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Updated for 2026 guidelines

Georgia Child Support Calculator 2026

Georgia rewrote its child support law in two stages, and the second stage started this January. This page runs the current O.C.G.A. 19-6-15 math on gross incomes and tells you plainly where the new statute is unclear.

Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log

Estimate Georgia child support

Both parents' gross monthly income

Georgia computes support on GROSS income (O.C.G.A. 19-6-15(f)): pay from all sources before any tax comes out. Do not subtract income tax or FICA. Salary, self-employment, bonuses, and commissions all count.

Is the paying parent self-employed?

Self-employed parents get a Schedule B adjustment: one-half of self-employment taxes (6.2 percent plus 1.45 percent Medicare) comes off gross income (19-6-15(f)(5)(A)).

Same rule: that parent gross pay from all sources, before taxes.

Children and parenting time

The Basic Child Support Obligation table covers 1 to 6 children.

Days the court order gives the paying parent (0 to 365); the other parent is assumed to hold the rest of the year. Since January 1, 2026 Georgia reduces the payer share by a formula that raises each parent days to the power 2.5 (19-6-15(g)). Official confirmation required: the enacted clause text contains a drafting transposition, we implement the reading consistent with the Act prose, and the state Commission calculator could not be reached to cross-check. Leave blank for no adjustment.

Monthly add-ons (optional)

Child care needed for work, prorated between the parents on Schedule D (19-6-15(h)).

The cost of covering the children only, prorated on Schedule D (19-6-15(h)).

Estimated monthly child support: $458.13

The paying parent pays this amount to the receiving parent each month.

How this estimate was computed
Line itemAmount
Combined adjusted gross income (monthly)SB 454 (2024) enrolled/signed Act: full amended O.C.G.A. 19-6-15 incl. BCSO table and low-income table (Office of the Governor of Georgia / General Assembly)$4,000.00
Basic Child Support Obligation (1 child, table row 4000)Subsection (o) table effective 2024-07-01 (SB 454)SB 454 (2024) enrolled/signed Act: full amended O.C.G.A. 19-6-15 incl. BCSO table and low-income table (Office of the Governor of Georgia / General Assembly)$733.00
Payer pro rata BCSO share (62.5% of combined AGI)SB 454 (2024) enrolled/signed Act: full amended O.C.G.A. 19-6-15 incl. BCSO table and low-income table (Office of the Governor of Georgia / General Assembly)$458.13
Presumptive monthly child support (payer to recipient)SB 454 (2024) enrolled/signed Act: full amended O.C.G.A. 19-6-15 incl. BCSO table and low-income table (Office of the Governor of Georgia / General Assembly)$458.13

Assumptions

  • Schedule E deviations (high income upward deviation, travel, mortgage, extraordinary expenses, etc.) are not applied; the result is the presumptive amount.
  • Preexisting-order deductions (Schedule B item 2) are not modeled; provide already-adjusted gross income if a preexisting order exists.
  • The "$2,394 self-support reserve (180% FPG)" circulating in commentary is not in the enacted SB 454 text and is not applied; the Act's Low-Income Adjustment table is the only low-income mechanism.

Continue with this income in the PayDecode take-home calculator

PayDecode is a separate site. The link may not carry your numbers over; if its form opens blank, enter the income there again.

Estimate only. The court or state agency calculation controls.

Georgia guidelines, effective 2026-01-01.

Georgia guideline facts

Guideline model
Income shares, computed on both parents GROSS monthly incomessource
Statute
O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, rewritten by SB 454 (2024)source
BCSO table range
$800 to $40,000 combined monthly income, 1 to 6 childrensource
High-income line
Above $40,000 a month, raised from $30,000 by SB 454source
Parenting time formula
Days raised to the power 2.5, mandatory since January 1, 2026source
Official calculator
Yes: the Commission online calculator, free account requiredsource
Current regime effective
January 1, 2026 (SB 454 phase two)source
Data last reviewed
August 7, 2026source

How Georgia calculates child support

Georgia uses income shares on GROSS income. Both parents matter, and neither subtracts taxes first. Wages, self-employment earnings, bonuses, and commissions all go in at their before-tax amounts. That surprises people who have seen net-income states like Florida.

A few Schedule B adjustments come off gross pay. A self-employed parent deducts half of self-employment taxes, meaning 6.2 percent plus 1.45 percent Medicare. Support actually paid under an older order comes off too, and a court can allow a credit of 75 percent of a theoretical order for other children living in a parent home.

The adjusted incomes are added and matched to the Basic Child Support Obligation table. Senate Bill 454 replaced the table on July 1, 2024, the first dollar update since 2006, and stretched it from $800 up to $40,000 of combined monthly income. We transcribed all 785 rows of the signed Act into this tool, so any income in that range resolves.

Each parent then carries a slice of the table amount matching their slice of combined income. The children health insurance premium and work-related child care are added on Schedule D and split the same way, with a credit to whoever pays the bill directly.

Since January 1, 2026, court-ordered parenting days change the number by formula instead of judicial mood. Each parent days are raised to the power 2.5, and the paying parent share drops by their share of that weighted total. A word of caution: the enacted clause text contains a drafting transposition, so this tool applies the reading that matches the rest of the Act, and flags it, rather than pretending the text is clean.

A Low-Income Adjustment table also arrived on January 1, 2026. A paying parent earning $1,500 a month or less pays a set percentage of income, 19 percent for one child up to 28 percent for six. From $1,550 the table switches to dollar rows that phase out between $2,450 and $3,950 depending on how many children there are. The parent owes the lesser of that table amount and the regular formula result.

Worked example: $3,500 and $2,500 gross, 1 child, 120 parenting days

  1. A paying parent grosses $3,500 a month and holds 120 court-ordered parenting days a year. The receiving parent grosses $2,500 and holds the other 245 days. One child, no add-ons.
  2. Combine the gross incomes: $3,500 plus $2,500 is $6,000. The BCSO table row at $6,000 for one child reads $1,009.
  3. Split it by income. The paying parent earns 58.3333 percent of the total, so their base share is $588.58. The receiving parent carries the remaining $420.42.
  4. Now the 2026 parenting time step. Raise each parent days to the power 2.5: 120 days becomes 157,744.10 and 245 days becomes 939,539.86, which sum to 1,097,283.96.
  5. The paying parent weighted fraction is 157,744.10 divided by 1,097,283.96, and that fraction of the $1,009 obligation is $145.05. The base share drops by that amount: $588.58 minus $145.05 leaves $443.53 a month.
  6. The calculator above returns the same $443.53, and this exact scenario is pinned as a golden fixture in our test suite, with a roundtrip test that runs the page form itself. One honest caveat travels with it: the enacted parenting time clauses contain a drafting transposition, we apply the reading consistent with the Act prose, and the Commission calculator was unreachable for a cross-check.

The steps above follow the calculation method described on our methodology page.

Georgia guideline history

  1. Georgia moved from a percentage of the paying parent income to the income shares model with a BCSO table, and created the Child Support Commission and its calculator.source
  2. SB 454 phase one: a new BCSO table, the first dollar update since 2006, with the income axis extended to $40,000 a month and a credit added for VA disability benefits.source
  3. SB 454 phase two: the discretionary parenting time deviation became a mandatory formula using days raised to the power 2.5, and the low-income deviation became the Low-Income Adjustment table.source

Georgia child support FAQs

Does Georgia child support use gross or net income?

Gross. O.C.G.A. 19-6-15(f) counts income from all sources before taxes, so the number to enter is bigger than take-home pay. The only tax-flavored break is for the self-employed, who deduct one-half of self-employment taxes on Schedule B. There is no deduction for regular payroll income tax or FICA.

What did SB 454 actually change?

Two waves of change. On July 1, 2024, Georgia got its first new BCSO dollar table since 2006, reaching to $40,000 a month, plus a credit for VA disability benefits. On January 1, 2026, the discretionary parenting time deviation became a mandatory formula and the low-income deviation became a published table. Both waves are in force now.

How do parenting days change the amount in 2026?

Each parent court-ordered days are raised to the power 2.5, and the paying parent share of the basic obligation is reduced by their weighted fraction of it. More days with the paying parent means a lower payment, and a paying parent with most of the time can flip the direction entirely. Be aware that the enacted clause text has a drafting transposition; we implement the reading consistent with the rest of the Act and say so on every result.

Is there really a $2,394 self-support reserve in Georgia?

No. That figure circulates in articles and marketing pages, usually described as 180 percent of the federal poverty guideline, but the enacted SB 454 text contains no self-support reserve dollar amount and no poverty guideline reference at all. The real low-income protection is the Low-Income Adjustment table, which we implement exactly as printed in the Act.

What happens above $40,000 a month in combined income?

The court sets the basic obligation at the $40,000 table row, the highest published amount, and may add more in the child best interest as a deviation. SB 454 raised this high-income line from $30,000. This tool applies the table maximum and leaves any upward deviation to the judge.

Does Georgia have an official calculator?

Yes. The Georgia Child Support Commission runs a free online calculator, rebuilt in 2025, and courts expect its worksheets in support cases. It requires creating a login account. Use our page for a quick no-signup estimate with visible math, then confirm the number in the official tool before relying on it.

How does the credit for other children in my home work?

A parent supporting other qualified children living in their home can ask for a theoretical order credit: the table amount for those children at that parent income, times 75 percent, subtracted from gross income (19-6-15(f)(5)(C)). The credit is discretionary and hardship-based, so a court can decline it. The form on this page does not collect an other-children count; the official calculator handles that scenario.

What if the paying parent earns under $1,500 a month?

The 2026 Low-Income Adjustment applies automatically. At or below $1,500 of adjusted gross income, the table amount is a flat percentage of income, from 19 percent for one child to 28 percent for six. The parent pays the lesser of that and the regular formula amount. Above $1,500 the table continues in dollar rows until it phases out, at $2,450 for one child up to $3,950 for six.

Good to know in Georgia

  • The Commission online calculator requires a free account, and its worksheets attach to the final order. The retired Excel calculator still floating around produces pre-2024 numbers; the Commission warns against it.
  • Our parenting time caution in detail: the Act literal clause order makes the obligation grow as the paying parent keeps more days, which contradicts the Act own definitions in (a)(17) and (g)(1). We implement the reading those definitions support and mark it official-confirmation-required until the Commission calculator can be compared directly.
  • Georgia publishes the official code through LexisNexis, which blocks automated retrieval, so our statute text comes from the signed Act PDF on the Governor site. The Act is the law as passed, which is why we transcribe from it row by row.

How to use this estimate

Enter each parent gross monthly income, straight off the pay stub before any withholding. Mark the self-employment toggle if the paying parent works for themselves, pick the number of children, and add court-ordered parenting days if an order sets them.

The result walks the worksheet order: Schedule B adjustments, the BCSO table row, the pro rata split, the parenting time step, Schedule D add-ons, then the low-income comparison. Every line names its statute subsection.

Treat the parenting time line with extra care. The formula is brand new, the statutory text has an internal contradiction, and until the Commission calculator can be checked against it, our reading is a documented judgment call, not settled ground.

Deviations stay with the judge. Schedule E lets a court move the presumptive number for high income, travel costs, mortgage payments, extraordinary expenses, and more, always with written findings.

What this estimate includes

  • The full 785-row BCSO table from the signed SB 454 Act, $800 to $40,000
  • The Schedule B self-employment tax adjustment (7.65 percent of gross)
  • The days-to-the-power-2.5 parenting time formula, clearly flagged
  • Health insurance and work-related child care splits with direct-payer credits
  • The complete 2026 Low-Income Adjustment table, flat band and dollar rows
  • The $40,000 high-income cap with the table maximum applied

What it leaves out

  • Schedule E deviations, which need a judge and written findings
  • Preexisting-order deductions (subtract those from gross income yourself)
  • The discretionary theoretical order credit for other children in a parent home
  • Social Security and VA disability benefit offsets for the child
  • Split-parenting cases where each parent is custodian of different children

Official sources

Official sources last verified: .

Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log

Changelog: page first published with the full SB 454 obligation table and the flagged 2026 parenting time formula. Material changes are dated in the update log.