Child support · WA
Washington child support calculator
RCW 26.19 as amended in 2025: a new economic table, read per child, on combined monthly net income.
Rules read on official Washington 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
- $794
- a month, rules of January 1, 2026
Washington replaced its economic table on January 1, 2026. The new RCW 26.19.020 table gives an amount per child, by family size, for combined monthly net income from $2,200 to $50,000, and it has no age columns. For parents with $5,000 and $3,000 of net income, the row at $8,000 lists $1,270 for an only child and $960 per child in a two-child family, so the basic obligation for two is $1,920 and the parent with $5,000 owes $1,200 a month. Washington works from net income: taxes, FICA, mandatory pension and union dues, paid family leave premiums and up to a set amount of voluntary retirement savings come off first. Two limits frame the result: no more than 45% of the paying parent's net income for all children, and a presumptive minimum of $50 per child a month.
Guideline child support in Washington, per month
$794
$9,525 a year
| Combined monthly net income | $8,000 |
| Economic table, per child in a family of 1 child | $1,270 |
| Basic obligation (× 1) | $1,270 |
| Paying parent’s share of net income | 62.5% |
Estimate under the Washington 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.
Reading the table per child
The 2026 table is printed as two blocks: one for families of one or two children, another for three to five. Each cell is a monthly amount for each child, and the per-child figure falls as the family grows. The obligation for the family is that figure times the number of children: at $8,000 of combined net income, $1,270 for one child, $1,920 for two, $2,301 for three. Rows are printed every $100 and the statute says nothing about amounts between rows; this calculator uses the row at or below the income.
Age plays no part. In the table effective January 1, 2026, a teenager and a toddler in the same family carry the same figure, so the calculator asks only for the number of children. The table has no column beyond five children, and this calculator stops at five.
The 45% ceiling and the $50 floor
RCW 26.19.065 limits a parent's support for all his or her children to 45% of net income, unless the court finds good cause such as substantial wealth or a large family. Take a parent with $2,500 of net income, a co-parent at $1,000, and four children: the table gives $395 per child at $3,500, $1,580 in all, and the paying parent's share would exceed the limit, so the calculator shows $1,125.
At the bottom, a parent with very little income still owes the presumptive minimum unless the court finds it unjust. With $200 of net income against $2,500, two children and the $2,700 row, the income share alone would be about $67; the order shown is $100. The statute also protects a self-support reserve of 180% of the federal poverty level for one person, which our data does not hold in dollars, so it is not applied here. Below $2,200 of combined income, the table does not apply at all and the court looks at each household's resources and expenses.
Residential time is a deviation
Washington has no overnight formula. Time with the paying parent can justify a deviation under RCW 26.19.075(1)(d), weighed against the receiving household's costs, and not if it would leave that household short or the children receive TANF. The calculator therefore ignores overnights for this state. Above $50,000 of combined net income, the court may go beyond the top row with written findings. Idaho, next door, uses a different method, shown on the Idaho child support page.
The Washington guideline this calculator applies
| Rule | Washington |
|---|---|
| Model | Income shares, economic table of per-child amounts by combined monthly net income (RCW 26.19.020) |
| Income counted | Net income: after income taxes and mandatory deductions, as the state defines it. |
| Official schedule | $2,200 to $50,000 of combined income a month, 479 rows |
| Shared parenting | No overnight formula in the calculator (see the rule below) |
| In force since | January 1, 2026 |
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 | $477 | $734 | $894 | $900 |
| $3,000 | $652 | $1,000 | $1,215 | $1,350 |
| $4,000 | $843 | $1,286 | $1,554 | $1,736 |
| $5,000 | $951 | $1,446 | $1,740 | $1,944 |
| $6,000 | $1,048 | $1,590 | $1,911 | $2,136 |
| $8,000 | $1,270 | $1,920 | $2,301 | $2,572 |
| $10,000 | $1,451 | $2,198 | $2,637 | $2,948 |
| $12,500 | $1,626 | $2,466 | $2,955 | $3,304 |
| $15,000 | $1,876 | $2,886 | $3,474 | $3,892 |
| $20,000 | $2,302 | $3,646 | $4,431 | $4,988 |
How the amount is set. The statute prints rows every $100 of combined monthly net income and gives no interpolation or rounding rule; RCW 26.19.020 is silent on amounts between rows. source
Income. Gross monthly income from all sources (salaries, wages, commissions, deferred compensation, overtime, bonuses, dividends, interest, capital gains, pensions, Social Security, workers' compensation, unemployment, maintenance received, self-employment...) excluding new spouse/partner income, child support received, gifts and prizes, TANF, SSI, food stamps, etc. (RCW 26.19.071(3)-(4)). Net income = gross minus federal and state income taxes, FICA, mandatory pension and union dues, mandatory state insurance premiums (incl. paid family leave and long-term care trust), industrial insurance premiums, maintenance paid, up to $5,000 a year of voluntary retirement contributions, and normal business expenses and self-employment taxes (RCW 26.19.071(5)).
Above the table. The table is presumptive up to and including $50,000 of combined monthly net income; above $50,000 the court may exceed the $50,000 amount on written findings of fact (RCW 26.19.020; RCW 26.19.065(3)).
Parenting time. No formula: the court may deviate from the standard calculation when the child spends a significant amount of time with the obligor, considering the obligor's increased and the recipient's decreased expenses, but not if it leaves the receiving household unable to meet the child's basic needs or the child receives TANF (RCW 26.19.075(1)(d)).
Child care and health care. added to basic obligation and shared by income health care costs shared in proportion to income, outside the table The basic obligation is allocated by each parent's share of combined net income (RCW 26.19.080(1)). Health care costs, day care and special child-rearing expenses (tuition, long-distance visitation transport) are not in the table and are shared in the same proportion; a day-care overpayment of at least 20% of annual cost must be reimbursed (RCW 26.19.080(2)-(3)).
Low incomes. Presumptive minimum of $50 per child per month when the parent's net income is below 180% of the federal poverty guideline for a one-person family, unless unjust. The basic support obligation may not reduce the paying parent's net income below a self-support reserve of 180% of the federal poverty level for one person, except for the $50-per-child minimum. No parent's total support for all children may exceed 45% of net income except for good cause (RCW 26.19.065(1)-(2)).
When support ends. Postsecondary educational support is discretionary; the schedule is only advisory for it, and the child must be enrolled, actively pursuing studies and in good academic standing (RCW 26.19.090). source
Worth knowing in Washington
- A new economic table took effect January 1, 2026 (Laws of 2025, ch. 272, secs. 14 and 16): it runs to $50,000 of combined monthly net income and drops the old age-based columns. source
- The table gives a per-child amount that falls as family size grows: at $6,000 combined net income it is $1,048 for one child but $795 per child in a two-child family (RCW 26.19.020). source
- Neither parent's total child support for all children may exceed 45% of net income except for good cause, such as substantial wealth or larger families (RCW 26.19.065(1)). source
- Up to $5,000 a year of voluntary retirement contributions can be deducted from gross income if there is a one-year pattern of contributions (RCW 26.19.071(5)(h)). source
- Agreement of the parties alone is not an adequate reason to deviate from the standard calculation (RCW 26.19.075(5)). source