Florida vs Georgia child support: which state is higher? (2026)

Is child support higher in Florida or Georgia?

It depends on the family. For two children, with the parent they live with earning $4,000 a month and no time with the other parent in the formula, at a range of incomes for the other parent:

Other parent's income a month	Florida	Georgia
$1,000	$290.00	$240.00
$1,500	$422.18	$360.00
$2,000	$532.87	$507.62
$4,000	$905.71	$861.50
$6,000	$1,192.96	$1,143.60
$9,000	$1,500.70	$1,571.52
$12,000	$1,738.18	$1,899.00
$20,000	$2,285.33	$2,804.05
$40,000	$3,351.68	$4,305.50

In this family Florida is a little higher at low and middle incomes, and Georgia is higher from the upper middle of the range, increasingly so at the top. Two things change the picture more than income: time with the other parent, where the two formulas work very differently, and low incomes, where Georgia has a table and Florida does not.

How do Florida and Georgia calculate child support?

Both are income shares states: the two incomes are added, a schedule gives one amount for the children, and each parent’s share is split by income. What goes into the schedule, and what happens after it, differs.

	Florida	Georgia
Law	Fla. Stat. § 61.30	O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15
Income used	Both parents’ net income: gross income less income tax, Social Security, Medicare and the other deductions in § 61.30(3)	Both parents’ gross income, less half of self-employment tax and support paid under other orders
Schedule	$800 to $10,000 of combined net income; above it, a percentage of the income over $10,000 is added	$800 to $40,000 of combined gross income; above it, the top row, with an upward deviation possible
Time with the other parent	A formula from 73 overnights a year for each parent	A formula for every court-ordered day, from 1 January 2026
Child care and health insurance	Added and shared by income	Added and shared by income
Low income	A case-by-case amount below $800 of the paying parent’s net income	The lesser of the guideline and the low-income table

The same family worked through both formulas:

Florida: two children, no substantial time-sharing

In Florida: 2 children; the parent the children live with earns $4,000 a month and the other parent $6,000, before tax; 0 overnights a year with the other parent.

1. Take off taxes, then add the incomes§ 61.30(3) and (4), deductions and net income

   Net income a month: the other parent $6,000 − $584.17 federal income tax (single) − $459.00 Social Security and Medicare = $4,956.83; the parent the children live with $4,000 − $0.00 federal income tax (head of household, 2 children claimed) − $306.00 Social Security and Medicare = $3,694.00. $3,694 + $4,956.83 = $8,650.83 a month. The other parent's share is $4,956.83 ÷ $8,650.83 = 57.3%.

   57.3%

2. Look up the schedule§ 61.30(6), guidelines schedule

   $8,650.83 of combined income uses the row below, $8,650: the schedule's amount for 2 children.

   $2,082.00

3. Work out the other parent's share§ 61.30(6)(a), (7), (8), (10) and (11)(b), child care, health insurance and substantial time-sharing

   ($2,082) × 57.3% = $1,192.96.

   $1,192.96 a month

Georgia: the same family, no court-ordered parenting time

In Georgia: 2 children; the parent the children live with earns $4,000 a month and the other parent $6,000, before tax; 0 days a year with the other parent.

1. Add the two incomesO.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 as in force on 1 January 2026 (Georgia Child Support Commission copy, archived)

   $4,000 + $6,000 = $10,000 a month. The other parent's share is $6,000 ÷ $10,000 = 60%.

   60%

2. Look up the schedule§ 19-6-15(b)(4) and (o), basic child support obligation table

   The schedule's amount for $10,000 of combined income and 2 children.

   $1,906.00

3. Work out the other parent's share§ 19-6-15(g), parenting time adjustment

   $1,906.00 × 60% = $1,143.60. No court-ordered days with the other parent, so there is no parenting time adjustment.

   $1,143.60 a month

Does net income in Florida or gross income in Georgia give more?

Neither on its own: each schedule is written for its own kind of income, so Florida’s lower starting figure does not mean a lower result. What net income does change is the split. Income tax takes a larger part of a higher income, and the calculator assumes the parent the children live with files as head of household and claims the children, so in Florida the two net incomes are closer together than the gross ones. In the worked examples above, the other parent’s income share is smaller in Florida than in Georgia for that reason.

The income of the parent the children live with matters in both states. The same paying parent at $6,000 a month:

Parent the children live with earns	Florida	Georgia
$0	$1,542.00	$1,523.00
$4,000	$1,192.96	$1,143.60
$8,000	$983.00	$1,018.78

In this table Florida is a little higher while the parent the children live with earns less than the paying parent, and lower when that parent earns more.

How does time with the other parent change the comparison?

This is where the two states differ most.

• Florida counts overnights. Below 20 percent of the overnights of the year, time does not enter the formula; it is a reason a court may deviate (§ 61.30(11)(a)10). From 73 overnights a year with each parent, each parent’s share of the schedule amount is multiplied by 1.5, weighted by the other parent’s share of the overnights, and the difference is paid (§ 61.30(11)(b)). The formula applies to a parenting plan, a court-ordered schedule or an arrangement the parents exercise by agreement.
• Georgia counts court-ordered days: overnights averaged over two years, or daytime hours divided by 24 (§ 19-6-15(a)(17.1)). Since 1 January 2026 every one of them changes the amount, with each parent’s share weighted by the days raised to the power 2.5 (§ 19-6-15(g)). Time that is not in a court order does not count.

The same two children, with incomes of $4,000 and $6,000, at different numbers of days a year with the other parent:

Days a year with the other parent	Florida	Georgia
0	$1,192.96	$1,143.60
60	$1,192.96	$1,111.44
72	$1,192.96	$1,088.20
73	$1,164.84	$1,085.84
100	$933.82	$990.28
146	$540.24	$636.10
182	$232.22	$197.13

Up to 72 overnights the Florida amount does not move, while Georgia’s comes down a little with each day. At the threshold Florida switches formula and then falls faster than Georgia, so with 100 or 146 days Florida is lower. Near equal time Georgia’s formula, which grows fastest close to half the year, catches up, and at 182 days Georgia is lower for this family.

When the parent the children live with earns more, more time with the other parent can reverse who pays in both states. With incomes of $8,000 for the parent the children live with and $4,000 for the other parent, and equal time:

State	Guideline model	Support a month	Paid by
Florida	Income shares	$586.07	the parent the children live with
Georgia	Income shares	$355.29	the parent the children live with

See time-sharing in Florida, parenting time in Georgia and how custody time changes support.

Which state is lower at low incomes?

Georgia, except at the very bottom, where Florida’s formula gives way to a case-by-case amount. Since 1 January 2026, a Georgia parent whose own income is below the low-income table’s limit for the number of children pays the lesser of the guideline amount and the table amount (§ 19-6-15(i.1)). At or below $1,500 a month the table is a share of that parent’s income, 19% for one child; above it the table runs in rows.

Florida has no minimum order and no low-income table. When the paying parent’s own net income is below the schedule’s lowest row, $800 a month, the payment is the lesser of that parent’s share and 90% of their net income above the federal poverty guideline for one person, and the court sets an amount case by case (§ 61.30(6)(a)). That cap comes to zero at these incomes, so the calculator shows zero and flags that the court decides. Above the lowest row, the paying parent owes their full share. One child, with the parent the child lives with earning nothing:

Other parent's income a month	Florida	Georgia
$800	$0.00	$152.00
$900	$190.00	$171.00
$1,000	$213.00	$190.00
$1,500	$310.00	$285.00
$2,000	$390.00	$381.00
$2,500	$473.00	$476.00
$3,000	$557.00	$562.00

In the first row Florida’s figure is the formula’s zero, not an order: the court sets the amount. From the next row Florida’s full share is higher than Georgia’s table amount, and once the paying parent’s income passes the table’s limit the two states come close again. See low incomes in Florida and low incomes in Georgia.

How long does support last, and how is it changed?

	Florida	Georgia
Usual end	The child’s 18th birthday (§ 61.13(1)(a)1)	18, or marriage, emancipation or death (§ 19-6-15(e))
High school student	Past 18, if still in high school and expected in good faith to graduate before 19 (§ 61.13(1)(a)1)	A court may order support while the child is in secondary school, but not past 20 (§ 19-6-15(e))
Changing the amount	A substantial change in circumstances (§ 61.14(1)(a)); the guidelines alone show one at a difference of at least 15 percent or 50 dollars, whichever is greater (§ 61.30(1)(b))	A substantial change in either parent’s income and financial status or in the child’s needs, and no new petition within two years of a final order on the parent’s last one, with exceptions (§ 19-6-15(k))

What this comparison does not cover

It compares guideline amounts only. It does not cover which state can set or change an order when the parents live in different states; see moving to another state and parents in different states. Florida’s deductions beyond federal tax, Social Security, Medicare and union dues, Georgia’s deviations and adjusted income, and the other rules listed in the Florida guide and the Georgia guide are not modeled. The figures are estimates, not legal advice.