Average Child Support in Arizona: Calculation, Adjustments, and Duration

There is no single average child support payment in Arizona. The amount in any order comes from a statewide schedule that cross-references both parents’ combined monthly income against the number of children, then gets adjusted for parenting time and a handful of other factors. To put real numbers on it: parents with a combined $5,000 per month generate a base obligation of $883 for one child and $1,332 for two. At a combined $10,000 per month, the base rises to $1,274 for one child and $1,889 for two.¹ Your actual order will sit above or below those figures depending on how your family’s details map onto the formula.

How Arizona Calculates Child Support

Arizona uses the Income Shares Model. The premise: a child should receive the same share of the parents’ income they would have received if the household had stayed intact.² Courts look up the base obligation on a standardized table, the Schedule of Basic Support Obligations, that pairs combined adjusted monthly income with the number of children.

Selected amounts from the current schedule show how the numbers scale:

$2,000 combined monthly income: $395 (one child), $601 (two), $727 (three)
$5,000 combined monthly income: $883 (one child), $1,332 (two), $1,596 (three)
$10,000 combined monthly income: $1,274 (one child), $1,889 (two), $2,224 (three)
$20,000 combined monthly income: $1,991 (one child), $2,912 (two), $3,376 (three)

The schedule tops out at $30,000 per month in combined income. If parents earn more, the $30,000 figure is the default unless a parent asks the court to set a higher amount and proves it serves the child’s best interests.¹

Once the base number comes off the schedule, each parent is responsible for a share proportional to their income. If one parent earns 70% of the combined total, that parent carries 70% of the base. The parent with less parenting time generally writes the check to the other, rather than spending their share directly.

What Counts as Income

Arizona’s definition of “Child Support Income” is broader than most people’s working idea of earnings. It covers wages, commissions, bonuses, dividends, severance, military pay, pensions, interest, trust income, Social Security benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment, disability payments, and recurring gifts or prizes. The test is whether money comes in on a recurring basis from any source, measured before deductions or withholdings.¹

Self-employment income is gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses, including half of the self-employment tax actually paid. Employer-provided perks that cover personal living costs also count. If your job pays for your housing or vehicle, the court assigns a cash value and adds it to your income.¹

A few categories are excluded: child support received for other children, means-tested public assistance such as TANF, Supplemental Security Income, and nutrition assistance. Seasonal or market-sensitive income gets averaged across the year, and the court can pull a longer window if a single year is not representative.

When a Parent Is Unemployed or Underemployed

A parent who is voluntarily unemployed or working below capacity will not get a $0 income entry. The guidelines require the court to presume, at minimum, full-time earnings at minimum wage. If the parent’s education, skills, or work history support a higher earning capacity, the court can impute income at that higher level.³

Imputation is not automatic. Courts weigh local labor market conditions, the parent’s realistic job prospects, and whether unemployment is genuinely involuntary. A parent laid off and actively job-hunting is treated differently from one who quit to shrink an obligation.

How Parenting Time Changes the Number

The schedule assumes one household covering all costs. When both parents have the child regularly, the parent exercising parenting time is already buying meals, running utilities, and paying for day-to-day expenses. Arizona reflects that through a Parenting Time Table that reduces the paying parent’s obligation based on the number of days per year they have the child.¹

The credit works on a sliding scale. Fewer than 20 days gets no credit. From there, the percentage climbs:

20 to 34 days: 2.5% reduction
50 to 69 days: 7.5% reduction
100 to 114 days: 17.5% reduction
130 to 142 days: 25% reduction
164 or more days: 50% reduction

Counting the days has its own rules. A full 24-hour block is one day. Leftover time of 12 hours or more counts as a full day, 6 to 11 hours counts as a half day, and 3 to 5 hours counts as a quarter day. Even stretches under 3 hours can count as a quarter day if the parent is covering meals or other routine expenses during that time.¹

Small day totals matter at the thresholds. A parent at 113 days gets a smaller credit than one at 115 days, because 115 crosses into the next bracket. If you are negotiating a parenting plan, those boundary numbers deserve attention.

Other Adjustments That Move the Final Order

Older Child Adjustment

Teenagers cost more than toddlers, and the guidelines allow the court to increase the base obligation for any child who has reached age 12. The adjustment is not automatic. The judge decides, based on overall circumstances, whether to apply it and in what amount.¹

Health Insurance and Childcare

The cost of the child’s health insurance premium is added to the base obligation and split proportionally between the parents. Dental and vision coverage count separately when they are not bundled into the main plan. Childcare costs that let a parent work or attend school are treated the same way: added to the base, then divided by income share.

Deviation From the Guidelines

A court can deviate from the calculated amount when applying the guidelines would be inappropriate or unjust. ARS § 25-320 lists the factors the court weighs, including the child’s financial resources and needs, each parent’s financial situation, the standard of living the child would have enjoyed in an intact household, the child’s physical and emotional condition and educational needs, and any excessive or concealed spending of shared property.⁴ The judge must put the reasoning for any deviation in writing.

Estimating Your Own Number

You can run the calculation yourself before any hearing using the Arizona Child Support Calculator through the Arizona Judicial Branch website. Two versions exist: an interview-style application for self-represented parents and an Excel worksheet aimed at attorneys and judges.⁵

Have the following ready before you start:

Monthly gross income for each parent, from all sources
The portion of the health insurance premium specifically covering the child
Work-related or school-related childcare costs
Parenting time days per year for each parent
Any existing child support obligations for children from other relationships

Pull pay stubs, tax returns, and receipts before you enter numbers. The calculator produces a worksheet courts accept as a starting point, and sloppy inputs cause problems when the judge checks your worksheet against actual financial disclosures.

When Child Support Ends

Child support in Arizona terminates when the child turns 18. If the child is still attending high school or a certified equivalency program at 18, support continues until graduation or age 19, whichever comes first.⁶ It also ends earlier if the child marries, is adopted, or dies.

There is one exception. ARS § 25-320(E) allows the court to order support past the age of majority for a child with a severe mental or physical disability that began before age 18 and prevents the child from living independently and being self-supporting. The court must make specific findings; a diagnosis alone is not enough.⁴

One boundary worth knowing even if you are focused only on the current number: orders can be modified when circumstances change substantially, but modifications are not retroactive. Under ARS § 25-327, a change takes effect no earlier than the first day of the month after the other parent is served with your petition.⁷ A pay cut in January does not erase anything owed before you file.

1
Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Arizona Child Support Guidelines
2
Arizona Judicial Branch. Quick Reference – Child Support Guidelines Basics
3
Arizona Judicial Branch. Review of the Arizona Child Support Guidelines
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-320 – Child Support; Factors; Methods of Payment
5
Arizona Judicial Branch. About the Child Support Calculator
6
Maricopa County Clerk of Superior Court. Emancipation of a Minor
7
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-327 – Modification and Termination of Provisions for Maintenance or Support