to the support amount or paid directly.

For example, if child care costs $600 a month after any subsidy and tax credit and you have two thirds of the combined income, your share is $400. A judge can also split child care a parent would need if the court counts income they could be earning. Give the other parent receipts or invoices promptly. The rules are in Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-6(a).

Every Pennsylvania order must cover the children’s health care. The paying parent is the first choice to put the children on a health plan, if it costs no more than 5% of their net income. The parents split the premium, and medical bills insurance doesn’t pay above $250 per child a year, by their shares of income.

• Reasonable cost: for the paying parent, coverage counts as reasonable if it costs no more than 5% of their net income and their total order stays at or under 50% of it. If they can’t get it, the receiving parent covers the children if it costs no more than 5% of their net income, under Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-6(b).
• Premiums: if the paying parent pays the premium, the other parent’s share comes off the support amount; if the receiving parent pays it, the paying parent’s share is added.
• Uncovered bills: copays, deductibles, dental, vision, therapy, and orthodontic costs over $250 per child a year (prorated for a partial year) are split by income share. Send receipts or invoices promptly, no later than March 31 of the year after you get the final bill, under Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-6(c).
• Medical Assistance and CHIP: under 23 Pa.C.S. 4326, Medical Assistance (Pennsylvania’s Medicaid) doesn’t count as the order’s coverage, so a parent can still be ordered to add the children to a reasonably priced plan. If neither parent can get one, the court can order the parent with primary custody to apply for CHIP and split its cost by income.

If the children live with you and you get cash assistance (TANF), you have to help your county Domestic Relations Section (the court’s child support office) get support from the other parent. The support collected goes to the state, except that your family gets up to $100 a month of current support for one child, or $200 for two or more. Food stamps (SNAP) don’t come with that requirement in Pennsylvania.

• Cash assistance (TANF): your County Assistance Office sends your case to the Domestic Relations Section, and helping it is a condition of getting cash assistance. If you refuse without a good reason, your family’s grant is cut by 25%, under 55 Pa. Code 187.26(c). Support collected while you get cash assistance goes to the Department of Human Services.
• What your family keeps: the month after support is paid, the state sends your family up to $100 for one child on your cash assistance grant, or $200 for two or more, but no more than the current support paid, according to the state’s child support FAQ.
• Food stamps (SNAP): Pennsylvania doesn’t make SNAP depend on helping with child support, according to the USDA SNAP State Options Report.

If helping could put you or your children in danger, you can ask to be excused (“good cause”). The Pennsylvania child support guide covers which benefits open a case.

Pennsylvania leaves a paying parent at least $1,255 a month to live on (the self-support reserve). If their net income is at or below that, a judge sets support only after looking at both parents’ actual finances and living expenses. If it is a little above that, they pay whichever is lower: the regular amount, or the schedule amount for their income alone.

• Paying parent at or under $1,255: a judge can order support only after looking at both parents’ actual resources and living expenses, under Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-2(e)(1).
• Paying parent a little above $1,255 (the schedule’s shaded rows): they pay the lower of two amounts: the schedule amount for their own income alone, and their share of the schedule amount for the combined income. The shaded rows end between $1,650 (one child) and $3,000 (six children). For example, a parent with net income of $1,500 and two children, while the other parent has $2,500, pays $223 instead of $516.
• Under $1,300 combined: the schedule has no amount, and the state’s estimator gives $0. If the paying parent’s net income is $1,255 or less, the first rule above applies. Child care and medical costs can still be split, under Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-6.
• Earning less by choice: if a parent doesn’t get or keep a suitable job, the court counts the income they could earn, up to one full-time job, under Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-2(d)(4).

No. When the parents’ combined net income is above $30,000 a month, the court starts with a formula: the schedule’s amount at $30,000, plus 4% to 6.3% of the income above $30,000. It then applies the custody rules and considers what the children reasonably need.

The base amounts are the $30,000 row: $3,749 for one child, $4,981 for two, and $5,803 for three. The percentages are 4% for one or two children, 4.7% for three, 5.3% for four, 5.8% for five, and 6.3% for six. A court splits that amount by income share and applies the custody rules. It can then move the result up or down for the children’s reasonable needs, but not below what the order would be at $30,000 combined, under Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-3.1.

Yes. A judge can order a different amount if the formula amount would be unfair or wrong for your family. The judge has to give the reasons, either in court or in writing.

The rule that the formula amount is presumed correct is in 23 Pa.C.S. 4322(b). Reasons listed in Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-5 include unusual needs and fixed obligations, a parent’s other support obligations, other income in the household, the child’s age, the parents’ assets and debts, uninsured medical expenses, the standard of living of the parents and the child, and the child’s best interests.

File a petition for modification with your county Domestic Relations Section, online or on paper. The court can change the order after a big change that will last, such as in income or custody. Either parent can also ask for a review every three years without showing any change.

• How to file: the state’s Apply for Child Support Services page explains the petition for modification, which you can submit on the Pennsylvania Child Support website or on paper at your county Domestic Relations Section.
• The rules: Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.19 covers changing an order, and 23 Pa.C.S. 4352 covers the three-year review. It generally doesn’t allow lowering support that came due before the other parent was told about the request.

The Pennsylvania child support guide walks through each step.

Yes. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services runs the Pennsylvania Child Support Estimator, which starts from each parent’s gross income.

When we compared results in August 2026, the Pennsylvania Child Support Estimator didn’t apply the shared custody adjustment or the low-income rules, so in those cases its number can differ from what the rules give. If your case goes to court, the Domestic Relations Section works out the guideline amount from both parents’ income documents.