Chapter 7 Means Test Calculator: Illinois Median and Expenses

The Illinois Chapter 7 means test calculator is a two-step federal calculation: first, compare your household’s average gross income over the last six full calendar months (annualized) to the Illinois median for your household size; second, if you’re above that median, subtract standardized living expenses to see whether enough disposable income remains to repay creditors. For cases filed on or after April 1, 2026, a single filer passes the first step at $73,180 or less, and a household of four passes at $137,902 or less.¹ Fall at or below the median and you’re done. Fall above it and a second form decides whether you still qualify.

Step One: Calculate Your Current Monthly Income

“Current monthly income” sounds like last month’s paycheck, but the Bankruptcy Code defines it as the average of all gross income you received during the six full calendar months before your filing date.² File in July, and you average January through June. Multiply that monthly average by 12 to get the annualized figure you’ll compare against the Illinois median.

Nearly every dollar counts. Wages, salary, bonuses, overtime, commissions, net business income, rental income, interest, dividends, and pension or retirement distributions all go into the average. Regular contributions from a non-filing household member, such as a live-in partner or adult child who pays part of the household expenses, count too. Alimony and spousal support you receive during the six-month window are included.²

A short list of income types is excluded by statute: Social Security benefits of any kind, payments to victims of war crimes or international or domestic terrorism, and certain military disability compensation, pensions, and combat-related pay.² For retirees and veterans, those exclusions can be the difference between appearing over-income and passing cleanly.

If You’re Married and Filing Alone

A married person filing solo generally has to add their spouse’s income to CMI for the median comparison, even if the spouse isn’t filing. The exception: if you’re legally separated or living apart for a reason other than trying to beat the means test, you can exclude your spouse’s income by filing a sworn statement.³ Even when the income has to be included, Form 122A-1 allows a “marital adjustment” subtracting whatever portion of your spouse’s income goes to their own personal obligations that don’t benefit the household. That adjustment often pulls effective CMI back under the median line.

Step Two: Compare Against the Illinois Median

You must use the median table in effect on the date your petition is filed. The U.S. Trustee Program updates these numbers several times a year from Census Bureau data. Household size includes you, your spouse (even if not filing jointly), and any dependents living in your home.

For cases filed between November 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026:⁴

1 earner: $71,304
2 people: $91,526
3 people: $110,712
4 people: $134,366

For cases filed on or after April 1, 2026:¹

1 earner: $73,180
2 people: $93,934
3 people: $113,625
4 people: $137,902

For households larger than four, add $11,100 per additional person. If your annualized CMI is at or below the applicable Illinois median, no one can file a motion claiming your Chapter 7 is abusive on means-test grounds, and you skip the second phase entirely.³

Who Skips the Means Test Entirely

Two groups bypass the calculation regardless of income.

The test applies only to filers whose debts are “primarily consumer debts,” meaning more than half of total debt comes from personal, family, or household obligations such as credit cards, medical bills, and car loans. If most of your debt is business-related, the means test simply doesn’t apply.³ Self-employed people and former small business owners whose debt grew out of a failed business often qualify under this rule.

Disabled veterans are exempt if they carry any VA or Department of Defense disability rating and incurred the debt primarily while on active duty or performing a homeland defense activity. The rating percentage doesn’t matter. A separate exemption covers reservists and National Guard members called to active duty for 90 days or more after September 11, 2001; it runs through the service period and for 540 days after release.³

If You’re Over the Median: The Expense Calculation

Over the median doesn’t mean disqualified. It means Form 122A-2, which subtracts a long list of standardized and actual expenses from your CMI to produce a monthly disposable income figure. Most deductions are capped by federal standards, and the cap applies even if you spend more in real life.

National Standards

Food, housekeeping supplies, clothing, personal care, and miscellaneous expenses come straight from the IRS National Standards and depend only on household size. Everyone in a four-person household gets the same number for this bucket. The applicable figures live on the U.S. Trustee Program’s website for your filing date, not the IRS site; the two publish similar-looking standards but the bankruptcy figures are what the court uses.⁵⁶

Local Standards

Housing, utilities, and transportation use IRS Local Standards that vary by Illinois county. Cook County’s housing allowance differs from a rural downstate figure. You deduct the lesser of the Local Standard or what you actually pay for rent or mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and utilities.⁵ Transportation splits in two. Ownership costs cover vehicle loan or lease payments up to a capped monthly amount per vehicle, and operating costs cover fuel, insurance, maintenance, and registration at a regional rate. A paid-off car still earns the operating deduction, just not the ownership deduction.

Other Deductions

Several additional lines often decide close cases. You can deduct your actual monthly payments on secured debts like a mortgage or car loan, separate from the Local Standards allowance. Health insurance, disability insurance, and HSA contributions are deductible at the amounts you reasonably need, even if you aren’t currently paying premiums.³ Past-due priority debts such as back taxes, child support arrears, or alimony arrears are divided by 60 and taken as a monthly expense.⁷ Childcare, mandatory payroll deductions, and court-ordered payments each have their own lines.

The Numbers That Decide Pass or Fail

Multiply your remaining monthly disposable income by 60. That five-year total is what the court measures against the current thresholds, adjusted most recently in April 2025:⁸

Below $10,275: no presumption of abuse; you pass.
$17,150 or more: presumption of abuse arises; you fail.
Between $10,275 and $17,150: abuse is presumed only if the 60-month total equals or exceeds 25% of your nonpriority unsecured debts.

In rough monthly terms, disposable income of about $171 or less clears the test, and more than about $286 fails it. The middle band turns on how much unsecured debt you carry.

If You Fail: Rebuttal and Chapter 13

A failing number isn’t automatically the end. The code lets you rebut the presumption of abuse by showing “special circumstances” that justify extra expenses or income adjustments with no reasonable alternative. The statute names two examples: a serious medical condition and a call to active military duty.³ You have to itemize each adjustment, document it, explain in detail why it’s necessary, and attest under oath. Even with the adjustments, your recalculated 60-month disposable income has to land below the same thresholds.

If the presumption stands and nothing rebuts it, the court can dismiss your Chapter 7 case or, with your consent, convert it to a Chapter 13 repayment plan.³ Chapter 13 lets you keep property but requires paying creditors from future income over three to five years. Many Illinois filers who land clearly above the median map their path to Chapter 13 before filing anything, rather than spending the filing fee on a Chapter 7 the U.S. Trustee is likely to challenge.

The Forms You’ll Fill Out

Form 122A-1 is where you calculate CMI and compare it to the Illinois median.⁹ If you’re at or below, you stop there. If you’re above, Form 122A-2 walks through every allowable deduction and produces your disposable income figure.⁷ Expect to need pay stubs for at least six months, recent tax returns, bank statements, and documentation for every income source and recurring expense. Every expense figure you enter must come from the U.S. Trustee Program’s current tables for Illinois on the date you file, not from the IRS versions of similar standards.

1
U.S. Trustee Program. Means Testing – Median Income Table (April 1, 2026)
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 101 – Definitions
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13
4
U.S. Trustee Program. Means Testing – Median Income Table (November 1, 2025)
5
U.S. Trustee Program. Means Testing – Section II IRS Data and General Information for Completing Bankruptcy Forms
6
Internal Revenue Service. National Standards Food Clothing and Other Items
7
United States Courts. Official Form 122A-2 Chapter 7 Means Test Calculation
8
Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases
9
United States Courts. Official Form 122A-1 Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income