Is a child support figure coming? Learn how your state arrives at it, and what moves it.
How Each State Calculates Child Support: The Guideline Models
Find your state's model in the list below and learn how that model counts each parent's income. Your figure itself comes from the worksheet or calculator your state publishes with its guideline, not from this site.
Quick answer
41 of the 51 jurisdictions use the income shares model, which adds both parents’ incomes, reads a basic obligation off a state table and splits it by each parent’s share. Alaska, Mississippi, Nevada and Wisconsin use a percentage of the paying parent’s income, North Dakota and Texas a percentage that varies with income, Delaware, Hawaii and Montana the Melson formula, and the District of Columbia a hybrid. Federal rules require each state to review its guideline at least once every four years and treat the guideline amount as correct unless a court finds it unjust or inappropriate. Model labels follow the NCSL table; the guideline texts cited here were read on October 14, 2026.
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By the Legal Cost by State Editorial Team·Last updated and source-checked October 14, 2026
What to do next
Three things you can have in hand before the worksheet.
1
Find your state's model in the list below
Income shares, percentage of income, Melson or the hybrid; the model decides whose income counts and how the state table is read.
2
Search your state court or child support agency site for its guideline worksheet or calculator
The federal rule requires each state to publish one guideline and make it available to everyone in the state; that worksheet, not this page, produces your figure.
3
Gather both parents' gross income figures and the parenting-time split
Every model starts from income, and in Minnesota and the District of Columbia the parenting schedule changes the result; the section on what moves the figure says whether your state starts from gross, adjusted or net income.
Which model your state uses
The labels come from the National Conference of State Legislatures guideline table, a secondary source.
Income shares (41 jurisdictions)
The child should receive the share of parental income the child would have received if the parents lived together. Both incomes are added, the state table gives a basic obligation for that combined income and number of children, and each parent owes a part in proportion to their share of the total.
Percentage of income, flat (4)
Alaska, Mississippi, Nevada and Wisconsin. Support is a percentage of the paying parent’s income only; the other parent’s income is not part of the base calculation.
Percentage of income, varying (2)
North Dakota and Texas. Also based on the paying parent’s income alone, but the percentage changes as income rises.
Melson formula (3)
Delaware, Hawaii and Montana. A more involved version of income shares, built so each parent’s own basic needs are covered before the children’s support is set. It was developed by a Delaware Family Court judge and explained in Dalton v. Clanton, 559 A.2d 1197 (Del. 1989).
Hybrid (1)
The District of Columbia is classed as a hybrid: a varying percentage of income, reduced by a formula based on the custodial parent’s income.
Learn more. Tap a topic to open it.
Learn the income shares steps in the Minnesota and District of Columbia guidelines.
Minnesota’s statute lays the steps out in order (Minn. Stat. 518A.34): find each parent’s income, after a credit for any nonjoint children; divide each by the combined total for a percentage; look up the basic obligation for that combined income and number of joint children (Minn. Stat. 518A.35); multiply each percentage by it, then apply the parenting expense adjustment.
The District of Columbia’s code reads the same way, though the NCSL table classes it as a hybrid: D.C. Code 16-916.01 starts from each parent’s adjusted gross income, looks up the basic obligation for the combined figure, and multiplies by each parent’s share. Shared physical custody follows a separate procedure in the same section.
Learn how Nevada, Wisconsin and North Dakota apply a share of the paying parent’s income.
Nevada sets the base obligation from the paying parent’s monthly gross income in tiers (NAC 425.140). For one child it is 16 percent of the first $6,000, 8 percent of the portion between $6,000 and $10,000, and 4 percent of the portion above $10,000. For two children the tiers are 22, 11 and 6 percent. That schedule took effect February 1, 2020, so Nevada’s percentage now steps down as income rises even though the NCSL table lists it with the flat-percentage states.
Wisconsin applies a percentage standard set by administrative rule, with a worksheet in its appendix (Wis. Admin. Code ch. DCF 150). North Dakota applies the paying parent’s net income to the schedule in its guideline (N.D. Admin. Code ch. 75-02-04.1).
Learn the federal rules every guideline follows, including when a judge may depart from it.
A federal regulation sets the floor for all of these models (45 CFR 302.56). Each state must have one set of guidelines and make them available to everyone in the state. The order must be based on the paying parent’s earnings, income and other evidence of ability to pay, and the guideline must take into account all of that parent’s earnings and income, with the custodial parent’s income counted at the state’s option.
The guideline must also cover the basic needs of a parent with limited ability to pay, through a low-income adjustment such as a self-support reserve, and the state must review it at least once every four years. The guideline amount is presumed correct; a court that departs from it must find on the record that applying it would be unjust or inappropriate, state the guideline amount, and say why the order differs.
Learn five things that can move your figure: income, parenting time, care costs, other children.
1
Which income counts
Gross, adjusted gross or net income, depending on the state: Nevada starts from monthly gross income, the District of Columbia from adjusted gross income, North Dakota from net income.
2
Parenting time
Every Minnesota support order states each parent’s percentage of parenting time, and a parenting expense adjustment follows from it (Minn. Stat. 518A.36). The District of Columbia uses a separate calculation for shared physical custody.
3
Child care and health care
Nevada’s regulation covers child care costs and requires every order to provide for medical support; every guideline addresses the children’s health care expenses.
4
Other children
North Dakota’s guideline has a separate method for a parent who owes support in more than one household, and Minnesota gives a credit for a parent’s nonjoint children before the shares are computed.
5
A finding that the guideline does not fit
A court can order a different amount only with the findings the federal rule requires.
The model sets the method. The income definition, the parenting schedule and the add-ons decide the figure.
Learn what the model column in the state chart means and where your own figure comes from.
The child support model column in the state chart gives the NCSL label for all 51 jurisdictions. The NCSL table was last updated in 2020, so the column is marked secondary. For your own figure, use the worksheet or calculator your state publishes with its guideline; this site does not compute support for any family.
The model 41 jurisdictions use: both incomes are added, a state table gives the obligation for that income and number of children, and each parent pays in proportion to their share.
The percentage-of-income states: Alaska, Mississippi, Nevada, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Texas.
A version of income shares used in Delaware, Hawaii and Montana that sets aside each parent’s own basic needs before the children’s support is calculated (Dalton v. Clanton, Del. 1989).
In income shares and Melson states, yes; in percentage-of-income states the base uses the paying parent’s income only. Federal rules leave the custodial parent’s income to each state (45 CFR 302.56).
Yes, but only with findings: that applying the guideline would be unjust or inappropriate, what the guideline amount is, and why the order differs (45 CFR 302.56).
At least once every four years: the federal rule requires each state to review its guideline on that cycle and publish the review.
It depends on the state: Nevada starts from the paying parent’s monthly gross income, the District of Columbia from adjusted gross income, and North Dakota from net income.
It can. Minnesota adjusts support by each parent’s percentage of parenting time (Minn. Stat. 518A.36), and the District of Columbia has a separate calculation for shared physical custody. The effect depends on the state’s formula.
Because the result depends on income definitions, parenting time and add-ons that differ by state and by family. The worksheet or calculator each state publishes with its guideline gives the figure a court starts from.
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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