Is your income low enough for Chapter 7? Learn the median for your state and household size.
Chapter 7 Means Test: Median Family Income by State and Household Size
Choose your state in the free tool below to move its row to the top of the table and see the median for your household size, which can run from $53,978 for one earner to $178,524 for four; the first step of the means test compares it with your income. Then run the free means test check on your own income band.
Quick answer
For a Chapter 7 case filed on or after July 15, 2026, the one-earner median can run from $53,978 in Mississippi to $88,585 in Washington, and the four-person median from $93,672 in West Virginia to $178,524 in Massachusetts; add $11,100 for each person above four. At or below your state's figure for your household size, the presumption of abuse does not arise; above it, the full means test applies. The figures are the U.S. Trustee Program's table, checked on October 14, 2026.
Free tool
Choose your state to move its row to the top of the table, then run the free check to see whether your monthly income band is below, above or too close to call against your state median.
By the Legal Cost by State Editorial Team·Last updated and source-checked October 14, 2026
Median family income by state and household size, cases filed on or after July 15, 2026
Updated October 14, 2026. Refresh: U.S. Trustee medians change about April 1 and November 1; expense standards change on other dates.
Annual median family income used in the Chapter 7 means test (Forms 122A-1 and 122C-1) for households of one to four people; add $11,100 for each person above four. Source: U.S. Trustee Program.
Every one of the 55 medians is 2.63 percent higher than in the table for cases filed November 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026 (both pages compared on October 14, 2026); the July 15, 2026 update changed the expense standards, not these medians. Guam: $53,859 to $88,805; Northern Mariana Islands: $36,168 to $61,891; Puerto Rico: $30,665 to $50,543; Virgin Islands: $42,734 to $59,995 (one earner to four people).
How to read this chart
Find your state, then the column for your household size, from one earner to four people; for a larger household, add $11,100 to the four-person figure for each additional person, as the U.S. Trustee Program's table prints.
The comparison is between this median and your "current monthly income," a defined term that Official Form 122A-1 (Chapter 7) or 122C-1 (Chapter 13) walks through.
At or below the median, annualized, the presumption of abuse in 11 U.S.C. 707(b) does not arise; above it, the Bankruptcy Code requires the full means test (uscourts.gov), which the guide linked below walks through.
Learn how the same row sets the length of your Chapter 13 plan.
uscourts.gov's Chapter 13 Basics page says a plan runs three years when current monthly income is below the state median and generally five years when it is above, never longer than five. Your state's row sets that "applicable commitment period" too.
Learn the medians for the four territories the chart above leaves out.
The chart shows the 50 states and the District of Columbia; the table's four territories are: Guam $53,859 (one earner), $64,399 (two), $73,385 (three), $88,805 (four); Northern Mariana Islands $36,168, $36,168, $42,080, $61,891; Puerto Rico $30,665, $30,665, $40,976, $50,543; Virgin Islands $42,734, $51,360, $54,760, $59,995. The add-on is the same $11,100 per person above four.
Across all 55 jurisdictions the lowest one-earner median is $30,665 (Puerto Rico) and the highest is $88,585 (Washington); the highest four-person median is $178,524 (Massachusetts).
Learn when a new median table is posted, and why every 2026 filer so far uses the same medians.
Each new means-testing page names the filing dates it covers, so use the one for your filing date. In 2026 those are April 1 and July 15, following the page for November 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026. April's update raised every row by 2.63 percent and July's touched only the expense standards, so if you file from April 1, 2026 on, you use the same medians.
The date under the chart heading tells you when the table was last checked against the U.S. Trustee Program page.
Learn where the medians come from and the date they were checked.
Every figure comes from the U.S. Trustee Program's "Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size" table for cases filed on or after July 15, 2026, checked October 14, 2026. Nothing is estimated.
Learn how to cite this table, with the household size and filing window.
You can cite this page as "Chapter 7 Means Test: Median Family Income by State and Household Size, Legal Cost by State, updated October 14, 2026," with a link to this URL, and name the U.S. Trustee Program as the original source. If you quote a single state, quote the household size and the filing-date window with it, because the figure changes with both.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tap a question to see the answer.
No. It is the first comparison. uscourts.gov says the means test applies when current monthly income is more than the state median, to decide whether the filing is presumptively abusive; at or below the median, that presumption does not arise.
The table is labeled one earner, two, three and four people, with an add-on for each person above four. Who counts toward the size in your case is for the official form instructions and, if contested, the court.
Some rows carry the same median for two and three people (Alaska is $112,548 for both; District of Columbia is $161,397 for both). The U.S. Trustee Program publishes the Census Bureau figures as they are, and this page does not smooth them.
Yes. Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands have their own rows on the U.S. Trustee Program's page and use the same $11,100 add-on per person above four.
About twice a year with new Census data: the last two updates took effect for cases filed on or after November 1, 2025 and April 1, 2026. Other updates, like July 15, 2026, change only the IRS expense standards.
This page does not answer that for anyone. uscourts.gov describes the second step: abuse is presumed only when current monthly income over five years, net of allowed expenses and secured debt payments, reaches the dollar thresholds printed on its Chapter 7 Basics page, and a presumption can be rebutted by special circumstances.
Yes. A Chapter 13 plan runs three years below the state median for the household size and five years above it (uscourts.gov Chapter 13 Basics).
It does not depend on your income. The court fee is $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13 in every district, from the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, and a lawyer's fee is separate; the cost guide in this section covers installments and the Chapter 7 waiver.
Information on this page reflects laws and published figures as of October 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, and not a prediction for any matter. Rules and fees change; check the court or agency page linked for each figure.
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