How Much Will You Have To Pay In Child Support?

In Pennsylvania, the amount of child support you pay is set primarily by two numbers: the combined monthly net income of both parents and the number of children who need support. The state runs those figures through a standard formula called the Income Shares Model, then divides the total obligation between the parents in proportion to what each one earns. Most parents are surprised by how little discretion is involved: the guideline amount is presumed to be correct, and a judge can depart from it only in specific circumstances.

Ending a relationship is never easy, and it is harder when children are involved. Figuring out what you will owe, or what you are owed, is one of the most stressful parts of a separation. This guide explains how Pennsylvania calculates child support, what the state counts as income, how custody time changes the number, and where the formula leaves room for adjustment, for families in Montgomery County, Philadelphia, and the surrounding counties.

The information here is general and educational. It is not legal advice for your specific situation. To discuss your case, contact Graff & Associates in Jenkintown at 215-572-6868.

How Much Child Support Will You Pay in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania updated its child support guidelines effective January 1, 2026. Three changes matter for most families:

• Support amounts went up across the schedule. The guidelines are reviewed at least every four years to keep pace with the cost of raising children, and this review raised the basic obligation at most income levels.
• The self-support reserve rose to $1,255 per month — the minimum income a paying parent is allowed to keep before a full obligation is imposed.
• Psychiatric, psychological, and orthodontic costs are now expressly treated as reasonable medical expenses that can be divided between parents. Under the prior rule, psychiatric and psychological services were excluded.

Existing orders did not change automatically when the new schedule took effect. But under Pa.R.C.P. 1910.19, a new guideline amount produced by revised guidelines can itself be the “material and substantial change in circumstances” required to modify an order. If your order was entered before 2026 and has not been reviewed since, it may no longer reflect what the guidelines would produce today — in either direction.

There is no single dollar figure, because child support is calculated case by case. The amount depends on the combined net income of both parents, the number of children, and how parenting time is divided. A parent with a modest income and shared custody may pay a few hundred dollars a month, while a high earner with primary custody on the other side may pay well over a thousand. The formula is designed so that the child receives roughly the same share of parental income he or she would have received if the parents still lived together.

Pennsylvania publishes a statewide support schedule that translates combined income and the number of children into a “basic” support obligation. That number is then split between the parents based on each parent’s share of the combined income. The parent with the higher income and less parenting time is usually the one who pays. Because the schedule does the heavy lifting, two families with similar incomes and the same number of children will end up with similar support amounts, which is exactly what the system intends.

How Does Pennsylvania Calculate Child Support?

Pennsylvania calculates child support using the Income Shares Model set out in the support guidelines at Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16-1, with the dollar amounts drawn from the Basic Child Support Schedule at Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16-3. The model rests on a simple principle: a child should receive the same proportion of parental income he or she would have received if the parents lived together. The state estimates what two parents at a given income level would spend on their children, then asks each parent to contribute a share of that amount.

The calculation follows a predictable set of steps. First, each parent’s monthly net income is determined. Second, the two incomes are added together to produce the combined figure. Third, that combined figure and the number of children are matched to the statewide schedule to find the basic support obligation. Fourth, each parent is assigned a percentage of that obligation equal to his or her share of the combined income. A parent who earns 60 percent of the combined income is generally responsible for 60 percent of the basic support amount.

The guideline number that comes out of this process carries a rebuttable presumption that it is correct (23 Pa.C.S. § 4322(b)). That means the court starts from the assumption that the guideline amount is the right amount, and it will only order something different if a party proves that the guideline result would be unjust or inappropriate in the specific case. This structure keeps outcomes consistent and predictable across Pennsylvania counties.

What Is Pennsylvania’s Child Support Schedule?

The statewide schedule is a table that pairs combined income with a basic support obligation, broken out by the number of children. Under the schedule that took effect January 1, 2026, it covers combined adjusted net income from $1,300 up to $30,000 per month, with amounts for one child through six children. As a rough rule of thumb, the basic obligation for six children is about double the obligation for one child at the same income level.

The schedule matters because it removes most of the guesswork. Rather than arguing over what a child “should” cost, both parents and the court read the number off the same table. The guideline amounts are required by statute (23 Pa.C.S. § 4322) and are reviewed at least once every four years so they keep pace with the real cost of raising children. Because the schedule is public, either parent can get a realistic estimate of the basic obligation before ever setting foot in a courtroom.

Two situations fall outside the standard schedule and follow their own rules: parents whose combined income falls below the bottom of the schedule, and parents whose combined income runs above $30,000 per month. Both are covered below.

What Counts as “Income” for Child Support in Pennsylvania?

For child support purposes, income means far more than the wages on your pay stub. Pennsylvania defines income broadly, so the court looks at nearly every source of money a parent receives, not just salary. Underreporting income, whether by accident or on purpose, is one of the most common ways a support calculation goes wrong.

The court may consider all of the following as income:

• Wages, salary, commissions, and bonuses
• Interest income
• Retirement benefits
• Social Security payments
• Workers’ compensation
• Tax refunds
• Settlements and other legal awards
• Lottery winnings
• Net income from a business or rental property
• Income from an estate or trust

The support calculation uses net income, not gross. To get from gross to net, Pennsylvania subtracts specific items such as federal, state, and local income taxes, Social Security and Medicare (FICA) contributions, mandatory union dues, and certain other required deductions. What remains is the monthly net income figure that feeds the formula. Because so many income sources are in play, it is worth gathering complete documentation early: pay stubs, tax returns, benefit statements, and records of any one-time payments.

How Are High Earners Treated?

When the parents’ combined monthly net income exceeds $30,000, the standard schedule no longer applies and Pennsylvania uses the high-income formula in Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16-3.1. The calculation starts with the obligation at the top of the schedule and adds a percentage of the income above $30,000:

Number of children	Base amount	Plus, on income above $30,000
One child	$3,749	4.0%
Two children	$4,981	4.0%
Three children	$5,803	4.7%
Four children	$6,482	5.3%
Five children	$7,130	5.8%
Six children	$7,750	6.3%

That figure is then adjusted for substantial or equally shared custody, and the court takes a final look at the children’s reasonable needs using the deviation factors, the add-on expenses, and the parties’ expense statements. The amount that would have been awarded at exactly $30,000 of combined income acts as a floor — a high-income order cannot come out below it.

High-income cases involve detailed financial disclosure and are an area where experienced counsel makes a real difference.

Are Low-Income Parents Protected?

Yes. The guidelines include a self-support reserve of $1,255 per month — the minimum monthly net income a paying parent is meant to keep to meet basic needs. It exists so a support order does not push a paying parent below subsistence and destroy the incentive to keep working.

The mechanics are worth understanding. When the paying parent’s income and the number of children land in the shaded area of the schedule, the court runs two calculations: one using only the paying parent’s income, and one using the normal combined-income formula. The parent owes the lesser of the two. If the paying parent’s income is at or below the reserve, the court can order support only after considering both parties’ actual financial resources and living expenses.

Even so, the law usually expects a low-income parent to contribute something, and a minimal order is often more likely than no order at all.

Does Custody Time Affect Child Support in Pennsylvania?

Yes, and this surprises many parents. The support schedule assumes the paying parent has the child about 30 percent of the annual overnights. Once that parent reaches 40 percent or more of the annual overnights, a rebuttable presumption arises that the obligation should be reduced to reflect the direct spending that parent absorbs during his or her own custodial time. The reduction grows as parenting time approaches an equal split.

Note that the threshold is measured in overnights across the year, not in a general sense of how involved a parent is — the worksheet divides the number of overnights with the paying parent by 365.

This is why custody and support cannot be planned in isolation. Every shift in the parenting schedule has a financial consequence, and a change that gives one parent more overnights can meaningfully change the monthly number. Parents who negotiate a custody schedule without running the support math often find the two do not fit together the way they expected. Plan parenting time and support together, ideally with a family law attorney who can model both at once.

What Does Basic Child Support Cover?

Basic child support is meant to cover a child’s everyday needs: food, housing, transportation, clothing, and other routine living expenses. It also absorbs the first $250 per person each year in unreimbursed medical expenses before additional medical costs are shared. The basic obligation is the foundation, not the ceiling.

Several major expenses are handled as add-ons, calculated separately and divided between the parents in proportion to their incomes:

• Child care needed so a parent can work or pursue education toward income
• The children’s health insurance premiums
• Unreimbursed medical expenses above the $250 annual threshold — which, as of 2026, expressly include co-pays, deductibles, surgical, dental, and optical care, psychiatric and psychological services, and orthodontia
• Private school tuition and summer camp, where reasonable under the family’s circumstances

One practical deadline: a parent seeking reimbursement must give the other parent documentation of a medical expense promptly, and no later than March 31 of the year after the bill was received. Miss it and the court has discretion not to allocate the expense at all. Because add-ons can rival the basic obligation in size, account for them from the start.

Can a Child Support Amount Be Changed or Deviated From?

The guideline amount is presumed correct, but it is not absolutely fixed. A court can deviate when a party shows the standard amount would be unjust or inappropriate, and any deviation must be explained on the record or in writing. The rule lists nine factors: unusual needs and unusual fixed obligations; a party’s other support obligations; other household income; the child’s age; the parties’ relative assets and liabilities; medical expenses not covered by insurance; the standard of living of the parties and the child; in spousal support cases, the length of the marriage; and other relevant factors, including the child’s best interest. Deviations are the exception, and the party asking for one carries the burden.

Modification is separate from deviation. If either parent has a material and substantial change in circumstances — a significant income change, a job loss, a new custody schedule, or a change in the child’s needs — that parent can petition to recalculate support. A new guideline amount resulting from revised guidelines can itself qualify as that change, which makes the January 2026 update a reason to have an older order reviewed.

Timing matters more than most parents realize: a modification is generally effective from the date the petition was filed, not the date it is heard. If your circumstances have already changed, waiting to file costs you months you cannot recover.

How Do You Estimate Your Child Support Payment?

You can get a working estimate before you talk to anyone by walking through the same steps the court uses. Start by calculating each parent’s monthly net income, subtracting taxes and other mandatory deductions from gross pay. Add the two net incomes together. Match that combined figure and the number of children to the statewide schedule to find the basic support obligation. Then multiply that obligation by the paying parent’s share of the combined income to approximate the basic monthly amount, and adjust for custody time and add-on expenses such as child care and health insurance.

An online Pennsylvania child support estimator can speed this up, but treat any estimate as a starting point rather than a final answer. Estimators rarely capture the full picture: high-income adjustments, self-support protections, custody-time reductions, deviations, and the way add-on expenses are shared. They are also slow to reflect guideline changes — an estimator still running 2025 figures will give you a number the court will not. For a number you can rely on in negotiations or in court, have a family law attorney run the calculation with your complete financial information.

Why Accurate Income Reporting Matters

Report every source of income accurately. A fair support outcome depends on complete and honest financial disclosure from both parents, and Pennsylvania’s broad definition of income means that leaving out bonuses, side income, or one-time payments can distort the result. If a parent understates income, the other parent can ask the court to look behind the numbers, and courts have tools to attribute an earning capacity to a parent who is hiding earnings or is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed.

Getting the number right protects everyone, most of all the child. Full disclosure at the start also reduces conflict later, because a support order built on accurate figures is far less likely to be reopened, challenged, or dragged back into court.

Frequently Asked Questions

Talk to a Montgomery County and Philadelphia Child Support Attorney

Whether you expect to pay child support or receive it, the right number depends on getting the income, custody, and expense details right from the start. Graff & Associates helps parents across Montgomery County, Bucks County, Delaware County, and Philadelphia calculate, negotiate, and, when needed, modify child support so the outcome is fair and truly reflects the family’s circumstances.

Call today for a free consultation: 215-572-6868 123 Old York Road, Suite 200, Jenkintown, PA 19046

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Child support outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case and on the current Pennsylvania support guidelines. For advice about your situation, please consult a licensed Pennsylvania family law attorney.