Child support · SD
South Dakota child support calculator
The SDCL 25-7-6.2 schedule in $50 brackets, the emboldened self-support area and the shared parenting cross credit, applied to your net incomes.
Rules read on official South Dakota pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Model
- Income shares
- Income counted
- Net income
- Shared parenting
- From 180 overnights
- 1 child, $5,000 / $3,000
- $796
- a month, rules of July 1, 2022
A South Dakota parent with $4,000 of monthly net income, when the other parent has $2,000, pays $1,062 a month for two children under the schedule of SDCL 25-7-6.2. The Legislature writes the whole table into the statute in $50 brackets of combined net income, from a first bracket of $0 to $950 up to $30,000, last amended in 2022. Two features set the state apart. The low end of the table is printed in bold: those cells already hold a self-support reserve of $871 a month, and a parent whose own income lands there pays the lesser of that amount and the income share. Shared parenting is not a sliding scale either: the cross credit of SDCL 25-7-6.27 needs a detailed plan giving each home at least 180 nights, and even then the court may refuse it. Below that, a discretionary abatement for nights can apply instead.
Guideline child support in South Dakota, per month
$796
$9,555 a year
| Combined monthly net income | $8,000 |
| Schedule amount, 1 child (bracket $7,951–$8,000) | $1,274 |
| Noncustodial parent’s share of net income | 62.5% |
Estimate under the South Dakota 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.
Bold cells in the statute
The official text of SDCL 25-7-6.2 prints part of its table in bold, and the bold has legal weight. Those cells build in the $871 reserve for a parent with little income. The test runs on the noncustodial parent's income alone: look up that income as if it were the combined figure; if the cell is bold, compare it with the normal proportionate share and order the lower one. The bold area is short, ending at $1,200 for 1 child, $1,350 for 2 children, $1,550 for 3 children, $1,700 for 4 children, $1,850 for 5 children and $2,000 for 6 children.
Take a parent with $1,100 next to a parent with $3,000, one child. The combined bracket gives a share of $243. Read alone, $1,100 falls in the $1,051 to $1,100 bracket, a bold $225, so the order is $225. Move the same parent to $1,300 and the single-income cell is no longer bold for one child: the order is the plain share, $282. The plain-text version of the statute drops the bold, so our script reads the official page's styling to know where the area ends.
180 nights in each home, or nothing automatic
SDCL 25-7-6.27 is narrow. The custody order must contain a detailed shared parenting plan, the child must sleep at least 180 nights a year in each home, and the parents must also share expenses in proportion to income. The schedule amount is then multiplied by 1.5, each parent's share is prorated by the nights the child spends with the other, and the two figures are offset. With our first family, 179 nights leave the order at $1,062; 180 nights bring it to $415. Because each home needs 180 nights, only a schedule close to an even split qualifies.
Below that line, SDCL 25-7-6.14 lets the court abate support for the nights the child stays with the obligor, once there are six or more a month. The rate is a range set case by case and the obligor must prove extra non-duplicated costs, so the calculator leaves it out. If the time is not exercised, the abated amount must be repaid.
Child care, medical bills and the hardship line
Work-related child care is allocated by income; with $3,500 on each side and $600 a month of care, one child, the order grows from $586 to $886. The court may count the federal child care credit at a quarter of the expense when the custodial parent can claim it. The custodial parent pays the first uninsured health costs of each year before the excess is split. A total order, health insurance and child care included, above half of the obligor's monthly net income is presumed to be a financial hardship, a ground to deviate (SDCL 25-7-6.10). Income tax enters net income at the single-taxpayer rate on a monthly payroll period, whatever the parent's real filing status. The schedule used here dates from July 1, 2022, an inferred start date for the 2022 act. Compare North Dakota, which looks at one income only.
The South Dakota guideline this calculator applies
| Rule | South Dakota |
|---|---|
| Model | Income shares, combined monthly net income schedule (SDCL 25-7-6.2) |
| Income counted | Net income: after income taxes and mandatory deductions, as the state defines it. |
| Official schedule | $0 to $30,000 of combined income a month, 582 rows |
| Shared parenting | Cross-credit formula from 180 overnights a year, basic amount × 1.5 |
| In force since | July 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 | $501 | $729 | $862 | $963 |
| $3,000 | $735 | $1,062 | $1,275 | $1,424 |
| $4,000 | $889 | $1,332 | $1,596 | $1,782 |
| $5,000 | $985 | $1,449 | $1,719 | $1,920 |
| $6,000 | $1,077 | $1,593 | $1,869 | $2,088 |
| $8,000 | $1,274 | $1,869 | $2,174 | $2,428 |
| $10,000 | $1,490 | $2,183 | $2,535 | $2,831 |
| $12,500 | $1,769 | $2,559 | $3,007 | $3,359 |
| $15,000 | $2,071 | $2,937 | $3,450 | $3,853 |
| $20,000 | $2,576 | $3,694 | $4,284 | $4,785 |
How the amount is set. The schedule lists $50 income brackets (first bracket 0-950); the obligation for the bracket containing the parents' combined monthly net income is divided between the parents in proportion to their net incomes, and the noncustodial parent's share is the order (SDCL 25-7-6.2). source
Income. Monthly net income is gross income less allowable deductions (SDCL 25-7-6.3). Gross income includes wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, self-employment income, pensions, social security, disability, interest, dividends, rents, capital gains, unemployment and workers' compensation benefits and military allowances; non-recurring overtime, commissions and bonuses may be excluded. Deductions (SDCL 25-7-6.7): income taxes at the single-taxpayer rate on a monthly payroll period, social security and Medicare taxes, qualified retirement contributions up to 10% of gross income, unreimbursed employee business expenses, and payments on other support and maintenance orders.
Above the table. For combined net income above the schedule ($30,000 per month), support is set at an appropriate level taking into account the actual needs and standard of living of the child (SDCL 25-7-6.9).
Parenting time. Shared parenting cross credit (SDCL 25-7-6.27): if a detailed shared parenting plan gives the child no less than 180 nights per calendar year in each home, the court may multiply the combined schedule obligation by 1.5, split it by income shares, prorate each share by the other parent's percentage of nights (365-day year), offset, and the parent with the larger amount pays the difference. Separately, SDCL 25-7-6.14 allows an abatement of 38% to 66% of the daily basic support for each night the child spends with the obligor when the child resides with the obligor six or more nights a month; no abatement may exceed the 25-7-6.27 cross credit.
Child care and health care. The court may allocate reasonable work-, job-search- or training-related child care expenses; if the federal child care credit is available to the custodial parent it is calculated at 25% of the eligible expense (SDCL 25-7-6.18). Medical insurance cost attributable to the child is apportioned between the parents by income; it is reasonable if it is no more than 8% of the parent's net income. The custodial parent pays the first $250 per year of uninsured health costs; the excess is apportioned in proportion to each parent's support obligation (SDCL 25-7-6.16). Child care (SDCL 25-7-6.18) and medical support (SDCL 25-7-6.16) are added to the basic schedule obligation.
Low incomes. The emboldened areas of the schedule include a self-support reserve of $871 per month; the noncustodial parent pays the lesser of the obligation computed on his or her own income alone and the proportionate share of the combined obligation (SDCL 25-7-6.2). The lowest schedule amount is $79 (0-950 bracket). A parent is presumed able to earn at least 1,820 hours times the state minimum wage per year (SDCL 25-7-6.4).
When support ends. Parents must support a child until age 18, or until 19 if the child is a full-time secondary school student (SDCL 25-5-18.1). source
The state also runs its own official child support calculator; use it, or the court's worksheet, for a filing.
Worth knowing in South Dakota
- The schedule was last amended by SL 2022, ch 80 (the 2026 session amended other sections but not the schedule); it runs to $30,000 of combined monthly net income and includes a self-support reserve of $871 per month (SDCL 25-7-6.2). source
- Income tax is deducted at the single-taxpayer rate for a monthly payroll period, not at the parent's actual rate (SDCL 25-7-6.7). source
- A total obligation (with health insurance and child care) above 50% of the obligor's monthly net income is presumed to impose a financial hardship, a ground for deviation (SDCL 25-7-6.10). source
- The Governor appoints a child support commission every four years to review the guidelines (SDCL 25-7-6.12). source
- Income imputed to an unemployed or underemployed parent may not be less than the state minimum wage times 1,820 hours; no income is imputed to a parent incarcerated for more than 180 days (SDCL 25-7-6.26). source