Texas Child Support Calculator: Guidelines, Caps, and Deviations

To estimate what you will pay or receive, a Texas child support calculator applies a flat percentage to the paying parent’s monthly net resources: 20% for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four, and 40% for five, capped at the first $11,700 of monthly net resources. Texas does not consider the receiving parent’s income. The paying parent, called the obligor, owes the guideline percentage on net resources after a specific set of deductions from gross income.

How Net Resources Are Calculated

Net resources start with the obligor’s total income from every source. Texas counts 100 percent of wages, salary, commissions, overtime, tips, and bonuses, plus interest, dividends, royalties, net rental income, self-employment earnings, retirement benefits, trust income, Social Security benefits (other than SSI), VA disability benefits (other than non-service-connected pensions), unemployment and workers’ compensation benefits, spousal maintenance, and even gifts and prizes.¹ The short list of exclusions covers return of principal, accounts receivable, TANF or other federal public assistance, and foster care payments.

From that total, only six deductions are allowed:

Social Security taxes
Federal income tax, calculated as if the obligor were a single filer claiming one personal exemption and the standard deduction
State income tax (not applicable in Texas, but relevant if the obligor earns income taxed by another state)
Union dues
Court-ordered health and dental insurance costs for the child
Mandatory retirement contributions, if the obligor does not pay Social Security taxes (such as certain government employees)

Those are the only deductions the court will recognize.¹ Voluntary 401(k) contributions, car payments, credit card debt, and living expenses do not reduce the figure. If the obligor’s health insurance plan covers other dependents too, the court divides the premium by the number of covered people and credits only the child’s share.

Guideline Percentages by Number of Children

Once net resources are set, the court applies the standard percentage based on how many children need support:

1 child: 20% of net resources
2 children: 25%
3 children: 30%
4 children: 35%
5 children: 40%
6 or more: not less than the amount for 5 children

These percentages are presumed correct unless a party shows a different amount would better serve the child’s interests.² A quick example: an obligor with $5,000 in monthly net resources and two children would owe $1,250 per month under the guidelines.

The Low-Income Schedule

If monthly net resources fall below $1,000, a reduced schedule applies:

1 child: 15%
2 children: 20%
3 children: 25%
4 children: 30%
5 children: 35%
6 or more: not less than the amount for 5 children

Each tier is five percentage points below the standard rate.² For a parent earning $900 in net resources with one child, the difference between 20% ($180) and 15% ($135) is $45 a month, which can decide whether the obligor covers basic living costs. People running their own numbers often miss this threshold.

The $11,700 Cap for Higher Earners

The guideline percentages apply only to the first $11,700 of monthly net resources.³ For an obligor with one child, that caps the standard guideline obligation at $2,340 per month (20% of $11,700), no matter how much more the parent earns. The cap is adjusted every six years for inflation and published in the Texas Register.²

The cap is not an absolute ceiling. If the receiving parent proves the child has needs that exceed the capped figure, the court can order additional support. Those needs typically involve private school tuition, specialized medical care, or expenses tied to the standard of living the child would have had if the parents stayed together. The receiving parent carries the burden of showing the evidence.

If the Obligor Supports Children in More Than One Household

When the obligor has a legal duty to support children living in different households, the court uses a four-step adjustment instead of applying the plain percentage.⁴

Step 1: Calculate what the obligor would owe if all the children lived together, using the standard percentage for the total number.
Step 2: Divide that amount by the total number of children and multiply by the number not before the court. That is the credit.
Step 3: Subtract the credit from net resources to get “adjusted net resources.”
Step 4: Apply the standard percentage for the children in the current case to the adjusted net resources.

In practice: a parent with $4,000 in monthly net resources, one child in the current case, and one child in another household. The two-child rate of 25% on $4,000 is $1,000. The credit for the one child not before the court is $1,000 divided by 2, or $500. Adjusted net resources are $3,500. The one-child rate of 20% on $3,500 is $700, which works out to 17.5% of the original net resources rather than the standard 20%.

The credit applies even if the obligor is behind on payments for the other children. The court counts every child the obligor has a legal duty to support, including children who live in the obligor’s home.⁴

Medical and Dental Support

Every Texas child support order has to address health and dental coverage for the child. The court follows a priority order: if either parent can get coverage through an employer, union, or similar group at a reasonable cost, that parent must enroll the child.⁵ When the receiving parent provides the insurance, the court orders the obligor to reimburse the actual cost of the child’s coverage on top of the base amount.

If neither parent can get affordable employer coverage, the court may order cash medical support instead. Because court-ordered premiums for the child are a deduction from gross income, providing insurance for the child shrinks the net resources figure the guideline percentage is applied to.¹

When Courts Deviate From the Guidelines

Guideline amounts are presumed correct, not required. Either parent can ask for a higher or lower number by showing the guidelines would be unjust given the circumstances. Texas law lists 17 factors the court may weigh, including the child’s age and specific needs, each parent’s ability to contribute, how much time the obligor spends with the child, child care costs incurred to maintain employment, employer-provided housing or vehicles, travel costs for visitation, debts, and post-secondary education expenses. The statute also includes a catch-all for “any other reason consistent with the best interest of the child, taking into consideration the circumstances of the parents.”⁶ Deviations most often come up where visitation travel is unusually expensive or where the child has significant uninsured medical costs.

Modifying the Amount Later

There are two routes to modification. The first is a material and substantial change in circumstances affecting the child or either parent. The statute does not spell out exactly what counts, but a significant increase or decrease in the obligor’s income, a new child the obligor is legally responsible for, a shift in the child’s medical needs, or a change in physical custody will typically qualify.⁷

The second route does not require a change in circumstances. If three years have passed since the order was issued or last modified, either parent can ask for a review when the current order differs from the guideline amount by at least 20% or $100.⁷ The three-year option is not available if the parents originally agreed to an amount that departed from the guidelines. Modifications take effect only from the date of service or the obligor’s appearance in the modification suit, and never apply retroactively to past-due amounts.

When Child Support Ends

Texas child support runs until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever comes later.⁸ A child who graduates at 17 is still owed support until turning 18. A child who turns 18 in January but finishes high school in May is owed support through graduation. Support also ends if the child marries, has the legal disabilities of minority removed by court order, or dies. If the child has a disability as defined in the Family Code, the court can order support indefinitely.

1
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.062 – Net Resources
2
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.125 – Application of Guidelines to Net Resources
3
Office of the Attorney General. Monthly Child Support Calculator
4
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.128 – Computing Support for Children in More Than One Household
5
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.1825 – Dental Care Coverage
6
State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 154.123 – Additional Factors for Court to Consider
7
State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 156.401 – Modification of an Order or Portion of a Decree That Provides for Support of a Child
8
State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 154.001 – Court-Ordered Child Support