Texas child support calculator
Percentage of net resources. A set percentage of the paying parent's income after tax: 25% for two children.
How Texas gets to $1,239.21
Texas's formula (percentage of net resources), written out with your numbers. Each step names the part of the law it comes from.
Take off taxes§§ 154.061 and 154.062, net resources
$6,000 gross − $372.00 Social Security − $87.00 Medicare − $584.17 federal income tax = $4,956.83 of net resources a month.
$4,956.83Apply the guideline for 2 children§ 154.125, guideline percentages and cap
$4,956.83 × 25% = $1,239.21.
$1,239.21 a month
Notes
- For children in one household. Children in more than one household are computed with a credit for the other children (154.128), or with the alternative table in 154.129; not modeled.
- Dental support (up to 1.5% of the paying parent's resources, 154.1825), cash medical support when no health insurance is available (154.182(b)(3)) and uninsured medical costs (154.183(c)) are ordered on top of this, not modeled.
- Self-employment income is not modeled. The engine deducts an employee's Social Security and Medicare; for self-employment income the Attorney General's self-employed chart deducts self-employment tax instead, which gives lower net resources.
- Net resources here only count wages. Other income and some deductions (154.062) are not modeled.
Rules: Texas guideline in force from 1 Sep 2025, checked 2 Nov 2026.
Quick facts (2026)
Texas's guideline as the calculator applies it on the date the page was built.
- Guideline model
- Percentage of net resources
- Income used
- The paying parent's net resources: wages minus federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare
- Percentages
- 20% for 1 child, 25% for 2, 30% for 3, 35% for 4 and 40% for 5 or more
- Cap
- Only net resources up to $11,700 a month (from 1 Sep 2025) count in the guideline amount.
- Days with each parent
- Days with each parent are not part of the Texas guideline amount. The time of possession and access is one of the factors a court weighs when it varies from the guideline (154.123(b)(4)).
- Rules in force
- Texas guideline from 1 Sep 2025, Texas Family Code chapter 154, checked 2 Nov 2026. Next review due 15 Jan 2027.
| Children | Percentage | Below $1,000 a month |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20% | 15% |
| 2 | 25% | 20% |
| 3 | 30% | 25% |
| 4 | 35% | 30% |
| 5 or more | 40% | 35% |
Support by income
The guideline amount as the other parent's income rises, for 1 to 3 children.
| Other parent's income a month | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $356.23 | $445.29 | $534.35 |
| $4,000 | $679.13 | $848.92 | $1,018.70 |
| $6,000 | $991.37 | $1,239.21 | $1,487.05 |
| $8,000 | $1,272.77 | $1,590.96 | $1,909.15 |
| $10,000 | $1,554.17 | $1,942.71 | $2,331.25 |
| $12,000 | $1,828.17 | $2,285.21 | $2,742.25 |
| $15,000 | $2,238.27 | $2,797.83 | $3,357.40 |
Custody time, health insurance and child care
How each one enters Texas's formula.
Days with each parent
Days with each parent are not part of the Texas guideline amount. The time of possession and access is one of the factors a court weighs when it varies from the guideline (154.123(b)(4)). Shared custody and child support in Texas (2026).
Health insurance and child care
Health insurance the other parent pays for the children comes off that parent's net resources. When the parent the children live with pays for the children's health insurance, the other parent pays its actual cost on top of the guideline amount, as medical support, up to 9% of that parent's gross resources (the "reasonable cost"). Child care is not part of the Texas guideline amount. Child care a parent pays to keep working is one of the factors a court weighs when it varies from the guideline (154.123(b)(6)).
Texas's formula, step by step
The steps in the order the calculator runs them, each with the part of the law it comes from. The worked example under the calculator shows them with numbers.
Take off taxes§§ 154.061 and 154.062, net resources
Work out the paying parent's net resources the way the Attorney General's tax charts do: monthly gross wages minus Social Security, Medicare and federal income tax for a single filer with the standard deduction ($16,100 a year, from 1 Jan 2026). Union dues and the children's health insurance paid by this parent are also taken off.
Net resources here only count wages. Other income and some deductions (154.062) are not modeled.
Apply the guideline percentage§ 154.125, guideline percentages and cap
Take a percentage of the paying parent's income from the step above: 20% for 1 child, 25% for 2, 30% for 3, 35% for 4 and 40% for 5 or more. When that income is below $1,000 a month, the percentages are 15% for 1 child, 20% for 2, 25% for 3, 30% for 4 and 35% for 5 or more. Only income up to the cap of $11,700 a month (from 1 Sep 2025) counts.
Add medical support§§ 154.181(e), 154.182(b-1) and 154.183(b), medical support
When the parent the children live with pays for the children's health insurance, the other parent pays its actual cost on top of the guideline amount, as medical support, up to 9% of that parent's gross resources (the "reasonable cost").
Note what the formula leaves out§ 154.123(b)(4) and (6), reasons to vary from the guideline
Days with each parent are not part of the Texas guideline amount. The time of possession and access is one of the factors a court weighs when it varies from the guideline (154.123(b)(4)). Child care is not part of the Texas guideline amount. Child care a parent pays to keep working is one of the factors a court weighs when it varies from the guideline (154.123(b)(6)).
Caps and dated figures
Percentages are written in the rule file. Caps, reserves and minimums move on their own calendar, so each is a dated value; the calculator uses the one in force on the date it computes for.
| Figure | Value | In force | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guideline percentages | 20% for 1 child, 25% for 2, 30% for 3, 35% for 4 and 40% for 5 or more | from 1 Sep 2025 | Texas Family Code chapter 154, checked 2 Nov 2026 |
| Low-income percentages (below $1,000 a month) | 15% for 1 child, 20% for 2, 25% for 3, 30% for 4 and 35% for 5 or more | from 1 Sep 2025 | Texas Family Code chapter 154, checked 2 Nov 2026 |
| Federal income tax, single filer | Standard deduction $15,750 a year; taxable income taxed at 10% up to $11,925, 12% up to $48,475, 22% up to $103,350, 24% up to $197,300, 32% up to $250,525, 35% up to $626,350, 37% above $626,350 | from 1 Jan 2025 to 31 Dec 2025 | Texas OAG revised 2025 tax charts (standard deduction and brackets used), checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Federal income tax, single filer | Standard deduction $16,100 a year; taxable income taxed at 10% up to $12,400, 12% up to $50,400, 22% up to $105,700, 24% up to $201,775, 32% up to $256,225, 35% up to $640,600, 37% above $640,600 | from 1 Jan 2026in force | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments), checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Social Security and Medicare | Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 a year; Medicare 1.45%, plus 0.9% above $200,000 a year | from 1 Jan 2025 to 31 Dec 2025 | Social Security Administration: contribution and benefit base, and OASDI and HI tax rates, checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Social Security and Medicare | Social Security 6.2% up to $184,500 a year; Medicare 1.45%, plus 0.9% above $200,000 a year | from 1 Jan 2026in force | Social Security Administration: contribution and benefit base, and OASDI and HI tax rates, checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Net resources cap | $11,700 a month | from 1 Sep 2025in force | Texas OAG 2026 tax charts (net resources cap effective 1 September 2025, in the chart's footnotes), checked 31 Oct 2026 |
Not confirmed yet
- Nothing in Texas's formula is marked unconfirmed.
Tax charts, reproduced to the cent
Texas sets support from net resources. The Attorney General publishes a yearly chart of net income for each gross wage; the engine's federal tax module has to match it.
The test suite reads every row of the employed-persons charts kept in the repository and recomputes the net income from the dated federal parameters. This page re-ran the same check when it was built: 340 of 342 rows match to the cent.
- 2025 chart: 170 of 171 rows match. The 2025 chart.
- 2026 chart: 170 of 171 rows match. The 2026 chart.
The rows that differ are documented exceptions, listed in the tests with their reason:
- 2025, $450 a month: the chart shows $415.58, the module $415.57. Medicare is 1.45% of $450, which is $6.525. The chart rounds that half cent down, against its own pattern everywhere else in the Medicare column; the module rounds it up, as the chart does in every other row.
- 2026, $450 a month: the chart shows $415.58, the module $415.57. Medicare is 1.45% of $450, which is $6.525. The chart rounds that half cent down, against its own pattern everywhere else in the Medicare column; the module rounds it up, as the chart does in every other row.
Monthly income tax uses half-to-even rounding, which is how the charts round it. The suite was also checked by breaking things on purpose: changing one schedule cell or the standard deduction makes it fail.
Compare Texas
The sample family above in every state the calculator covers. Each state reads only what its formula uses.
| State | Guideline model | Support a month | Paid by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | Income shares | $1,489.00 | the other parent |
| Texas | Percentage of net resources | $1,239.21 | the other parent |
| New York | Combined income, up to a cap | $1,385.25 | the other parent |
- Texas vs New York child support: which state is higher? (2026)For a typical middle income family New York's guideline is higher than Texas's. For two children and a paying parent earning $6,000 a month, it is $1,385.25 in New York and $1,239.21 in Texas, and the gap widens when there is child care, which New York adds and Texas does not. At low incomes the order flips: New York's low income rules can bring support far below the Texas amount.
- Texas vs Virginia child support: which state is higher? (2026)It depends mostly on two things: the income of the parent the children live with, and custody time. Texas looks only at the paying parent's net income, so for two children and a paying parent earning $6,000 a month it is $1,239.21 whatever the other parent earns. Virginia uses both incomes and is $1,094.40 when the other parent earns $4,000, and $258.86 with 182 days a year of shared time. When the parent the children live with has no income, or at very high incomes, Virginia can be higher.
- Virginia child support calculatorIncome shares. Both incomes are added, a schedule sets what the children need, and each parent covers their share. Shared custody starts after 90 days a year with each parent.
- New York child support calculatorCombined income, up to a cap. A percentage of both incomes up to $193,000 a year, split by income share. Above the cap, the court decides.
Questions about Texas child support
How is child support calculated in Texas?
Percentage of net resources. A set percentage of the paying parent's income after tax: 25% for two children. The calculator on this page shows every step with your numbers and the part of the law it comes from.
How much is child support in Texas for 2 children?
It depends on the incomes. For 2 children; the other parent earns $6,000 a month before tax, the guideline amount is $1,239.21 a month, paid by the other parent to the parent the children live with, with the rules in force on 2 Nov 2026.
Is there an income cap in Texas?
Only net resources up to $11,700 a month (from 1 Sep 2025) count in the guideline amount.
Does time with each parent change child support in Texas?
Days with each parent are not part of the Texas guideline amount. The time of possession and access is one of the factors a court weighs when it varies from the guideline (154.123(b)(4)).
Are child care and health insurance included?
Health insurance the other parent pays for the children comes off that parent's net resources. When the parent the children live with pays for the children's health insurance, the other parent pays its actual cost on top of the guideline amount, as medical support, up to 9% of that parent's gross resources (the "reasonable cost"). Child care is not part of the Texas guideline amount. Child care a parent pays to keep working is one of the factors a court weighs when it varies from the guideline (154.123(b)(6)).
Is this the amount a court will order?
This is an estimate of the guideline amount. A court can order a different amount, and an existing order only changes when it is modified.
Is child support different in Houston, Dallas or San Antonio?
No. The Texas guideline in Family Code chapter 154 applies in every county, with the same percentages and cap. An original suit is filed in the county where the child lives (§ 103.001); a suit to modify or enforce goes to the court that made the order, which must transfer it on a timely motion to a county where the child has lived for six months or longer (§ 155.201(b)).
Texas guides
Every scenario of Texas's guideline, explained with figures from the same engine.
- Back child support (arrears) in Texas (2026)In Texas, every missed child support payment is a final judgment, and the unpaid amount carries simple interest of 6 percent a year until it is paid or confirmed as a money judgment, which then carries the same rate (Texas Family Code §§ 157.261 and 157.265). Arrears can be collected by income withholding, liens, license suspension, federal tax refund intercept and passport denial, and enforced by contempt with jail. A court cannot forgive or reduce confirmed arrears, and the right to collect continues after the child turns 18.
- Child support and your tax refund: the offset rules (2026)Yes. Under 42 U.S.C. § 664, the Treasury withholds a federal tax refund to pay past-due child support that a state child support agency has certified, and sends the money to that state. A case qualifies when at least $150 is owed on support assigned to the state for public assistance, or at least $500 in other cases (45 CFR 303.72). The state must send a notice first that explains how to contest the amount, and a spouse on a joint return can claim their share back with IRS Form 8379.
- Child support when parents live in different statesWhen parents live in different states, the court that sets support applies its own state's law and guideline (Texas Family Code § 159.303). A state can make an order against a parent who lives elsewhere only on one of the jurisdiction bases in the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (§ 159.201); otherwise the case is heard in the other parent's state, with the two states' child support agencies working together. An order from another state is registered to be enforced, and in Texas the other party has 30 days after notice to contest it (§ 159.605).
- Does 50/50 custody mean no child support? Texas, New York and Virginia (2026)No. In Texas, New York and Virginia, equal time with each parent does not by itself end child support. Only Virginia's guideline uses the number of days: above 90 days a year with each parent, a shared custody formula lowers support, and with equal time the parent who earns more usually pays the difference. Texas and New York apply their usual formula; in Texas, parenting time is a factor a court may weigh to depart from it, and New York's statute has no shared custody formula, but with truly equal time its appellate courts make the parent with the larger income share the paying parent.
- How child support is calculatedEvery state sets a guideline formula in law, and courts apply it unless they find it unjust or inappropriate. The formula takes the parents' income (gross or net, one parent's or both), turns it into a base amount with a percentage or a schedule, adds some costs such as child care and health insurance, and in some states adjusts for parenting time and very low or high incomes. Texas, New York and Virginia each do these steps differently, so the same family gets a different figure in each.
- Changing a child support order in Texas (2026)A Texas court can modify a child support order in two cases: when the circumstances of the child or a person affected by the order have materially and substantially changed, or when it has been three years since the order was made or last modified and the monthly amount differs from the current guideline amount by either 20 percent or $100 (Texas Family Code § 156.401). Only a new order changes the amount; parents can apply to the Attorney General's Child Support Division for a review or file in court.
- Income shares vs percentage of income: how child support models differ (2026)A percentage of income model sets support as a fixed share of the paying parent's income, and the other parent's income does not enter the formula. An income shares model starts from both parents' combined income, finds the basic support amount the guideline sets for that income, and splits it in proportion to each parent's income. Texas uses a percentage of the paying parent's net resources, Virginia uses income shares, and New York applies a fixed percentage to both parents' combined income and splits it by income.
- Child support and taxes: what the IRS says (2026)Child support is neither taxable nor deductible under federal tax law: the IRS says child support payments are not deductible by the parent who pays them and not taxable to the parent who receives them. Who claims the child is a separate question. The IRS treats the parent the child lived with for more nights in the year as the one entitled to claim the child; that parent can release the child tax credit to the other parent with Form 8332, but head of household status, the earned income credit and the child care credit stay with the parent the child lived with.
- Moving to another state: what happens to a child support orderMoving to another state does not change an existing child support order. The state that issued it keeps continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify it as long as either parent or the child still lives there, or the parents agree otherwise (28 U.S.C. § 1738B; Texas Family Code § 159.205). Once all of them have left, the order is usually modified in the state where the parent not asking for the change lives. The new state's guideline then sets the amount, but how long support lasts stays governed by the law of the state that issued the original controlling order (§ 159.611).
- Self-employment, imputed income and what counts in Texas (2026)In Texas, self-employment income counts after the ordinary and necessary expenses needed to produce it, and a court may exclude depreciation or other expenses it finds inappropriate (Texas Family Code § 154.065). If a parent earns significantly less than they could because of intentional unemployment or underemployment, the court may apply the guideline to earning potential (§ 154.066); with no evidence of income at all, it presumes the federal minimum wage for a 40 hour week (§ 154.068).
- Texas child support by income (2026)Texas child support is 20% of the paying parent's net resources for one child, 25% for two and 30% for three, so it rises with income until net resources reach $11,700 a month. On a salary of $50,000 a year, the 2026 guideline for one child is $705.92 a month; on $100,000 it is $1,319.67.
- Child support above the income cap in Texas (2026)Since 1 September 2025 the Texas guideline applies to the paying parent's net resources up to $11,700 a month. For one child that caps the guideline at $2,340.00 a month. A court may order more than the guideline only depending on the parents' incomes and the proven needs of the child, and never more than the greater of the guideline amount or the child's proven needs (Texas Family Code § 154.126).
- Child support for more than one child in Texas (2026)In Texas the guideline percentage rises with each child: 20% of the paying parent's net resources for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four and at least 40% for five or more (Texas Family Code § 154.125). When the paying parent also supports children in another household, the court gives a credit for those children first (§ 154.128) or uses the multiple family table (§ 154.129).
- Child support on a low income in Texas (2026)When the paying parent's net resources are under $1,000 a month, Texas uses a low-income table: 15% of net resources for one child instead of 20% (Texas Family Code § 154.125(c)). When there is no evidence of a parent's income, the court presumes the federal minimum wage for a 40 hour week (§ 154.068), which the 2026 tax charts put at $1,256.67 a month gross.
- Shared custody and child support in Texas (2026)Texas has no shared custody formula. The guideline is a percentage of the paying parent's net resources whatever the possession schedule, and joint managing conservators can still be ordered to pay each other support (Texas Family Code § 153.138). The time children spend with each parent is one of the factors a court weighs when it decides whether to order a different amount (§ 154.123(b)(4)).
- Health insurance, dental and child care in Texas child support (2026)Texas orders medical and dental support for the children in addition to guideline child support (Texas Family Code § 154.064). The court orders health insurance through a parent's job when it costs no more than 9 percent of the paying parent's annual resources; if the parent the children live with provides it, the other parent pays that cost as additional support. Child care and custody days are not part of the Texas formula, but both are listed reasons a court can vary from it (§ 154.123).
- What counts as income for child support in Texas, New York and Virginia (2026)All three states count wages, bonuses, self-employment income, investment income and most benefits, such as unemployment, workers' compensation, Social Security and pensions. They differ on the starting point and the deductions: Texas uses net resources after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax; New York uses gross income on the tax return minus Social Security, Medicare, New York City or Yonkers taxes and a few other items; Virginia uses gross income. All three exclude supplemental security income or deduct it, and all three let a court count income a parent could earn but does not.
- How long child support lasts in Texas (2026)Texas child support usually lasts until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later (Texas Family Code § 154.001). Support past 18 requires the child to be enrolled in high school and meeting attendance requirements (§ 154.002). It ends earlier if the child marries, is emancipated by court order, dies or starts active military service, and it can continue indefinitely for a child with a disability (§§ 154.006 and 154.302).
- All Texas guidesTexas child support is a percentage of the paying parent's monthly net resources: 20% for one child, 25% for two, rising to 40% for five or more, applied to net resources up to $11,700 a month. Net resources are income after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and a few other deductions. Medical and dental support for the children is ordered on top.
Versions
When a state changes its formula, the rule file gets a new version with the date it starts. Results use the version in force on their date.
United States, version from 1 Jan 2025in force
- This is an estimate of the guideline amount. A court can order a different amount, and an existing order only changes when it is modified.
Texas, version from 1 Sep 2025in force
- For children in one household. Children in more than one household are computed with a credit for the other children (154.128), or with the alternative table in 154.129; not modeled.
- Dental support (up to 1.5% of the paying parent's resources, 154.1825), cash medical support when no health insurance is available (154.182(b)(3)) and uninsured medical costs (154.183(c)) are ordered on top of this, not modeled.
- Self-employment income is not modeled. The engine deducts an employee's Social Security and Medicare; for self-employment income the Attorney General's self-employed chart deducts self-employment tax instead, which gives lower net resources.
Sources
Every law, chart and table the formula and its figures come from, with the date each was last checked.
- Texas Family Code chapter 154
- Texas OAG revised 2025 tax charts (standard deduction and brackets used)
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments)
- Social Security Administration: contribution and benefit base, and OASDI and HI tax rates
- Texas OAG 2026 tax charts (net resources cap effective 1 September 2025, in the chart's footnotes)