Child support in New Jersey for two children is set by combining both parents’ net weekly income and looking up the total obligation on the state’s guidelines table. Under the schedule effective September 1, 2025, that total runs from roughly $224 per week at $500 of combined net weekly income to $481 per week at $2,000, and the table tops out at $3,600 per week ($187,200 per year) in combined income.1New Jersey Courts. Appendix IX-F Schedule of Child Support Awards The parent who pays owes their percentage of that total, so your actual number depends on how much you earn compared to the other parent.
How the Number Is Built
New Jersey uses the Income Shares Model. The court figures out what both parents earn together, looks up what a two-parent household at that income level typically spends on two children, and splits that cost by each parent’s share of the combined income. Court Rule 5:6A requires this formula as the starting point in every support case, from divorce to domestic violence matters to actions between unmarried parents.2New Jersey Courts. Appendix IX-A – Considerations in the Use of Child Support Guidelines
The math starts with each parent’s gross weekly income from all sources: wages, bonuses, commissions, government benefits. The court subtracts taxes (based on filing status and exemptions), mandatory union dues, and other required payroll deductions to reach each parent’s net weekly income. Add the two nets together, and that combined figure is what the court uses to pull the basic obligation off the table.
Sample Weekly and Monthly Amounts for Two Children
Appendix IX-F lists the total basic obligation at each income level. For two children:1New Jersey Courts. Appendix IX-F Schedule of Child Support Awards
- $500/week combined net income: $224 per week (about $970 per month)
- $1,000/week combined net income: $339 per week (about $1,469 per month)
- $1,500/week combined net income: $420 per week (about $1,820 per month)
- $2,000/week combined net income: $481 per week (about $2,084 per month)
Those are the totals for both parents combined. The paying parent owes only their proportional share. Say the combined net is $1,000 per week and one parent earns 65% of it. That parent pays 65% of the $339 total, which is roughly $220 per week or about $954 per month. The other parent’s 35% share is already covered through what they spend directly on the children at home.
New Jersey offers a free online estimator at quickcalc.njchildsupport.gov. Plug in both incomes and you’ll get a ballpark figure. It isn’t binding, but it’s a reasonable sanity check before anyone fills out the official worksheets.
How Parenting Time Changes the Number
Overnights matter. If the children live primarily with one parent and the other has fewer than about 104 overnights a year (less than 28% of the time), the court uses the sole parenting worksheet (Appendix IX-B). If both parents have the children at least 28% of overnights, the shared parenting worksheet (Appendix IX-C) applies instead.3New Jersey Courts. Appendix IX-C – Shared Parenting Worksheet
The shared parenting formula is more involved because both parents are spending directly on the children during their time. The calculation adjusts for duplicated household costs like maintaining a bedroom and buying food in two homes. At the same income level, the shared parenting worksheet usually produces a smaller payment to the receiving parent than the sole parenting worksheet, because the paying parent is already covering some expenses firsthand.
Count overnights carefully. Misreporting them puts you on the wrong worksheet entirely, which can swing the monthly figure by hundreds of dollars.
Add-Ons: Health Insurance and Childcare
The table numbers cover everyday costs: housing, food, clothing, transportation. They don’t include health insurance premiums for the children or work-related childcare. Both get added on top of the base obligation and divided between the parents using the same income percentages.
For health insurance, only the children’s share of the premium counts. If a family plan costs $600 a month and self-only coverage would be $400, the children’s portion is $200, and that $200 is split proportionally. Work-related childcare (daycare, before- and after-school programs, summer care) works the same way: added to the base, then divided by income share.
These add-ons can move the final figure substantially. Two children in full-time New Jersey daycare easily runs $2,000 or more per month, which at lower income levels can match or exceed the base support itself.
Low-Income Floor and High-Income Ceiling
New Jersey won’t set support so high that the paying parent can’t meet basic needs. The self-support reserve is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, which as of January 1, 2025 is $451 per week.2New Jersey Courts. Appendix IX-A – Considerations in the Use of Child Support Guidelines If the guidelines amount would push the paying parent’s net below $451 per week, the court reduces it, but only if the receiving parent’s net (minus their share of the obligation) also sits above that threshold. For combined incomes under $180 per week, the court sets support case by case, with a $5 per week floor.1New Jersey Courts. Appendix IX-F Schedule of Child Support Awards
At the other end, the guidelines table stops at $3,600 per week combined ($187,200 per year). Above that, the court treats the maximum table amount as the floor and adds a discretionary amount for income over the cap.2New Jersey Courts. Appendix IX-A – Considerations in the Use of Child Support Guidelines That discretionary piece is based on the factors in N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23: the children’s actual needs, each parent’s standard of living and earning capacity, and all income and assets.4Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2A:34-23 – Alimony, Maintenance Judges in high-income cases look at specific line items (private school tuition, extracurriculars, travel, the lifestyle the family had together) rather than just extrapolating the table upward.
What If the Other Parent Quits Their Job?
A parent who stops working or deliberately takes a lower-paying job to reduce support won’t get relief. When a judge finds voluntary unemployment or underemployment without good cause, the court imputes income, meaning it assigns an earning capacity based on what that parent could reasonably be making.5New Jersey Courts. Proposed Amendments to the Child Support Guidelines The court weighs work history, education, job skills, age, health, the local job market, and criminal record. If none of that supports a specific figure, the court can use New Jersey Department of Labor wage records or, as a last resort, the prevailing minimum wage. Incarceration, by contrast, cannot be treated as voluntary unemployment for setting or modifying support.
When the Amount Changes
Support orders aren’t permanent. Either parent can ask the court to modify an order by showing a change in circumstances that is substantial, permanent, and unanticipated. Job loss, a significant pay cut, a serious illness, a change in custody, or materially increased expenses for the children all qualify. Separately, either parent can request a routine review every three years without proving a change in circumstances; the court simply recalculates with current incomes and the current table.
If your income shifts significantly, don’t wait for the three-year review. Modifications generally take effect from the date you file, not the date the change happened, so delay costs money.
One two-child-specific point: when the older child meets a termination trigger (turning 19, marrying, dying, or entering military service under N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.67), support for that child ends and the court recalculates for the remaining child using the one-child column of the table.6Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes 2A:17-56.67 Support can be continued past 19 in limited situations (a full-time student, a court order setting a later age up to 23, or a child with a severe disability), but the custodial parent has to file a written request before the child’s 19th birthday or the obligation terminates by operation of law.