Child support · NJ
New Jersey child support calculator
Appendix IX-F of the New Jersey Court Rules, read in weekly dollars, with the IX-A adjustments for parenting time and low income.
Rules read on official New Jersey pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Model
- Income shares
- Income counted
- Net income
- Shared parenting
- No fixed formula
- 1 child, $5,000 / $3,000
- $1,105
- a month, rules of September 1, 2025
New Jersey sets child support by the week, not the month: Appendix IX-F lists awards for combined net weekly income from $180 to $3,600, and a parent netting $1,154 a week ($5,000 a month) next to a parent netting $692 owes about $289 a week, $1,254 a month, for two children. The schedule now in force took effect on September 1, 2025. Time with the children lowers the figure in two different ways. Below 28% of overnights, roughly two nights a week, the court may give a parenting-time credit for food and transportation, the 37% of spending that follows the child. From 28%, a shared-parenting award recognizes that the second home also carries housing costs. At the other end, the self-support reserve of $451 a week keeps a low-earning obligor above 150% of the poverty guideline when the other parent can afford it.
Guideline child support in New Jersey, per month
$1,105
$13,260 a year · $255 a week, the period of the NJ table
| Combined net income, a month | $8,000 |
| Basic award in Appendix IX-F, 1 child | $1,768 |
| Paying parent’s income share | 62.5% |
Estimate under the New Jersey 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.
Why the week is the unit
New Jersey built its guideline around weekly pay stubs. Every input in the worksheet is a weekly net figure: gross pay minus income taxes, mandatory union dues, mandatory retirement and support already paid for other children. A parent paid monthly should multiply by twelve and divide by fifty-two before reading the table; skipping that step is the most common error in self-made calculations, and it overstates the award by about a third. Rows are spaced $10 apart. Above $3,600 a week, roughly $187,200 a year, the top award ($719 for two children) becomes a floor and the judge adds a discretionary amount under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23. The rule forbids extrapolating the table.
The 2025 revision produced an odd feature at the top: the one-child and two-children columns nearly meet ($717 against $719 at the last row). It is how the schedule was adopted, and the calculator copies it as published.
Parenting time: credit or shared award
Appendix IX-A splits what parents spend on a child into three pools: 38% fixed (housing), 37% variable (food, transportation) and 25% controlled (clothing, personal care, entertainment), which stays with the parent of primary residence.
Below the line. A parent of alternate residence with regular overnights can receive a credit equal at most to the award times 37% times his or her share of overnights. The word is "may", so courts can give less. With 52 nights a year our paying parent would owe $265 a week at the maximum credit, against $289 with none.
At or above 28%. The alternate parent is assumed to carry fixed costs too, prorated at twice the time share. The award becomes that parent's income share of the basic award plus those fixed costs, minus the fixed and variable costs he or she already bears. At 103 nights the example drops to $204 a week. Two guardrails sit outside the calculator: separate living accommodations for the child, and a check that the primary household keeps at least twice the poverty guideline for its size. If that test fails, the court calculates a sole-parenting award instead.
The reserve at the bottom
The reserve equals 150% of the poverty guideline for one person, $451 a week as Appendix IX-A states it for 2025; we found no later figure in the published appendix when we checked. Example: an obligor at $508 a week next to a parent at $2,077 would owe $108 under the schedule, which would leave less than the reserve, so the award falls to $57. It never goes below $5 a week. Compare the monthly approach of Michigan on the calculator.
The New Jersey guideline this calculator applies
| Rule | New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Model | Income shares, combined net weekly income schedule (Rule 5:6A, Appendix IX-F) |
| Income counted | Net income: after income taxes and mandatory deductions, as the state defines it. |
| Official schedule | $180 to $3,600 of combined income a week, 343 rows |
| Shared parenting | No overnight formula in the calculator (see the rule below) |
| In force since | September 1, 2025 |
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 | $693 | $919 | $1,018 | $1,135 |
| $3,000 | $975 | $1,179 | $1,330 | $1,482 |
| $4,000 | $1,196 | $1,400 | $1,603 | $1,790 |
| $5,000 | $1,382 | $1,586 | $1,846 | $2,058 |
| $6,000 | $1,530 | $1,746 | $2,058 | $2,297 |
| $8,000 | $1,768 | $2,006 | $2,431 | $2,713 |
| $10,000 | $1,980 | $2,232 | $2,773 | $3,090 |
| $12,500 | $2,336 | $2,544 | $3,228 | $3,601 |
| $15,000 | $2,916 | $2,977 | $3,805 | $4,242 |
| $20,000 | $3,107 | $3,116 | $3,974 | $4,429 |
How the amount is set. The schedule lists awards every $10 of combined net weekly income from $180 to $3,600 (Appendix IX-F); the rule for amounts between two rows is in Appendix IX-B instructions, not read (see uncertain). source
Income. Net income is gross income minus income taxes, mandatory union dues, mandatory retirement, previously ordered child support and, when appropriate, a theoretical child support obligation for other dependents; Appendix IX-B gives the detailed definition (Appendix IX-A, para. 11).
Above the table. Above $3,600 combined net weekly income ($187,200 a year) the $3,600 award is the minimum basic award and the court adds a discretionary amount under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23; the schedule must not be extrapolated (Appendix IX-F; IX-A).
Parenting time. Shared-parenting award possible when the Parent of Alternate Residence (PAR) has the child the substantial equivalent of two or more overnights a week (at least 28% of the time) with separate living accommodations and a filed parenting plan; not presumptive. Expenses split 38% fixed, 37% variable, 25% controlled; PAR fixed = 2 x PAR% of overnights x 38% of the award; PAR variable = PAR% x 37% of the award; PAR's obligation = PAR income share x (basic award + PAR fixed) - PAR fixed - PAR variable. Not used if the primary household income plus the award is under 2 x the poverty guideline. Below 28%, a PAR time credit of up to PAR% x 37% of the award may apply (Appendix IX-A, paras. 13-14).
Child care and health care. net work-related child care added to basic award and shared by income children's health insurance premium added and shared by income; awards include $250 per child per year of unreimbursed health care Supplemental expenses (child care, health insurance, court-approved special needs) are added to the basic award and shared by income share (Appendix IX-A, paras. 8-9, 14(h)).
Low incomes. The self-support reserve is 150% of the U.S. poverty guideline for one person: $451 a week as of January 1, 2025. The award is adjusted only if paying it would bring the obligor's net income below the reserve and the custodial parent's net income minus his or her share exceeds 150% of the poverty guideline (Appendix IX-A, para. 7(h)). Awards for combined incomes under $180 a week are between $5.00 and the $180 schedule amount.
When support ends. A child support obligation terminates automatically when the child turns 19, marries, dies or enters military service; the custodial parent may request continuation past 19 for a child still in high school, in full-time post-secondary education or disabled, with an end date before age 23 (N.J. Child Support Program FAQ, N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.67). The guidelines themselves are not used for a child over 18 who has finished secondary school (Appendix IX-A, para. 25). source
The state also runs its own official child support calculator; use it, or the court's worksheet, for a filing.
Worth knowing in New Jersey
- New Jersey's schedule uses combined net weekly income, not monthly gross income; the current Appendix IX-F was adopted July 31, 2025 and took effect September 1, 2025 (previous versions 2007 and 2013). source
- The schedule stops at $3,600 combined net weekly income ($187,200 a year) and must not be extrapolated; above it the court adds a discretionary amount. source
- Shared-parenting adjustments require the alternate-residence parent to have at least two overnights a week (about 28% of the time) and are discretionary, not presumptive (Appendix IX-A, para. 14). source
- Orders established or modified after September 1, 1998 get an automatic cost-of-living adjustment every two years based on a 24-month regional CPI average. source
- Support terminates automatically at 19 unless continuation is requested for school or disability, and no later than age 23. source