Child support in Pennsylvania.
What the state’s own guideline says, where the number comes from, and the one figure that moves it more than anything you will argue about.
See a different statePennsylvania
Pennsylvania combines both parents' monthly net incomes, reads a basic obligation off the Basic Child Support Schedule in the rules, and splits it in proportion to each parent's share of that combined net income. Childcare, health insurance and certain other expenses are then allocated on top. Unlike most states, Pennsylvania runs the whole calculation on net income rather than gross.
How Pennsylvania works out the number
Authority: Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure 1910.16-1 through 1910.16-7, adopted by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania under 23 Pa.C.S. § 4322; the Basic Child Support Schedule and self-support reserve were updated in the 2025 quadrennial review, effective January 1, 2026Yes, at 40%. Rule 1910.16-4(c) applies a substantial or shared custodial time adjustment when a party has "40% or more" of custodial time, reducing that parent's income share to reflect the support they already provide directly. The rule warns against calculating each child separately and offsetting, because that "does not consider the incremental increases" in the cost of additional children.
No official calculator
We could not find a calculator or worksheet published by Pennsylvania itself. Private sites offer them; none of those numbers binds a judge. If you use one, treat the result as an estimate and take the guideline itself to your hearing.
What goes into the calculation
What counts as income
Monthly gross income is "ordinarily based on at least a six-month average of a party's income" and includes "wages, salaries, bonuses, fees, and commissions," "net income from business or dealings in property," "interest, rents, royalties, and dividends," "pensions and all forms of retirement," Social Security disability benefits, and "other entitlements to money or lump sum awards" including lottery winnings and insurance settlements. Overtime and second-job income fall inside that broad wage category and are averaged over six months. Only five things come off to get monthly net income: "federal, state, and local income taxes"; "unemployment compensation taxes and Local Services Taxes (LST)"; "F.I.C.A. payments (Social Security, Medicare and Self-Employment taxes)"; "mandatory union dues"; and "alimony paid to the other party."
When a judge can treat you as earning more
"If a party willfully fails to obtain or maintain appropriate employment, the trier-of-fact may impute to the party an income equal to the party's earning capacity." Pennsylvania puts a hard ceiling on this: the court "shall not impute… earning capacity that exceeds the amount the party could earn from one full-time position." Factors include employment history, job skills, education, age, health, criminal record and "local job market, including the availability of employers who are willing to hire."
If you do not earn much
The Self-Support Reserve is "the minimum monthly net income reserved to the obligor to meet the obligor's basic needs." Under the schedule effective January 1, 2026 the SSR amount is $1,255 per month, up from $1,063. Where the paying parent's income falls into the shaded area at the bottom of the schedule, the court runs two calculations, one using the obligor's income alone and one using combined parental income, and awards "the lesser of the two calculated amounts."
Childcare and health insurance
Under Rule 1910.16-6, reasonable childcare expenses are allocated between the parents, and the rule now allows allocation of "reasonable child care expenses that would be paid by the parties when the trier-of-fact imputes earning capacity." Health insurance premiums are allocated, excluding employer-paid premiums and coverage for people the party owes no duty of support. Unreimbursed medical expenses are allocated only to the extent they exceed $250 per year per person, and documentation must be provided by March 31 of the following year.
Private school, special needs, activities
Rule 1910.16-6(d) covers additional expenses, and the 2024 amendments broadened it beyond private school tuition and summer camp to include expenses for "educational, extra-curricular, or developmental activities" where the court finds them reasonable.
Pennsylvania is a net-income state, which means the deduction list matters enormously and it is short. Your 401(k) contributions, your rent, your car payment: none of them come off. Only taxes, FICA, unemployment and local services taxes, mandatory union dues and alimony paid to your ex. The second thing worth knowing is the 40% custody line, which is higher than most states' thresholds; at 39% of overnights you get no shared-custody adjustment at all.
Later on
When it ends
23 Pa.C.S. § 4321 provides that "Parents are liable for the support of their children who are unemancipated and 18 years of age or younger." In practice Pennsylvania orders run until the later of the child's 18th birthday or high school graduation, but we could not confirm that rule's text on an official site.
College and support after 18
Pennsylvania has a postsecondary educational costs statute at 23 Pa.C.S. § 4327, but its enforceability has been contested since the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision in Curtis v. Kline (1995). We could not open the statute or the opinion on an official state site, so treat court-ordered college support in Pennsylvania as an open question and ask a Pennsylvania family lawyer before relying on it.
How far back a change can reach
We could not confirm this state’s rule on how far back an order or a change can be applied. It matters: in some states the clock starts the day you file, so filing late costs money you do not get back.
What we could not confirm
- Pennsylvania was the hardest state on this list to verify, because the official Pennsylvania Code site blocks automated access. We could not confirm: whether the state publishes a public support calculator or a fill-in guideline worksheet; the deviation factors in Rule 1910.16-5; the standard and timing for modifying an order; how far back a modification reaches; the state's enforcement tools; and the current status of court-ordered college support under 23 Pa.C.S. § 4327. We are also reporting the self-support reserve as $1,255 effective January 1, 2026 based on the Supreme Court rule text on the courts' own site, but could not cross-check it against the published Pennsylvania Code. Your county Domestic Relations Section can confirm all of these, and they will run the calculation for you.
- 3 official pages we tried to read refused automated access. We did not try to get around the block, so some detail above comes from a different official source rather than the one we would have preferred.
Compare all fifty states
The overnight thresholds, the ending ages and the college rules, side by side.