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.
What are the low-income child support percentages in Texas?
Texas Family Code § 154.125 has two tables. The low-income table applies when the paying parent’s monthly net resources are less than $1,000:
| Children before the court | Net resources under the line | Net resources at or above the line |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15% | 20% |
| 2 | 20% | 25% |
| 3 | 25% | 30% |
| 4 | 30% | 35% |
| 5 | 35% | 40% |
| 6 or more | not less than the amount for 5 children | not less than the amount for 5 children |
The line is a figure of net resources, after Social Security, Medicare and federal income tax. The statute fixes it in dollars; unlike the cap, it is not adjusted for inflation.
How much does the table switch change the amount?
The switch happens at a single point, so two incomes close together can give noticeably different amounts. On the 2026 tax charts, gross wages of $1,050 give net resources just under the line, and $1,100 just over it:
Monthly gross wages of the paying parent. The first two rows use the low-income table, the others the standard table.
| Other parent's income a month | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|
| $900 | $124.67 | $166.23 | $207.79 |
| $1,050 | $145.45 | $193.93 | $242.42 |
| $1,100 | $203.17 | $253.96 | $304.76 |
| $1,256.67 | $232.11 | $290.14 | $348.16 |
| $1,600 | $290.35 | $362.94 | $435.53 |
| $2,000 | $356.23 | $445.29 | $534.35 |
What income does the court use when a parent has no job?
The court relies on evidence of the parent’s resources where it can (§ 154.0655(b)). Unemployment benefits, disability and workers’ compensation benefits, and Social Security benefits other than Supplemental Security Income all count (§ 154.062(b)(5)).
Two rules apply when evidence is missing or income seems low on purpose:
- Minimum wage presumption. In the absence of evidence of a party’s resources, the court presumes income equal to the federal minimum wage for a 40 hour week (§ 154.068(a)). The Attorney General’s 2026 tax chart puts that at $1,256.67 a month gross. For one child the guideline at that income is $232.11 a month.
- Earning potential. If actual income is significantly less than what the parent could earn because of intentional unemployment or underemployment, the court may apply the guideline to earning potential (§ 154.066).
Before applying either rule without evidence, the court must consider the parent’s background, including assets, residence, employment and earnings history, job skills, education, literacy, age, health, criminal history, barriers to employment and record of seeking work, as well as local job opportunities and wages (§ 154.0655(c)).
The Attorney General’s Child Support Division says that when a parent has no income, a modified amount can be set from past employment, ability to work and the federal minimum wage.
What income is not counted?
Section 154.062(c) excludes return of principal or capital, accounts receivable, benefits under TANF or another federal public assistance program, and payments for foster care. Supplemental Security Income is excluded from the Social Security benefits that count (§ 154.062(b)(5)).
How does incarceration affect Texas child support?
- A court may not treat incarceration as intentional unemployment or underemployment (§ 154.066(c)).
- The minimum wage presumption does not apply to a parent subject to an order of confinement of more than 90 days who is incarcerated when the court decides income (§ 154.068(b)).
- Incarceration for more than 180 days is a material and substantial change for modification, and so is release if support had been abated or reduced during it (§ 156.401(c-1) and (d)).
Do benefits paid to the child reduce support?
Yes. When the child receives benefits because of the paying parent’s disability, or because that parent receives Social Security old age benefits, the court works out the guideline amount and subtracts the value of those benefits (§§ 154.132 and 154.133).
What if the paying parent supports children in two households?
A separate low-income multiple family table applies under the same line (§ 154.129(b)). The multiple children guide explains the multiple household rules.
Open the minimum wage example in the Texas calculatorWhat this guide does not cover
This guide does not cover arrears, enforcement or payment plans, or how a court weighs the background factors in a given case. The engine also leaves out these parts of the Texas guideline:
- 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.
The figures are estimates of the guideline amount. A court can order a different amount, and an existing order only changes when it is modified.
Run your own numbers
This guide's example: in Texas, 1 child; the other parent earns $1,256.67 a month before tax. The guideline amount is $232.11 a month. Change any number in the calculator and every step of the formula updates.
Open this family in the Texas calculatorQuestions
What is the minimum child support in Texas?
Chapter 154 has no fixed minimum amount. The low-income table applies when net resources are under $1,000 a month, and when there is no evidence of income the court presumes the federal minimum wage for a 40 hour week (§ 154.068).
How much child support do you pay if you are unemployed in Texas?
The court relies on evidence of resources, including unemployment benefits, which count as income (§ 154.062(b)(5)). With no evidence, it presumes minimum wage income. If it finds a parent is intentionally unemployed, it may apply the guideline to earning potential (§ 154.066).
Does SSI count as income for Texas child support?
No. Social Security benefits count, but Supplemental Security Income is excluded, and so are TANF and other federal public assistance (§ 154.062(b)(5) and (c)(3)).
What happens to child support in prison in Texas?
A court may not treat incarceration as intentional unemployment (§ 154.066(c)), the minimum wage presumption does not apply to a parent confined for more than 90 days (§ 154.068(b)), and incarceration for more than 180 days is a ground to seek modification (§ 156.401(c-1)).
Do disability benefits paid to the child reduce support?
Yes. When a child receives benefits because of the paying parent's disability or Social Security retirement, the court subtracts those benefits from the guideline amount (§§ 154.132 and 154.133).
Sources
- Texas Family Code chapter 154 (§ 154.062, § 154.066, § 154.068, § 154.125, § 154.129, §§ 154.132 and 154.133)
- 2026 Tax Charts (minimum wage row and footnote)
- Texas Family Code § 156.401, Grounds for modification of child support
- Employment Changes
- Figures on this page are computed by the Coparent Math engine with Texas's rules in force on 2 Nov 2026 unless a table says otherwise, from:
- Texas Family Code chapter 154, checked 2 Nov 2026
- Texas OAG revised 2025 tax charts (standard deduction and brackets used), checked 31 Oct 2026
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments), checked 31 Oct 2026
- Social Security Administration: contribution and benefit base, and OASDI and HI tax rates, checked 31 Oct 2026
- Texas OAG 2026 tax charts (net resources cap effective 1 September 2025, in the chart's footnotes), checked 31 Oct 2026
Related guides
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Related
- 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).
- 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.
In the same hub
- 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.
- 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).
- 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).
The same topic in other states
- Low-income child support in New York: the minimum and the self-support reserve (2026)If paying the guideline amount would leave the paying parent's income below the federal poverty guideline for one person ($15,960 a year), New York sets the basic obligation at $25 a month. If it would leave that parent below the self-support reserve ($21,546 a year) but above the poverty line, the basic obligation is $50 a month or the income above the reserve, whichever is greater. Both come from Family Court Act § 413(1)(d).
- Child support at low incomes in Virginia (2026)At low incomes Virginia uses the bottom rows of its schedule, and when the sole custody amount would fall below what § 20-108.2 B calls the statutory minimum, that minimum is presumed instead. The subsection does not state a dollar figure; the words stand for the schedule's lowest amount for the number of children, $68 a month for one child. A court can set a lower amount when the paying parent's gross income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level and there is no ability to pay, and some parents are exempt from the minimum altogether.
Comparisons
- 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.
More about Texas
- 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.
- 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.