How Much Is Child Support in Arizona for One Child?

Child support in Arizona for one child generally runs from about $159 to more than $2,500 per month, depending on the parents’ combined income. The state uses the Income Shares Model, which estimates what the parents would have spent on the child in an intact household and then splits that amount between them in proportion to their earnings. The number produced by the schedule is then adjusted for parenting time, health insurance premiums, and work-related childcare before it becomes the final order.¹

The current guidelines took effect on January 1, 2022.² A.R.S. § 25-320 directs the Arizona Supreme Court to maintain them and to review them at least every four years.³

Basic Support Amounts by Combined Income

The guidelines set a basic monthly obligation for one child based on the parents’ combined adjusted gross income. Selected amounts from the current schedule:⁴

$1,000 combined monthly income: $211
$2,000 combined: $395
$3,000 combined: $574
$4,000 combined: $750
$5,000 combined: $883
$6,000 combined: $953
$8,000 combined: $1,092
$10,000 combined: $1,274
$15,000 combined: $1,650
$20,000 combined: $1,991
$25,000 combined: $2,282

That figure is the total basic obligation for both parents combined, not the check the noncustodial parent writes. Each parent covers a share proportionate to their income. If the parents together earn $8,000 and one parent brings in $5,000 of that (62.5%), their share of the $1,092 basic obligation starts at roughly $683 before parenting time and other adjustments reduce it.

What Counts as Income

The guidelines define Child Support Income broadly. It includes salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, dividends, severance, military pay, pensions, interest, trust income, capital gains, Social Security, workers’ compensation, unemployment, disability benefits, recurring gifts, and spousal maintenance received.⁴ Seasonal earnings get averaged over the year. Military housing allowances are counted, and other employer reimbursements or non-cash benefits count if they meaningfully reduce a parent’s personal living expenses.

Some things are excluded. Child support received for a different child does not count as income. Benefits from means-tested public assistance programs such as TANF, SSI, and nutrition assistance are also left out.⁴ Court-ordered child support already being paid for children from another relationship is subtracted from a parent’s income before the calculation runs.

Self-employed parents start with gross receipts and subtract ordinary and necessary business expenses as determined by the court, plus half of self-employment tax actually paid.⁴ Family court judges are not bound by what the IRS accepts. Vehicle costs that mix personal and business use, meals and entertainment, and depreciation deductions can all be added back, so the income used to calculate support may look nothing like the bottom line of a tax return.

A parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed doesn’t escape by showing low earnings. Arizona courts presume at least full-time minimum wage income when no other evidence of earning capacity exists, and can impute higher income based on education, professional background, or work history.³

How Parenting Time Reduces the Payment

The basic schedule assumes the child lives in one household. When the child spends meaningful time with the paying parent, that parent’s share drops because they are directly covering the child’s costs during their days. The adjustment is set by the number of parenting days per year for the parent with less time:⁴

0 to 19 days: no adjustment
20 to 49 days: 2.5% to 5% reduction
50 to 84 days: 7.5% to 10% reduction
85 to 114 days: 15% to 17.5% reduction
115 to 142 days: 20% to 25% reduction
143 to 163 days: 32.5% to 40% reduction
164 or more days: 50% reduction

The adjustment percentage is applied to the basic obligation, and the result is subtracted from the paying parent’s proportionate share. At 164 days or more, the parents are essentially sharing time equally and the obligation drops in half. Day counting has its own rules: each 24-hour block within a continuous period counts as one day, periods of 12 hours or more count as a full day, and periods of 6 to 11 hours count as a half day.⁴

Insurance and Childcare Add to the Number

The schedule amount is not the final order. The court adds the cost of health, dental, and vision insurance premiums for the child, along with work-related childcare expenses.⁵ These add-ons are split between the parents in the same income-based proportion used for the basic obligation. Extraordinary costs such as special education needs or ongoing medical expenses beyond insurance can also be factored in.

Running Your Own Estimate

The Arizona Judicial Branch offers a free official calculator that does the full math. Two versions are available through the Superior Court in Maricopa County: a step-by-step interview version for people without legal training, and an Excel version aimed at attorneys. Both apply the same formula the courts use.⁷

Monthly Child Support Income for both parents, from all sources, before deductions
Parenting time days per year for the parent with less time
Medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums for the child
Work-related childcare costs
Support paid under existing orders for other children
Spousal maintenance paid or received in the current relationship

The calculator gives an estimate. A judge sets the actual number.

When a Judge Can Order a Different Amount

The guideline number is presumed correct, but a court can order more or less if applying the standard formula would be inappropriate or unjust in a particular case. The judge has to put the reasons in writing. Factors that support a deviation include the child’s specific financial needs, each parent’s resources, the standard of living the child would have had in an intact home, the medical support plan, hidden or wasted assets, and the duration of parenting time along with related expenses.³ Deviations are uncommon. Judges expect concrete evidence, not a general argument that the number feels off.

When Support Ends

The presumptive termination date is the last day of the month in which the child turns 18. If the child is still projected to be in high school at that point, support continues until the anticipated graduation date or age 19, whichever comes first.⁴ Arizona does not require parents to pay child support through college. A child can also be emancipated before 18 by court order, which ends future support obligations.⁸ Any unpaid arrears still have to be paid after the child ages out.

1
Supreme Court of the State of Arizona. Arizona Child Support Guidelines
2
Arizona Judicial Branch. Arizona Child Support Guidelines
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-320 – Child Support Factors Methods of Payment Additional Enforcement Provisions Definitions
4
Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Arizona Child Support Guidelines 2022
5
Arizona Judicial Branch. About the Child Support Calculator
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Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Child Support Calculator
Before you start, gather the following:6Arizona Judicial Branch. About the Child Support Calculator
8
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 12-2454 – Effect of Emancipation