There is no single average child support in Colorado that applies across the board. The state uses an Income Shares formula that combines both parents’ incomes, the number of children, and how overnights are divided to produce a case-specific monthly amount. For national context only, the U.S. Census Bureau reported custodial parents were owed about $6,390 per year on average in 2022, or roughly $533 a month, and only about three in four received any payment at all.1U.S. Census Bureau. Custodial Parents and Their Child Support: 2022 What a Colorado parent actually pays depends entirely on the inputs that go into the guidelines calculation.
How the Formula Works
Colorado’s Income Shares Model starts from a simple premise: estimate what both parents would have spent on the child in an intact household, then divide that figure between them in proportion to their incomes. The court pools both parents’ adjusted gross incomes, looks up a base support figure on a state-published schedule, and splits it based on who earns what.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
A parent earning 65% of the combined income is responsible for about 65% of the child’s support figure. The lower-earning parent covers the rest, generally through direct spending while the child is in their care.3Colorado Child Support Services. Calculating Payments
What Counts as Income
The statute defines gross income broadly. Wages, salary, tips, and commissions are the obvious entries, but so are bonuses, dividends, severance, rental income, trust income, capital gains, royalties, Social Security benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, and retirement distributions. Monetary gifts and prizes can be included as well.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
A few categories surprise people. Self-employed parents who draw money for personal use while deducting it as a business expense will see that money counted as income anyway. Employer-provided perks that significantly reduce living costs can also be included. Overtime pay counts only when the employer requires it as a condition of employment. Alimony received from a current or former spouse is income too.
To reach adjusted gross income, the court subtracts child support already being paid under a preexisting order for children from another relationship, and any maintenance actually paid. The adjusted figure is what feeds the schedule lookup.
When a Parent Isn’t Working
If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or working below their capacity without a good reason, the court will impute income. That means assigning a realistic earning figure based on work history, skills, education, health, age, and the local job market.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
Imputation is off the table in specific situations. A court cannot impute income to a parent who is physically or mentally incapacitated, a parent caring for the couple’s child under 24 months old, or a parent serving a jail sentence of 180 days or more. A parent in a legitimate educational or vocational program isn’t considered underemployed, and neither is one who has made a good-faith career change not aimed at reducing support. When no reliable employment information exists, the default calculation uses a 32-hour workweek at a reasonable rate of pay for 50 weeks per year.
The Basic Support Schedule
Once the combined adjusted gross income is set, the court looks up that total on a published schedule that cross-references income with the number of children and returns a base dollar figure. As of March 1, 2026, the schedule covers combined incomes up to $40,000 per month. Above that ceiling, the court has discretion to set support based on the children’s reasonable needs and each parent’s ability to pay.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
Schedule amounts reflect research on what intact families at various income levels typically spend on children for housing, food, clothing, and transportation. A child support commission reviews the guidelines and schedule at least every four years. The most recent round of amendments took effect in phases, with significant changes arriving on March 1, 2026.
The schedule amount is presumptively correct. A parent who wants a different number has to explain why.
Low-Income Floor
Colorado protects parents who earn very little. When the paying parent’s monthly adjusted gross income falls at or below the self-support reserve, the statute allows a reduced obligation or, in some cases, a minimum order of as little as $50 per month. The self-support reserve is tied to a percentage of the federal poverty guidelines, which are updated annually. A separate calculation applies when the paying parent earns above the self-support reserve but below a threshold tied to the state minimum wage.
Add-Ons the Schedule Doesn’t Cover
The base figure from the schedule isn’t the whole bill. Three categories of expenses get added on top and are split between the parents in the same income-based proportion:
- Health insurance premiums for the children.
- Work-related childcare, including daycare and after-school care that lets a parent work or attend school.
- Extraordinary medical expenses, meaning uninsured medical costs (including copays and deductibles) that exceed $250 per child per calendar year. Orthodontia, vision care, physical therapy, asthma treatment, and mental health counseling all fall in this bucket.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
If one parent pays the health insurance premium directly, that parent gets a credit in the calculation to avoid paying twice.
How Overnights Change the Math
Parenting time can move the final number more than almost any other factor. Colorado uses two different worksheets depending on how overnights are divided.
Worksheet A: One Primary Household
Worksheet A applies when one parent has the child for 92 or fewer overnights per year. The custodial parent handles most daily expenses out of pocket, and the other parent pays their full proportional share as a monthly transfer.4Colorado Child Support Services. Frequently Asked Questions
Worksheet B: Shared Physical Care
When both parents have the child for more than 92 overnights, the court switches to Worksheet B. That threshold matters because the second household is now incurring real ongoing costs: a bedroom, groceries, clothing kept at that home.
Worksheet B takes the base obligation from the schedule and multiplies it by 1.5 to account for the duplicated costs of maintaining two child-ready homes.5Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 1821 – Worksheet B Child Support Obligation Shared Physical Care That inflated figure is then allocated based on each parent’s share of overnights and income. The more evenly parenting time is divided, the smaller the monthly transfer becomes, though it rarely drops to zero unless incomes and overnights are almost identical.
When the Guidelines Number Isn’t the Final Number
The schedule produces a presumptive amount, but a court can go above or below it when the formula would be unfair. Any deviation requires written findings explaining the reasons and the amount that would have applied without the deviation. Factors that can justify departure include:
- Disproportionate parenting time that the overnight count alone doesn’t capture.
- A gross disparity in earnings between the parents.
- Extraordinary travel costs to exercise visitation.
- Substantial non-income-producing assets that reflect real wealth.
- Extraordinary medical expenses for a parent or spouse that strain finances.
- Mandatory overtime or second-job income not already counted, or earnings from work beyond a 40-hour week.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
The presence of one of these factors doesn’t force a deviation. And a court can deviate even when none of the listed factors apply, so long as it explains why the standard figure would be unjust.
How Long Support Lasts
Child support in Colorado doesn’t automatically stop at 18. The default termination point is 19, unless the child is still in high school or an equivalent program. If so, support continues through the end of the month following graduation but generally won’t extend past age 21.6Colorado Judicial Branch. End Child Support
Support can end earlier if the child marries, enters a civil union, or goes on active military duty. It can extend past 19 for a child with a physical or mental disability, and if both parents signed a written agreement to support the child past 19 (for college expenses, say) that agreement is enforceable on its own terms.
Termination isn’t always automatic. In many cases, a parent still has to file a motion to formally end the obligation and stop the income withholding order. Skipping that step can lead to overpayments that are difficult to claw back.