Child support · WY
Wyoming child support calculator
The W.S. 20-2-304 tables written as a base plus a percentage per income band, the 150% shared responsibility rule and the poverty-line reserve.
Rules read on official Wyoming pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Model
- State formula
- Income counted
- Net income
- Shared parenting
- From 92 overnights
- 1 child, $5,000 / $3,000
- $862
- a month
Under W.S. 20-2-304, a Wyoming parent with $4,000 of monthly net income, opposite a parent with $2,000, owes $1,139 a month for two children. Wyoming does not publish a grid of rows: the statute itself gives, for each number of children up to five or more, a handful of income bands with a base amount and a percentage of the income above the band start. The percentage falls as income rises, from 23% at the bottom to 10.3% above $15,000 for one child, and nothing caps it. Net income is after taxes, Social Security and the children's health coverage. When each parent keeps the children more than 25% of the year, about 92 nights, shared responsibility applies and the total grows by half before time is credited: $1,063 in our example. The obligor never pays below the poverty line for one person, $1,330 a month in 2026.
Guideline child support in Wyoming, per month
$862
$10,343 a year
| Combined net monthly income | $8,000 |
| Total obligation, 1 child: $1,379 + 11.1% over $8,000 | $1,379 |
| Paying parent’s share of net income | 62.5% |
Estimate under the Wyoming 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 table written as arithmetic
The Legislature wrote the tables as formulas. Each line of subsection (a) gives a band start, the percentage of income that the base represents at that point, the base itself and the marginal rate on the income above it. For one child the bands read as follows.
| Combined net monthly income from | Share of income at that point | Base support | Plus, on income above the start |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | 23% | $230 | 23% |
| $2,000 | 23% | $461 | 23% |
| $3,200 | 23% | $737 | 20.1% |
| $4,000 | 22.5% | $898 | 13.4% |
| $4,500 | 21.4% | $965 | 11.8% |
| $8,000 | 17.2% | $1,379 | 11.1% |
| $15,000 | 14.4% | $2,157 | 10.3% |
Reading it is quick. Our family has $6,000 combined, which sits in the $4,500 band: the two-child base of $1,454 plus 17% of the $1,500 above it gives $1,709, and the parent with two thirds of the income pays two thirds. There is no ceiling: at $20,000 combined, one child, the last line keeps adding 10.3% of every dollar over $15,000, so the parent earning $12,000 owes $1,603. Below $1,000 the statute has no line; the calculator carries the first band down and says so. The Department of Family Services must review the presumptive support every four years, and its 2021 review noted that the figures still reflect 2012 prices.
More than 25% of the year in each home
Subsection (c) uses a low threshold compared with many states: each parent must keep the children overnight for more than 25% of the year, and both must contribute substantially to the children's expenses beyond the support itself. The total is then multiplied by 150%, split by net income, and each share is multiplied by the time the children spend with the other parent before the two are netted. With our figures, 91 nights leave $1,139; 92 nights give $1,063. Split custody, where each parent has at least one child full time, follows its own per-child offset in subsection (d), which the calculator does not run.
The reserve and what stays outside the formula
Subsection (f) protects the obligor through the federal poverty guideline for one person rather than a figure of its own, so the reserve moves every year with no amendment. A parent with $1,500 of net income, facing $3,000, one child, would owe $322 as an income share; only $170 lies above $1,330, and that is the order. Child care is not an add-on in Wyoming: W.S. 20-2-307(b) lists it among the reasons to deviate, so $500 a month of day care leaves the presumptive amount at $1,139. The cost of the children's health coverage is taken out of the net income of whichever parent pays it. For a neighboring income shares grid, see Colorado.
The Wyoming guideline this calculator applies
| Rule | Wyoming |
|---|---|
| Model | Income shares, combined net monthly income tables written as base amount plus marginal percentage per band (W.S. 20-2-304(a)) |
| Income counted | Net income: after income taxes and mandatory deductions, as the state defines it. |
| Shared parenting | Cross-credit formula from 92 overnights a year, basic amount × 1.5 |
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 | $461 | $670 | $670 | $670 |
| $3,000 | $691 | $1,041 | $1,252 | $1,400 |
| $4,000 | $898 | $1,356 | $1,626 | $1,816 |
| $5,000 | $1,024 | $1,539 | $1,836 | $2,051 |
| $6,000 | $1,142 | $1,709 | $2,028 | $2,266 |
| $8,000 | $1,379 | $2,048 | $2,412 | $2,694 |
| $10,000 | $1,601 | $2,368 | $2,780 | $3,104 |
| $12,500 | $1,879 | $2,768 | $3,240 | $3,617 |
| $15,000 | $2,157 | $3,171 | $3,698 | $4,130 |
| $20,000 | $2,672 | $3,936 | $4,603 | $5,140 |
How the amount is set. Total obligation = base + marginal% x (combined net monthly income - band start), from the table for the number of children (W.S. 20-2-304(a)). The obligor's share is the total times obligor net income / combined net income. If obligor net income minus the self-support reserve (current HHS poverty guideline for one person) is less than that share, support is set at that difference (W.S. 20-2-304(f)). source
Income. Income is any payment in money or in kind regardless of source (wages, salary, commissions, contractor pay, workers' compensation, unemployment, disability, annuity and retirement benefits), less reasonable unreimbursed business expenses; overtime counts only if expected to continue on a consistent basis based on the last 24 months; means-tested benefits (Pell grants, POWER, SNAP, SSI) are excluded; potential income is used for voluntarily unemployed or underemployed parents (W.S. 20-2-303(a)(ii)). Net income is income less personal income taxes, social security deductions, the cost of dependent health care coverage for all dependent children, payments under preexisting support orders for other children, other court-ordered support being paid and mandatory pension deductions (W.S. 20-2-303(a)(iii)).
Above the table. Above $15,000.00 the tables continue: base at $15,000 ($2,157 / $3,171 / $3,698 / $4,130 / $4,543 for 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5+ children) plus 10.3% / 15.3% / 18.1% / 20.2% / 22.2% of anything over $15,000 (W.S. 20-2-304(a)); there is no cap.
Parenting time. When each parent keeps the children overnight for more than 25% of the year and both contribute substantially to expenses, the total obligation is multiplied by 150%, divided by income shares, each share is multiplied by the percentage of time the children spend with the other parent, and the parent owing more pays the difference (W.S. 20-2-304(c)). Split custody: the shared amount from the tables is divided per child, allocated by the children each parent has, multiplied by the other parent's income percentage and offset (W.S. 20-2-304(d)).
Child care and health care. Not added by formula: the cost of necessary child day care is a deviation factor (W.S. 20-2-307(b)(ii)). The cost of dependent health care coverage for all dependent children is deducted from the paying parent's income in computing net income (W.S. 20-2-303(a)(iii)); availability of health, dental and vision insurance is a deviation factor (W.S. 20-2-307(b)(viii)). Wyoming has no add-on lines in the statute: child care is a deviation factor (W.S. 20-2-307(b)) and dependent health coverage is a deduction from income (W.S. 20-2-303(a)(iii)).
Low incomes. If obligor net income minus the self-support reserve is less than the table amount, support is set at that difference; the reserve is the current HHS poverty line for one person (W.S. 20-2-304(f)). The 2026 HHS guideline for one person in the 48 contiguous states is $15,960 per year ($1,330 per month).
When support ends. Support runs to the age of majority (18) and continues for a child between the age of majority and 20 who attends high school or an equivalent program full time, or a disabled child incapable of self-support (W.S. 20-2-303(a)(i), 14-2-204(a)). source
The state also runs its own official child support calculator; use it, or the court's worksheet, for a filing.
Worth knowing in Wyoming
- Wyoming's tables are written in the statute as a base amount plus a marginal percentage per income band, with no income cap: above $15,000 a month a fixed percentage of the excess keeps applying (W.S. 20-2-304(a)). source
- The self-support reserve is indexed: it is the current federal poverty guideline for one person (W.S. 20-2-304(f)). source
- If part of the obligor's social security or veteran's benefit is paid directly to the child's custodian, the whole benefit counts as the obligor's income and the amount paid to the custodian is subtracted from the obligor's share, down to zero (W.S. 20-2-304(e)). source
- The Department of Family Services must review the presumptive child support at least every four years (W.S. 20-2-306); the 2021 review noted the current tables are based on 2012 price levels. source
- A party who refuses the presumptive amount and loses can be ordered to pay the other party's reasonable attorney fees and costs (W.S. 20-2-307(c)). source