Pennsylvania child support calculator

§ 2How Pennsylvania calculates child support

Pennsylvania uses the income shares model: the guidelines estimate what an intact household with the parents’ combined income would spend on the children, then divide that amount between the parents in proportion to income. The whole calculation is four moves. First, find each parent’s monthly net income. Second, add them. Third, look up the combined figure and the number of children in the Basic Child Support Schedule (Rule 1910.16-3). Fourth, multiply the schedule amount by the paying parent’s percentage share of combined income (Rule 1910.16-4).

Net income is defined, not guessed. Rule 1910.16-2(c) allows exactly five deductions from gross income: (1) federal, state, and local income taxes; (2) unemployment-compensation taxes and Local Services Taxes; (3) FICA and non-voluntary retirement payments; (4) mandatory union dues; and (5) alimony paid to the other party. Nothing else — not rent, not car payments, not voluntary 401(k) contributions. Gross income itself sweeps broadly under 23 Pa.C.S. § 4302: wages, business income, rents, pensions, Social Security disability and retirement benefits, workers’ compensation, even lottery winnings. Public assistance and SSI are excluded.

The obligor (the parent who pays) is normally the parent with fewer overnights. With equal custody, Rule 1910.16-4(c)(2) makes the higher earner the obligor — the lower-earning parent can never be ordered to pay basic support to the higher-earning one.

§ 3The schedule, the Self-Support Reserve, and the shaded area

The 2026 schedule runs from $1,300 to $30,000 of combined monthly net income in $50 steps — 575 rows for one through six children. Its low-income rows are shaded in the official printed table: in that region the amounts are deliberately suppressed so a low-earning obligor keeps roughly the Self-Support Reserve of $1,255 per month (Rule 1910.16-2(e)(1)(i)) — enough to meet basic needs and stay employed.

When the paying parent’s own income and the number of children intersect the shaded area, Rule 1910.16-2(e)(1)(ii) requires two calculations: one using only the obligor’s income read straight off the schedule, and one using both incomes through the normal formula. The lesser controls. The rule’s own example: an obligor netting $1,500 with two children owes the $223 obligor-only figure, not the $523 formula share. This page runs both calculations and shows them side by side. The shaded region’s official bounds, taken from the adopting order’s printed schedule:

If the obligor’s income is at or below the SSR itself, Rule 1910.16-2(e)(1)(ii)(C) goes further: a court may award support only after weighing the parties’ actual resources and living expenses — a minimal order, or none, may be appropriate. This page flags that situation rather than pretending the schedule settles it.

The full schedule is reproduced below, generated from the same data the calculator computes with — the chart and the engine cannot disagree.

§ 4Shared custody: the 40% rule

If the children spend 40% or more of annual overnights with the paying parent (146 of 365), Rule 1910.16-4(c)(1) presumes a reduction. The mechanics are Worksheet Part D: take the obligor’s overnight percentage, subtract 30, and knock that many points off the obligor’s income share before multiplying by the schedule amount. At 40% custody the share drops 10 points; at 50% it drops 20. The rules’ own example: parents netting $5,000 and $2,300 with two children ($1,960 on the schedule, 68% share, $1,333 base) pay $1,137 at 40% custody, $1,039 at 45%, and $941 at 50%.

Equal custody has two extra rules. The obligor must be the higher earner — the lower earner can never pay basic support (Rule 1910.16-4(c)(2)(i)–(ii)). And if the Part D result would still hand the receiving household the larger slice of combined income, the obligation is capped so the two households’ incomes come out equal (c)(2)(iv): in the rules’ Example 2, a $566 formula figure becomes $150, exactly half the parents’ $300 income gap.

§ 5Add-ons under Rule 1910.16-6

Three expenses ride on top of the basic obligation, each split by income share. In a child-support-only case the shares use the parents’ unadjusted net incomes.

Child care (Rule 1910.16-6(a)): reasonable work-related child care paid by either parent is allocated by income share. If the paying parent covers part of it directly, their payment nets against their share — the rule’s own example has a father whose share of $500 total child care is $320; since he already pays $100 to the provider, he owes $220 more. One wrinkle worth knowing: the allocable expense must first be reduced by the federal child care tax credit when the eligible party qualifies for it (Rule 1910.16-6(a)(6)) — enter the post-credit amount above.

Children’s health insurance premium (Rule 1910.16-6(b)): only the portion covering people owed a duty of support is allocated. If the actual child-attributable amount isn’t known, the rule prorates per person: divide the total premium by the number of people covered, multiply by the number covered who are not part of the case, and exclude that. Example from the rule: a divorced father pays $200 covering himself, the parties’ child, and two children from another marriage — $200 ÷ 4 = $50 per person, $150 excluded, $50 allocated. Direction matters: if the obligor carries the premium, the obligee’s share is deducted from the support number; if the obligee carries it, the obligor’s share is added.

Unreimbursed medical (Rule 1910.16-6(c)): the first $250 per child per year is already inside the schedule amounts; only the annual excess is allocated, on a calendar-year basis. “Medical” includes co-pays, deductibles, dental, optical, psychiatric and psychological care, and orthodontia — not cosmetic or chiropractic services unless a court says so.

Private school tuition, summer camp, and other extraordinary expenses (Rule 1910.16-6(d)) are allocated only if a court finds them reasonable in the circumstances, and the mortgage adjustment (Rule 1910.16-6(e)) is discretionary — this page doesn’t compute either, and says so rather than inventing numbers.

§ 6The edges

Above $30,000 combined income, the schedule ends and Rule 1910.16-3.1 takes over: the top-row amount plus a fixed percentage of the excess (4.0% for one or two children, 4.7% for three, 5.3% for four, 5.8% for five, 6.3% for six). That figure is a starting point, not the answer — the court must review the children’s reasonable needs and the parties’ expense statements, may adjust up or down, and must state its reasons. The floor is firm: the final order cannot be less than what the parties would owe at exactly $30,000.

More than six children: Rule 1910.16-4(b) extends the schedule arithmetically — take the six-child amount, add the difference between the six- and five-child amounts once for each child past six. This calculator covers one through six; for seven or more, apply that method to the schedule above.

Spousal support in the same case: when spousal support or alimony pendente lite runs alongside child support, Rule 1910.16-2(e)(1)(iv) adjusts the incomes and can zero out the spousal award entirely if the obligor’s adjusted income lands in the shaded area. That interplay — and the divided-custody offset of Rule 1910.16-4(d) — belongs to the full worksheet, not this calculator.

Deviation: every guideline figure on this page is a rebuttable presumption. Rule 1910.16-5 lets a court deviate for unusual needs, other household income, ages of the children, medical expenses not covered by insurance, and anything else relevant — with written reasons.

§ 7A worked example

Take the example printed in Rule 1910.16-6 itself. Mother has primary custody of two children and nets $2,000 a month; Father nets $3,500. Combined income is $5,500; the schedule’s $5,500 row for two children reads $1,694. Father’s share of combined income is $3,500 ÷ $5,500 = 64%, so his basic obligation is 64% × $1,694 = $1,084. The children’s child care costs $500 a month — Mother pays $400 of it and Father pays $100 directly. Father’s share of the $500 is 64%, or $320; since he already pays $100, he owes $220 more. Total: $1,084 + $220 = $1,304 per month. Enter those numbers above and the calculator reproduces every line.

§ 8Sources