Average Child Support in Kansas: Income, Schedule, and Adjustments

There is no single average child support payment in Kansas because every order is built from the parents’ combined gross monthly income, the number of children, and each child’s age. The published Kansas Child Support Guidelines (effective May 1, 2025) give a workable range for one child: parents with a combined gross monthly income of $3,000 owe a base obligation of $547 to $651 per month depending on the child’s age; at $5,000 combined, it runs $808 to $961; at $7,000, it rises to $1,044 to $1,243.¹ The paying parent’s actual monthly check is their share of that total, based on their share of the combined income.

How Kansas Figures the Number

Kansas uses an Income Shares Model. The idea behind it is simple: a child should receive the same proportion of parental income they would have received if the parents still lived together.² The court adds both parents’ gross monthly incomes, looks up the total obligation on the schedule, then splits that obligation in proportion to each parent’s share of the combined income.

A worked example. Parent A earns $3,500 per month and Parent B earns $1,500, for a combined income of $5,000. Parent A has 70% of the combined income, Parent B 30%. The schedule sets the base obligation for one child aged six to eleven at $904 per month. Parent A’s share is roughly $633 and Parent B’s share is roughly $271.¹ Whichever parent has primary custody spends their share directly on the child’s daily needs; the other parent pays their share as a monthly support payment.

What Counts as Income

The guidelines define “Domestic Gross Income” broadly. It includes wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, overtime, shift differentials, vacation pay, self-employment earnings, rental income, interest, dividends, trust income, pension distributions, Social Security Disability Insurance, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, disability insurance payments, spousal maintenance received, and military pay including VA disability.³ If a wage earner participates in a cafeteria-style benefits plan that lowers taxable pay, the court uses the pre-reduction gross wages.¹

Public assistance is excluded. Supplemental Security Income, Earned Income Credit, TANF, food assistance, Medicaid, and housing assistance don’t count as income for child support.¹ Child support received for other children is also excluded. Federal and state taxes and Social Security contributions are already built into the schedule, so parents enter gross income without subtracting them.

What the Schedule Shows

The dollar figures come from Appendix II of the Kansas Child Support Guidelines, organized by family size and three age tiers: birth through five, six through eleven, and twelve through eighteen. Older children carry higher amounts because their expenses for food, clothing, school, and activities tend to be larger. A sample from the one-child schedule:¹

$2,000 combined monthly income: $397 (age 0–5), $444 (age 6–11), $472 (age 12–18)
$3,000 combined monthly income: $547 (age 0–5), $612 (age 6–11), $651 (age 12–18)
$5,000 combined monthly income: $808 (age 0–5), $904 (age 6–11), $961 (age 12–18)
$7,000 combined monthly income: $1,044 (age 0–5), $1,168 (age 6–11), $1,243 (age 12–18)

For more than one child, a separate schedule applies for each family size. Each child’s amount is looked up individually by age, then totaled. The guidelines’ own example shows two parents with a combined income of $4,757 per month and two children (ages three and six) owing a combined base obligation of $1,170 per month: $552 for the three-year-old and $618 for the six-year-old.⁴

Adjustments That Move the Final Number

The schedule is a starting point. Several adjustments can push the final amount up or down.

Parenting Time

If the non-custodial parent has the child at least 35% of the time, the court may reduce their support obligation to reflect the costs they cover directly during overnights. The guidelines use a tiered formula:¹

35%–39% of time: 10% reduction
40%–44% of time: 20% reduction
45%–49% of time: 30% reduction

Hours the child spends in school or daycare don’t count toward these percentages. A separate extended parenting time adjustment covers stretches of 14 or more consecutive days (common with summer schedules) and can reduce the monthly obligation by up to 50% for that period.¹ A court can also look at whether a parent has actually been exercising scheduled time; a parent who routinely skips it is unlikely to receive credit for it.

Health Insurance and Medical Costs

The cost of health, dental, and vision insurance for the child is added to the base obligation and split proportionally, with credit on the worksheet to whichever parent pays the premium. Federal law also requires every order to include a medical support provision, which may take the form of employer-sponsored coverage through a National Medical Support Notice or a cash medical support amount.⁵ Unreimbursed medical costs beyond the premium can also be divided between parents.

Childcare and Tax Treatment

Work-related childcare expenses go into the worksheet at their actual out-of-pocket cost. The parent claiming the federal dependent tax deduction may see a small adjustment, since claiming a child affects each parent’s tax picture differently.⁶ Courts have discretion to account for a child’s special medical needs or other extraordinary expenses when the schedule doesn’t capture the real picture.

If a Parent Is Unemployed or Underemployed

A parent can’t dodge child support by quitting a job or working below their earning capacity. If the court finds a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, it may impute income and calculate support as if that parent were earning what they could earn. The court must make written findings and consider the parent’s work history, job skills, education, health, criminal record, local job market, and prevailing wages in the area.¹

At minimum, the court may impute income at the federal minimum wage for 40 hours per week. A parent fired for misconduct (rather than laid off) may have their previous wage imputed. One important nuance: incarceration alone cannot be treated as voluntary unemployment, though the surrounding circumstances and the parent’s ability to pay can still be considered when setting or modifying the obligation.¹

When the Court Deviates From the Guideline

The calculated figure is a rebuttable presumption. The court assumes it’s correct, but either parent can argue for a different number. To deviate, the court must make written findings explaining why the deviation is in the child’s best interest.¹

The parties’ overall financial condition is a common reason. If a parent took on a second job after the separation to cover new expenses rather than earning that income historically, the court may run two worksheets, one with all income and one with only the primary job, to find a fair range. Parents who share time equally and also split direct expenses may qualify for a shared expense formula or direct expense formula, either of which can produce a materially different result than the standard calculation.¹

When Support Ends

Child support in Kansas ends when the child turns 18, with a few exceptions. If the child is still in high school at 18, support continues automatically until June 30 of the school year in which the child turned 18. If the child remains a full-time high school student after that date, the court may extend support through the school year in which the child turns 19, but only if both parents jointly participated in or knowingly allowed the decision that delayed graduation.⁷

Parents can also agree in writing, with court approval, to extend support past 18. Support doesn’t always stop automatically when the child ages out; in some situations the paying parent needs to file a motion to formally end the obligation. Overpayments are hard to recover, so tracking the child’s birthday and school enrollment matters.

What Happens If Payments Aren’t Made

Kansas enforcement escalates quickly. After 90 days of non-payment with arrears over $500, the Kansas Department for Children and Families can trigger a range of enforcement actions:⁸

Income withholding orders that deduct support directly from the obligor’s paycheck
Suspension of driver’s, professional, and hunting and fishing licenses
Interception of Kansas and federal tax refunds
Passport denial when arrears exceed $2,500 under federal law
Bank garnishments and liens on real property
Reporting of unpaid support to consumer credit agencies
Interception of casino, lottery, and sports betting winnings

Kansas also charges 10% annual interest on unpaid arrears, and that interest is extremely difficult to get waived. A parent who falls $5,000 behind owes $500 in interest in the first year alone, before any new payments are missed. License suspensions, wage garnishment, and compounding interest together mean that ignoring an order tends to make the problem larger, not smaller.

1
Kansas Judicial Branch. Kansas Child Support Guidelines
2
Kansas Judicial Branch. Child Support Guidelines
3
Kansas Judicial Branch. Kansas Child Support Guidelines
4
Kansas Judicial Branch. Examples and Scenarios for Preparing the Child Support Worksheet
5
Administration for Children and Families. Medical Support
6
Kansas Legal Services. What You Need to Gather for the Child Support Worksheet
7
FindLaw. Kansas Statutes 23-3001
8
Kansas Department for Children and Families. Enforcement