Child support · OR
Oregon child support calculator
The Oregon scale of OAR 137-050-0725, the logistic parenting time credit and the self-support reserve, applied to your incomes.
Rules read on official Oregon 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
- $596
- a month, rules of July 1, 2013
In Oregon a parent with $4,000 of monthly adjusted gross income, facing $2,000 on the other side, owes about $823 a month for two children when the children sleep at the other home every night. The Division of Child Support scale reads combined adjusted income in $50 brackets, takes the lower amount of the bracket, and stops growing at $30,000. What sets Oregon apart is the parenting time credit: there is no threshold of nights. A smooth S-shaped curve turns any number of overnights into a credit percentage, so 73 overnights already bring the same parent down to $713. Low earners are protected twice. Each parent keeps a self-support reserve of $1,729 a month (OAR 137-050-0745, the figure effective July 1, 2026), and the rules then presume that a paying parent can still afford $100.
Guideline child support in Oregon, per month
$596
$7,155 a year
| Combined adjusted gross income | $8,000 |
| Scale amount, 1 child (bracket $7951–$8000) | $954 |
| Paying parent’s share of income | 62.5% |
| Net obligation of the parent who pays | $596 |
Estimate under the Oregon 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.
A credit for every overnight
Most states wait until the paying parent has a quarter or a third of the year before time counts. Oregon starts at night one. OAR 137-050-0730(6) gives the credit percentage as a logistic function of the share of the year spent with each parent, with a slope of 7.14 and a correction of 2.74 points that pins the curve to zero at no time and to one hundred percent at a full year. One overnight a year is worth 0.07%; half the year is worth exactly half. The rule prefers the exact formula and keeps a rounded table only for people working by hand.
The credit is a dollar amount, not a discount on one parent's share: the percentage multiplies the whole combined scale amount, and each parent receives a credit for their own nights. Only the parent whose net obligation stays larger is ordered to pay (OAR 137-050-0710(1)(i)).
| Overnights a year with the paying parent | Credit | Monthly support, two children |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | -0.00% | $823 |
| 36 | 3.19% | $783 |
| 73 | 8.86% | $713 |
| 104 | 16.54% | $619 |
| 146 | 32.32% | $424 |
The curve is flat at the start and steep in the middle. Moving from 104 to 146 nights saves far more than the first 36 nights do, because the S-curve accelerates around one third of the year.
The scale itself is old, the reserve is new
The scale printed in the appendix to OAR 137-050-0725 still carries the form date of February 2007 and rests on a 2006 economic study; the rule text in force dates from July 1, 2013. It covers up to 10 children and gross rather than net income. Above $30,000 of combined adjusted income the amount stays at the top line ($2,801 for two children) unless a party rebuts it. The self-support reserve, by contrast, moves every year with the federal poverty guideline. Take $2,000 against $4,000 with one child: the income share would be a third of the scale amount, but the parent only has $271 above the reserve, so the order is $271. At $1,800 against $5,000, the reserve leaves almost nothing and the $100 minimum takes over: $100.
What the calculator leaves to the worksheet
The official Oregon DOJ guidelines calculator also handles a child attending school between 18 and 21, the non-joint child deduction and Social Security benefits paid for the child. Child care entered here is treated as paid by the parent with the children, and the cap of OAR 137-050-0735 Table 1 is not applied. See how other states treat time in the state-by-state overview.
The Oregon guideline this calculator applies
| Rule | Oregon |
|---|---|
| Model | Income shares, combined adjusted gross income scale (OAR 137-050-0725) |
| Income counted | Adjusted gross income: gross income minus the deductions the guideline allows. |
| Official schedule | $0 to $30,000 of combined income a month, 581 rows |
| Shared parenting | No overnight formula in the calculator (see the rule below) |
| In force since | July 1, 2013 |
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 | $271 | $271 | $271 | $271 |
| $3,000 | $558 | $808 | $951 | $1,063 |
| $4,000 | $699 | $1,011 | $1,189 | $1,329 |
| $5,000 | $788 | $1,136 | $1,333 | $1,489 |
| $6,000 | $858 | $1,234 | $1,446 | $1,615 |
| $8,000 | $954 | $1,363 | $1,585 | $1,771 |
| $10,000 | $1,082 | $1,542 | $1,789 | $1,998 |
| $12,500 | $1,238 | $1,762 | $2,042 | $2,281 |
| $15,000 | $1,337 | $1,899 | $2,196 | $2,453 |
| $20,000 | $1,587 | $2,249 | $2,596 | $2,900 |
How the amount is set. When the combined income falls between two income amounts on the scale, use the lower income amount on the scale (OAR 137-050-0725(5)); the scale is printed as $50 brackets (e.g. 1001 - 1050). source
Income. Income is actual or potential gross income from any source (OAR 137-050-0715). Adjusted income = income minus mandatory union dues, the parent's own health insurance cost, spousal support paid, plus spousal support received, minus the non-joint child deduction (OAR 137-050-0720(1)).
Above the table. If combined adjusted gross income is more than $30,000 per month, the basic obligation is the same as for $30,000 (OAR 137-050-0725(3)); the result may be rebutted under OAR 137-050-0760. More than ten children = same as ten (OAR 137-050-0725(4)).
Parenting time. Every parent with parenting time gets a parenting time credit from the first overnight: credit % = 1/(1+e^(-7.14*((overnights/365)-0.5))) - 2.74% + 2*2.74%*(overnights/365); the precise formula is preferred, a rounded table by overnights may be used (OAR 137-050-0730(6)). Credit = minor children's portion of the combined basic obligation x the parent's credit % (OAR 137-050-0730(7)); only the parent with the greater net obligation pays (OAR 137-050-0710(1)(i)). Overnights are averaged over two consecutive years; 12 continuous hours may count as one day (OAR 137-050-0730(2)).
Child care and health care. Allowed work-related child care costs for a child under 13 or disabled, capped by OAR 137-050-0735 Table 1 (e.g. $1,705 per child per month newborn to 3 in the Portland/Bend/Eugene... metro areas), shared by income percentage (OAR 137-050-0735(5)). Health care coverage is reasonable in cost up to 4% of each parent's adjusted income (OAR 137-050-0750(5)); the cost ordered is shared by each parent's share of the combined reasonable-in-cost limit (OAR 137-050-0750(14)). Child care is added to each parent's obligation and the paying parent is credited (OAR 137-050-0710(1)(e),(h); 137-050-0735). Health coverage costs are added and credited the same way (OAR 137-050-0750).
Low incomes. Subtract a self-support reserve of $1,729 from each parent's adjusted income; total obligation may not exceed the available income (OAR 137-050-0745(2)-(3), effective July 1, 2026; reserve = federal poverty guideline for one person x 1.303, updated annually). A parent is presumed able to pay at least $100 per month (OAR 137-050-0755(1)), except e.g. exactly 182.5 overnights each, disability benefits as sole income, incarceration, public benefits (OAR 137-050-0755(2)).
When support ends. Support runs to 18; a child at least 18 and under 21 attending school may continue to receive support under ORS 107.108 if the order contains child attending school language (Oregon DOJ Child Support Program, ORS 107.108, OAR 137-055-5110). source
The state also runs its own official child support calculator; use it, or the court's worksheet, for a filing.
Worth knowing in Oregon
- Oregon's scale is based on gross (not net) income: it was built from net-income data converted to gross, assuming the obligated parent claims two exemptions (OAR 137-050-0725 commentary). source
- The scale goes up to ten children: it adds 5.6% for the seventh child, 4.2% for the eighth, 2.8% for the ninth and 1.4% for the tenth, and nothing beyond (OAR 137-050-0725 commentary). source
- The parenting time credit is a continuous logistic formula, so even one overnight a year reduces support (0.07% credit), with no threshold (OAR 137-050-0730(6)). source
- The self-support reserve is tied to the federal poverty guideline x 1.303 and was set at $1,729 per month effective July 1, 2026 (OAR 137-050-0745(2),(5)). source
- The Child Support Program must review the guidelines every four years (ORS 25.270, 45 CFR 302.56, per OAR 137-050-0725 commentary). source