Texas Child Support Calculator

Texas child support is a percentage of the paying parent’s monthly income after taxes, which Texas calls “net resources.” It is 20% for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four, and 40% for five. For six or more children, it is at least 40%. On net resources of $4,000 a month, that is $800 for one child and $1,000 for two.

To build the table, we convert weekly pay to monthly pay (× 52 ÷ 12) and subtract taxes with the Attorney General’s 2026 tax charts to get net resources. The table assumes the paying parent supports no other children and pays no union dues and no health or dental premiums for these children. The amounts are the same on any parenting schedule, because Texas has no formula for shared time. Texas also doesn’t count the other parent’s income, so the links fill it in as $0. When net resources are under $1,000 a month (about $250 a week in gross pay), the lower low-income percentages apply. Above $11,700 a month of net resources (about $3,630 a week in gross pay), the amount stops rising. The percentages are in section 154.125 of the Texas Family Code.

Texas uses a percentage of income formula. It starts with the paying parent’s net resources (their income after taxes and a few other deductions) and multiplies that by the percentage for the number of children. Medical and dental support is then added on top. The other parent’s income isn’t part of the formula.

The rules are in chapter 154 of the Texas Family Code:

1. Find the paying parent’s income. Wages, overtime, tips, bonuses, self-employment, Social Security (other than SSI), unemployment, and most other income count, under section 154.062. Cash assistance (TANF) doesn’t, and a new spouse’s income is never added.
2. Subtract taxes and a few costs to get net resources. Take off Social Security and Medicare taxes, federal income tax (figured as if the parent files single and takes the standard deduction), union dues, and what the parent pays for the children’s health and dental insurance. Texas has no state income tax. The Attorney General’s office (OAG) publishes 2026 tax charts that do the tax math for you.
3. Apply the percentage for the number of children: 20% for one up to 40% for five (at least that much for six or more), or the lower percentages under $1,000 a month.
4. Lower it for other children if the paying parent also supports children in another household, using the tables in section 154.129.
5. Add medical and dental support on top, as the health insurance section below explains.

Example

One parent has net resources of $4,000 a month, and their one child lives mostly with the other parent. Texas takes 20% of $4,000, so they pay about $800 a month. With two children, it is 25%, or $1,000. The other parent’s $2,000 a month doesn’t change either number.

Not by formula. Texas has no rule for shared time, so the guideline amount (the amount the formula gives) is the same on any schedule. With 50/50 time, our estimate has the parent who earns more pay their full guideline amount. Time with the children is one reason a judge can order less. Say the parents have equal time with one child and net resources of $4,000 and $2,000 a month. The higher earner’s guideline amount is $800. A judge who subtracts the lower earner’s guideline amount from the higher earner’s would order $400. If the parents have equal time and the same pay, neither parent earns more, so our estimate says a judge decides who pays and how much.

Section 154.123(b)(4) of the Texas Family Code lists time with the children as a reason for a different amount. It sets no number of nights and no formula, so in a 50/50 case a judge can order the full guideline amount, the difference between the two parents’ amounts, or another amount.

Texas doesn’t add child care costs to the guideline amount. A judge can order more or less than the guideline amount because of child care either parent pays so they can work.

Section 154.123(b)(6) of the Texas Family Code lists child care a parent pays to keep working as a reason for a different amount.

Every Texas order adds medical and dental support to the guideline amount. If a parent can get insurance through work at a reasonable cost, that parent adds the children. If neither parent can, the paying parent pays “cash medical support,” an extra monthly payment toward the children’s health care. The cost of the children’s premiums or cash medical support is subtracted from the paying parent’s income before the percentage applies.

• Reasonable cost: health insurance for the children counts as reasonable if it costs no more than 9% of the paying parent’s yearly income before taxes, under section 154.181(e). The 9% covers every child the parent must insure under any support order. Dental insurance counts as reasonable if it costs no more than 1.5%, under section 154.1815(a).
• Job-based coverage first: if either parent can add the children to insurance through work at a reasonable cost, the judge orders that parent to do it, under section 154.182. If the parent the children live with carries the insurance, the paying parent pays them back for the children’s premium, up to the reasonable cost.
• Medicaid and CHIP: if neither parent can get private insurance at a reasonable cost, the children are enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP, and the paying parent pays cash medical support of up to 9% of their yearly income before taxes on top of regular support, under section 154.182(b).
• Uncovered bills: the judge splits copays, deductibles, and uninsured health, dental, and vision costs between the parents according to their circumstances, under section 154.183(c).

If you get TANF (cash assistance) or certain Medicaid in Texas, you have to help the Attorney General’s office get child support from the other parent, for example by naming them, taking a paternity test, and helping set up the order. If only your children get Medicaid, asking for child support services is your choice. While you get TANF, you receive the first $75 of each month’s current support and the rest repays the state. Food stamps (SNAP) don’t require this.

• If you don’t help: the Attorney General’s public assistance page says your benefits can be reduced or ended. Under the Texas Works Handbook, the whole family can lose TANF cash for at least a month.
• Support collected: while you get TANF, the first $75 of current support collected each month comes to you, and the rest repays the state and federal governments. Once TANF ends, all current support goes to you.
• SNAP: Texas doesn’t tie food stamps to child support, according to the USDA’s SNAP State Options Report.

If the child support process could put you or your children in danger, for example because of family violence, you can be excused. The Attorney General’s office says to call 2-1-1 and ask about a “good cause” exemption. The Texas child support guide covers which benefits open a case.

When the paying parent’s net resources are under $1,000 a month, Texas uses lower percentages: 15% for one child, 20% for two, 25% for three, 30% for four, and 35% for five. For six or more children, it is at least 35%. A judge can also base support on what a parent could earn.

• Under $1,000 a month: the low-income percentages in section 154.125(c) apply. The change is sudden: for one child, support is $150 a month at $999 of net resources and $200 at $1,000.
• No proof of income: a judge assumes the parent earns the federal minimum wage for a 40-hour week, under section 154.068. That is $1,256.67 a month before taxes and $1,160.54 after, on the OAG’s 2026 tax chart, or about $232 a month for one child.
• Earning less by choice: if a parent is out of work or earning less than they could on purpose, a judge can apply the guidelines to what they could earn, under section 154.066. Time in jail or prison doesn’t count as choosing to earn less.

The percentages apply only to the first $11,700 of the paying parent’s monthly net resources. So the guideline amount is at most $2,340 a month for one child and $4,680 for five (and at least $4,680 for six or more). A judge can order more when evidence shows the children need more.

At the $11,700 cap, the guideline amount is $2,340 a month for one child, $2,925 for two, $3,510 for three, $4,095 for four, and $4,680 for five. With six or more, it is at least the five-child amount. The cap took effect September 1, 2025, according to the OAG’s 2026 tax charts, and is adjusted for inflation every six years under section 154.125(a-1). Support above the cap depends on what the children are shown to need and on both parents’ incomes, under section 154.126.

Yes. The law presumes the guideline amount is best for the child. A judge can order a different amount when the evidence shows the guideline amount would be unfair or wrong for the child. The judge must write the reasons in the order.

Reasons listed in section 154.123 include the child’s age and needs, each parent’s time with the child, child care costs, the other parent’s income, health insurance and uninsured medical costs, travel costs for visits, and expenses for education after high school. When the amount differs from the guideline, section 154.130 requires the order to state both parents’ net resources and the reasons. Parents can also agree to a different amount, which the judge approves if it is in the child’s best interest.

Ask the Attorney General’s office to review your order, or ask the court that has your case to change it. You can ask after a big change in your life or the child’s. You can also ask once three years have passed since the order was made or last changed, if the guideline amount now differs from your order by 20% or $100 a month. If your order is an amount you agreed to that differs from the guidelines, only a big change qualifies.

• When: the rules are in section 156.401 of the Texas Family Code; subsection (a-1) covers orders the parents agreed to.
• Through the Attorney General: if your case is with the OAG, use its online modification request. The OAG says a new order can take at least six months.
• Through the court: file a Petition to Modify the Parent-Child Relationship in the court that keeps authority over your case (called “continuing jurisdiction”), usually the court that made your order.

The Texas child support guide walks through each step.

Yes. The Texas Office of the Attorney General has a free Monthly Child Support Calculator that works out net resources from gross pay with its tax charts and applies the guideline percentage.

The Monthly Child Support Calculator asks for the paying parent’s pay, the children’s health and dental premiums, union dues, and other children the parent supports. It doesn’t calculate support for net resources above $11,700 a month. To do the math by hand, look up net resources in the OAG’s 2026 tax charts and apply the percentage.