PA child support calculator

How the PA child support calculator works

This PA child support calculator follows Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1910.16-4, using the Basic Child Support Schedule in Rule 1910.16-3 as amended effective January 1, 2026.^[1][2][4]

1. Monthly net income. Gross income minus federal, state and local income taxes, FICA, mandatory retirement, union dues and alimony paid to the other party. Health insurance premiums are not deducted; they are shared as an add-on.^[3]
2. Schedule amount. Look up combined net income and the number of children. The rules do not say how to read an income between $50 rows; the official examples use the nearest row, and so do we.
3. Income share. The obligor pays their percentage of combined net income times the schedule amount.
4. Low income. If the obligor’s own income is in the shaded area of the schedule, they pay the lesser of the shaded amount at their income and the income-shares amount.
5. Shared custody. From 40% of overnights, the obligor’s percentage share goes down.
6. Additional expenses. Child care and health insurance premiums are split by income share.^[6]

Pennsylvania basic child support schedule (2026)

The 2026 schedule covers combined monthly net income from $1,300 to $30,000 in $50 rows, for one to six children.^[1]

Above $30,000, Rule 1910.16-3.1 sets a preliminary amount: the $30,000 figure plus 4% to 6.3% of the excess, depending on the number of children; the court then looks at the children’s reasonable needs, but cannot go below the $30,000 amount.^[5]

Self-support reserve: $1,255

The 2026 self-support reserve is $1,255 a month, built into the shaded cells of the schedule.^[3] When the obligor’s income is in the shaded area, support is the lesser of the schedule amount at the obligor’s income alone and the normal income-shares amount. In the rule’s own example, an obligor with $1,500 and an obligee with $2,500, two children, pays $223 instead of $523. At or below $1,255, the court may award support only after looking at the obligor’s actual resources and living expenses.

Shared custody: 40% of overnights

When the obligor has at least 40% of annual overnights (146), their income share is reduced by their overnight percentage minus 30 points: 10 points at 40% and 20 points at 50%.^[4] With equal time, only the higher earner can be the obligor, and the result cannot leave the other household with more income than the obligor’s.

The rule comments work this example at whole-percent shares ($1,333, $1,137, $1,039 and $941); this calculator uses exact shares, so its figures differ by a few dollars.^[4]

Child care, health insurance and deviations

Child care for work or education, reduced by the federal child care tax credit, is split by income share, as is the premium for coverage of the people owed support. Unreimbursed medical costs above $250 per person per year are split the same way.^[6] The court may deviate from the guideline amount under Rule 1910.16-5, considering factors such as other support obligations, other household income, the children’s ages, both parties’ assets and the standard of living, and must give written reasons.^[7]

Official Pennsylvania estimator and agency

The Pennsylvania Child Support Program, run by the Department of Human Services, publishes an online estimator that computes net income from gross for you; it cannot be used above $30,000 of combined income.^[8][9]

• PA Child Support Program estimator official estimator
• Pennsylvania Child Support Program state child support agency
• Rule 1910.16-3, Basic Child Support Schedule Pennsylvania Code

Nearby states: the Ohio child support calculator uses gross income and a 10% parenting time reduction, and the New York child support calculator uses fixed percentages. See every state on the child support calculator page.