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

Is child support higher in Georgia or Alabama?

For most families without shared time, Georgia’s guideline is higher. The same two children, with the parent they live with earning $4,000 a month, at a range of incomes for the other parent:

Other parent's income a month	Georgia	Alabama
$1,000	$240.00	$50.00
$1,500	$360.00	$333.00
$2,000	$507.62	$419.00
$4,000	$861.50	$760.00
$6,000	$1,143.60	$1,020.00
$9,000	$1,571.52	$1,394.00
$12,000	$1,899.00	$1,787.00
$20,000	$2,804.05	$2,541.00

Both states start from the same gross incomes, so the gap comes from their tables and from what each does next. At the lowest income shown, Alabama’s self-support reserve brings support down to its minimum. Through the rest of the range Georgia’s table gives more. Time with the other parent and low incomes change the comparison most.

How do Georgia and Alabama calculate child support?

Both are income shares states on gross income: the two incomes are added, a schedule gives one amount for the children, child care and the children’s health insurance are added, and each parent’s share is split by income.

	Georgia	Alabama
Law	O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15	Rule 32, Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration
Income used	Both parents’ gross income, less half of self-employment tax and support paid under other orders	Both parents’ gross income, less child support and alimony already paid under earlier orders
Schedule	$800 to $40,000 of combined income, in force since 1 July 2024	$250 to $30,000 of combined income, for cases filed from 1 May 2022
Above the schedule	The top row; the court may deviate upward	Left to the court’s discretion, with no guideline figure
Time with the other parent	A formula for every court-ordered day, from 1 January 2026	A shared worksheet only for a court order of 50/50 physical custody
Low income	The lesser of the guideline and the low-income table	A cap at 85% of income above the self-support reserve, with a $50 minimum
Rounding	Amounts in cents; income shares to two decimal places of a percent	Every amount to the dollar; income shares to the whole percent

The same family worked through both formulas:

Georgia: two children, 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

Alabama: the same family, Form CS-42

In Alabama: 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 incomesRule 32, Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration, as amended effective 1 June 2023 (archived copy of the court's PDF)

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

   60%

2. Look up the scheduleRule 32(C)(1) and the Appendix, schedule of basic child-support obligations

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

   $1,700.00

3. Work out the other parent's shareRule 32(C)(2), (C)(5) and (C)(7); Forms CS-42 and CS-42-S

   $1,700 × 60% = $1,020.

   $1,020.00 a month

Why are Alabama’s figures in whole dollars?

Rule 32(C)(3) rounds every amount on the worksheet to the dollar and each parent’s income share to the whole percent, so the two shares can add up to 101 percent. The Georgia figures here keep cents, with income shares rounded to two decimal places of a percent, as the Child Support Commission’s worksheet does. The worked examples above show both: every Alabama line is a whole dollar.

How does parenting time change the comparison?

This is the largest difference in the formulas.

• Georgia. Since 1 January 2026, every court-ordered day with the other parent changes the amount. Each parent’s share of the table amount is weighted by the days each has, raised to the power 2.5, so the adjustment is small at first and grows near equal time (§ 19-6-15(g)). Time that is not in a court order does not count.
• Alabama. Only a court order giving each parent physical custody 50 percent, or approximately 50 percent, of the time changes the formula (Rule 32(C)(7)). Form CS-42-S then multiplies the schedule amount by 1.5, credits each parent with half of it and with the costs they pay, and the parent who owes more pays the difference. Less time than that has no formula: a court may deviate when visitation is substantially more than what courts customarily order (Rule 32(A)(1)(a)).

Rule 32 gives no number of days for “approximately”; the calculator uses the shared worksheet from 175 to 190 days a year with the other parent and marks that reading as not confirmed. The same two children, with incomes of $4,000 and $6,000:

Days a year with the other parent	Georgia	Alabama
0	$1,143.60	$1,020.00
60	$1,111.44	$1,020.00
100	$990.28	$1,020.00
146	$636.10	$1,020.00
174	$301.15	$1,020.00
175	$288.22	$255.00
182	$197.13	$255.00

Georgia’s amount falls steadily, faster as the days approach half the year, while Alabama’s stays at the sole custody figure until the 50/50 worksheet applies and then drops in one step. In this family, Georgia is lower by 100 days, and with an order close to equal time the two come close again.

When the parent the children live with earns more, equal time 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:

State	Guideline model	Support a month	Paid by
Georgia	Income shares	$355.29	the parent the children live with
Alabama	Income shares	$480.00	the parent the children live with

See parenting time in Georgia and 50/50 custody in Alabama.

Which state is higher at low incomes?

It depends on where the paying parent’s income falls, because the two protections cut in differently.

• Alabama takes a self-support reserve of $981 a month off the paying parent’s income, and caps support at 85% of what is left. When that leaves less than $50, a $50 minimum is presumed (Rule 32(C)(5)). The reserve does not apply on the 50/50 worksheet (Rule 32(C)(7)(e)).
• Georgia compares the guideline with the low-income table and takes the lesser, when the paying parent’s own income is below the table’s limit for the number of children (§ 19-6-15(i.1)). At or below $1,500 a month the table is a share of that income, 24% for two children; above it the table runs in rows. There is no flat minimum.

Two children, with the parent they live with earning nothing:

Other parent's income a month	Georgia	Alabama
$900	$216.00	$50.00
$1,000	$240.00	$50.00
$1,100	$264.00	$101.00
$1,200	$288.00	$186.00
$1,500	$360.00	$441.00
$2,000	$522.00	$577.00
$2,500	$690.00	$707.00
$3,000	$857.00	$838.00

Near the reserve, Alabama is far lower: the minimum, or a small share of the income above the reserve. Above the reserve, Alabama’s cap rises quickly with each extra dollar of income until the ordinary share applies, while Georgia still holds support to its low-income table, so for a while Alabama is higher. Past the table’s limit, Georgia’s guideline applies and is higher again. See low incomes in Georgia and low incomes in Alabama.

Which state is higher at high incomes?

Georgia’s table runs to $40,000 of combined monthly income; above it, the top row applies and a court may deviate upward (§ 19-6-15(i)(2)(A)). Alabama’s schedule stops at $30,000; above it the amount is left to the court’s discretion, and the 2022 Committee Comments say not to extrapolate, so there is no guideline figure (Rule 32(C)(1)). The calculator shows Alabama’s top row for those incomes and says so.

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

	Georgia	Alabama
Usual end	18, or marriage, emancipation or death (§ 19-6-15(e))	19, the age of majority (Code of Alabama § 26-1-1)
High school student	A court may order support while the child is in secondary school, but not past 20 (§ 19-6-15(e))	Already covered to 19
Changing the amount	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))	A material change that is substantial and continuing; a guideline amount more than ten percent from the order creates a rebuttable presumption that it should be modified (Rule 32(A)(3))

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. Georgia’s deviations and adjusted income, Alabama’s cap on child care costs and its deductions for support paid under other orders, and the other rules listed in the Georgia guide and the Alabama guide are not modeled. The figures are estimates, not legal advice.