Child support · AZ
Arizona child support calculator
The Arizona Child Support Guidelines turn parenting time into a percentage of the basic obligation, step by step.
Rules read on official Arizona pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Model
- Income shares
- Income counted
- Adjusted gross
- Shared parenting
- No fixed formula
- 1 child, $5,000 / $3,000
- $683
- a month, rules of January 1, 2022
A parent in Arizona with $5,000 of monthly child support income, next to a co-parent at $3,000, carries 62.5% of the basic obligation for two children: $1,014 a month before insurance and child care, when that parent has fewer than 20 parenting days a year. Arizona does not use a single shared-custody switch. Its Parenting Time Table has 12 bands, and each band takes a fixed percentage of the basic obligation off the paying parent's share, from 2.5% at 20 days up to 50% once the count reaches 164. The count is made in days built from hours, so an overnight that ends at breakfast is not a full day. The schedule rows go from $750 to $30,000 of combined income in steps of $50, and the guidelines in force were adopted for orders entered from January 1, 2022.
Guideline child support in Arizona, per month
$683
$8,190 a year
| Combined adjusted child support income | $8,000 |
| Basic obligation, closest schedule row ($8,000), 1 child | $1,092 |
| Paying parent’s share of income | 62.5% |
| Not included | older-child (12+) adjustment and Self-Support Reserve Test |
Estimate under the Arizona guideline as published, from the incomes you enter. Deviations, imputed income, other children and the judge's findings can change the order. How this is calculated.
Hours, quarter days and half days
Many income-shares states count overnights. Arizona counts parenting time in blocks of hours and converts each block into days, and the conversion rule sits in the guidelines themselves: (24 hours = 1 day; 12+ hours = 1 day; 6-11 hours = 1/2 day; 3-5 hours = 1/4 day, § V.C). Short visits therefore matter. A Wednesday dinner from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. every week is a quarter day each time, so about thirteen days over a year; added to a few holiday weekends, that can carry a parent into the second band of the table.
Pickup and return times are what the court looks at. If the exchange happens at school, the receiving parent's time starts when classes end, not at the morning drop-off. Two families with the same calendar of weekends can land in different bands because one hands over on Sunday evening and the other on Monday morning.
What each band is worth for one family
The table below runs the calculator for the same couple, $5,000 and $3,000 a month, two children, no add-ons. The paying parent's share of the basic obligation is $1,014; the parenting time percentage is applied to the whole basic obligation of $1,622, not to that share, which is why the drop is steep near the top of the table.
| Parenting days a year | Percentage | Monthly support |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 19 | 0% | $1,014 |
| 20 to 34 | 2.5% | $973 |
| 35 to 49 | 5% | $933 |
| 50 to 69 | 7.5% | $892 |
| 70 to 84 | 10% | $852 |
| 85 to 99 | 15% | $770 |
| 100 to 114 | 17.5% | $730 |
| 115 to 129 | 20% | $689 |
| 130 to 142 | 25% | $608 |
| 143 to 152 | 32.5% | $487 |
| 153 to 163 | 40% | $365 |
| 164 or more | 50% | $203 |
One extra day can move a parent across a line: at 99 days this family's order is $770, at 100 days it is $730. The highest band starts at 164 days, where the deduction is 50% against 40% in the band just below. When parenting time is essentially equal, the parent with the larger income still pays, and the guidelines add that the parent paying the children's insurance deducts that premium from what is owed.
The closest row, and what this estimate omits
Arizona does not interpolate. Locate the income closest to the combined adjusted child support income; if it falls exactly halfway between two entries, round up to the higher entry (Guidelines § III.A.1, e.g. $8,125 uses $8,150). Above $30,000 the top row is the presumptive amount unless a party asks for more: a family at $50,000 with one child starts from $2,572.
Two adjustments in the guidelines are not in this calculator. The older-child increase needs the children's ages. The Self-Support Reserve Test needs the current reserve, which the guidelines define as 80% of monthly full-time earnings at the state minimum wage; our data holds no dollar figure for 2026, so a paying parent near minimum wage should expect the court's worksheet to come out lower than the figure shown here. Compare with the shared-responsibility line of New Mexico or the time percentage built into the formula of California.
The Arizona guideline this calculator applies
| Rule | Arizona |
|---|---|
| Model | Income shares, combined adjusted child support income schedule (2022 Arizona Child Support Guidelines) |
| Income counted | Adjusted gross income: gross income minus the deductions the guideline allows. |
| Official schedule | $750 to $30,000 of combined income a month, 586 rows |
| Shared parenting | No overnight formula in the calculator (see the rule below) |
| In force since | January 1, 2022 |
Monthly support for one paying parent, the other parent without income
| Paying parent’s monthly income | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children | 4 children |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $395 | $601 | $727 | $812 |
| $3,000 | $574 | $874 | $1,057 | $1,180 |
| $4,000 | $750 | $1,123 | $1,349 | $1,507 |
| $5,000 | $883 | $1,332 | $1,596 | $1,782 |
| $6,000 | $953 | $1,429 | $1,700 | $1,899 |
| $8,000 | $1,092 | $1,622 | $1,912 | $2,135 |
| $10,000 | $1,274 | $1,889 | $2,224 | $2,484 |
| $12,500 | $1,458 | $2,144 | $2,500 | $2,792 |
| $15,000 | $1,650 | $2,415 | $2,801 | $3,129 |
| $20,000 | $1,991 | $2,912 | $3,376 | $3,771 |
How the amount is set. Locate the income closest to the combined adjusted child support income; if it falls exactly halfway between two entries, round up to the higher entry (Guidelines § III.A.1, e.g. $8,125 uses $8,150). source
Income. Child Support Income is income from any source before deductions or withholdings (salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, dividends, severance, military pay, pensions, interest, trust income, annuities, capital gains, Social Security, workers' compensation, unemployment, disability, recurring gifts, prizes, spousal maintenance received); self-employment = gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary expenses, including one-half of self-employment tax (Guidelines § II.A.1). Adjusted Child Support Income deducts court-ordered spousal maintenance paid and support for children of other relationships (§ II.B); the parents' adjusted incomes are added (§ II.C).
Above the table. Above $30,000 combined a month, the $30,000 amount is the basic obligation unless a party asks for more and the court finds a higher amount is in the child's best interests (§ III.A.1.c).
Parenting time. Parenting Time Table (Guidelines § V.D): count the parenting-time days of the parent with less time (24 hours = 1 day; 12+ hours = 1 day; 6-11 hours = 1/2 day; 3-5 hours = 1/4 day, § V.C). Multiply the basic obligation (plus any older-child adjustment) by the table percentage and subtract the result from that parent's proportionate share of the total child support obligation.
Child care and health care. added to basic obligation and shared by income added to basic obligation (child's share of the premium) and shared by income The basic obligation is raised 10% per child over age 12 (prorated, § III.B.2), then medical, dental and vision insurance for the child (§ III.B.3), childcare for work or job search (§ III.B.4), education expenses (§ III.B.5) and extraordinary child expenses (§ III.B.6) are added, annualized (§ III.B.7), and divided by income shares (§ IV). A parent who pays these costs directly deducts them from his or her share (§ VI).
Low incomes. Self-Support Reserve = 80% of monthly full-time earnings at the state minimum wage for the year of the calculation (§ VIII.B). Subtract it from the paying parent's adjusted income; if the remainder is lower than the presumptive share but above zero, the court may reduce the order to the remainder, after applying the same test to the receiving parent (§ VIII.C-F). The guidelines' own example uses $12.15/hour: $12.15 x 40 x 52 / 12 = $2,106 x 0.80 = $1,685.
When support ends. Duration is governed by A.R.S. §§ 25-320 and 25-501. The presumptive termination date is the last day of the month of the youngest child's 18th birthday, or, if the child will not finish high school by 18, the last day of the month of expected graduation or age 19, whichever comes first (Guidelines § XV.A-D). source
The state also runs its own official child support calculator; use it, or the court's worksheet, for a filing.
Worth knowing in Arizona
- The 2022 Arizona Child Support Guidelines apply to all orders entered after January 1, 2022 (revised September 21, 2022 by AO 2022-116), with exceptions when parties agree or the court finds good cause to use the guidelines in effect when the action was filed (§ XVII.A). source
- Arizona counts parenting time in days and fractions of days (1/4 and 1/2 days), not just overnights, and the adjustment rises to 50% of the basic obligation at 164 days or more (§ V.C-D). source
- The basic obligation is increased by up to 10% for each child over age 12, prorated across the children (§ III.B.2). source
- A variance of at least 15% between an existing order and the guideline amount is evidence of a substantial and continuing change of circumstances for modification (§ XVII.B). source
- The court presumes a parent can work full time at least at the higher of the state or federal adult minimum wage when attributing income (§ II.A.4, citing A.R.S. § 25-320(N)). source