Michigan child support calculator
Enter both parents' monthly net income, the number of children and the overnights with you. See the estimate under the Michigan Child Support Formula, step by step.
- Michigan's own formula, from the 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual and Supplement, effective January 1, 2025: the latest edition we could find as of November 2026.
- Both parents' obligations are worked out from their net incomes, then balanced against each other.
- Every overnight counts: the parenting time offset has no minimum number of nights.
How Michigan calculates child support
Michigan's guideline is the Michigan Child Support Formula (MCSF): a manual and a supplement published by the State Court Administrative Office. Courts must order the amount it produces unless they find it unjust or inappropriate and explain why (2025 MCSF 1.01 and 1.04).
Instead of one shared obligation, the formula works out a base support amount for each parent, then a parenting time offset turns the two into one payment. Health insurance, an ordinary medical amount and child care are added after that. Section numbers below are from the 2025 manual.
| 1. Net income | All income (wages, self-employment, benefits, regular gifts and more) minus actual income taxes, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory union dues and retirement, court-ordered life insurance for the children, the parent's own share of their health insurance, spousal support paid to someone else, costs of a child-protective or delinquency case plan, and recurring restitution, fines or fees for a crime (2.01-2.07). |
|---|---|
| 2. Other children | A parent with minor children from another relationship multiplies their net income by 83% for one child, 75% for two, 68% for three, 64% for four or 60% for five or more (2.08). |
| 3. Family income | Add the parents' net incomes, but only an income above the Low Income Threshold of $1,255 a month counts. Each parent's share is rounded to the hundredth of a percent (3.01(B), 3.02(B)). |
| 4. Base support | From the Supplement's General Care Support Table for the number of children, take the row at or below the family income: its base amount plus its marginal percentage of the income above that row, times the parent's share, rounded to the dollar (3.02(B)). |
| 5. Low incomes | A parent at or under $1,255 pays 10% of their income. Above it, a transition equation replaces the table amount whenever it gives less (3.02(C)-(D)). |
| 6. Parenting time | The offset weighs each parent's base support by the other parent's overnights raised to the power 2.5: (Ao2.5 × Bs − Bo2.5 × As) ÷ (Ao2.5 + Bo2.5) (3.03). |
| 7. Add-ons | The children's health premiums and child care are shared by income percentage, and the paying parent pays their share of an ordinary medical amount (3.04-3.06). |
Example: $4,000 and $2,500 net, one child
These are the calculator's starting numbers: you earn $4,000 a month net, the other parent $2,500, and the child spends 100 nights a year with you. The manual has no worked example of a support amount, but both base amounts below are printed in the Supplement's official One Child schedule: $810 and $506.
| Family income: $4,000 + $2,500 (both above $1,255) | $6,500.00 |
|---|---|
| General Care Table, one child, row $4,531.37: 22.93% × $4,531.37 + 14.05% × $1,968.63 | $1,315.64 |
| Your base support: 61.54% × $1,315.64 | $810 |
| Other parent's base support: 38.46% × $1,315.64 | $506 |
| Parenting time offset: (1002.5 × $506 − 2652.5 × $810) ÷ (1002.5 + 2652.5) | −$704.14: you pay $704 |
| Ordinary medical: 61.54% × $200 a year ÷ 12 | $10.26 |
| Your child support, rounded to the dollar | $714 |
Michigan publishes about 49,000 precomputed base support amounts in its Supplement (parent incomes up to $5,000 a month, one to five or more children). We checked the calculator against all 48,985 of them: 48,977 match to the dollar and 8 differ by $1. Six of those sit in the schedule's $2,500 row, which uses an unrounded percentage share where the manual says to round it; the other two are a fraction of a cent from a half dollar. The table's base amount is used before it is rounded to the cent (base percentage × income level: $1,039.0431 instead of the printed $1,039.04), as the official schedules do.
Parenting time, low incomes and add-ons
Michigan applies the parenting time offset in almost every case, with no threshold (3.03(B)). Each overnight shifts the amount a little; the shift grows as time gets closer to equal. With equal time and equal incomes, neither parent pays. With equal time and different incomes, the higher earner pays half the difference between the two base amounts. In the example above:
| 0 nights with you | You pay $810 |
|---|---|
| 73 nights | You pay $770 |
| 100 nights | You pay $704 |
| 146 nights | You pay $460 |
| Equal time (182.5 each)* | You pay $152 |
| 365 nights with you | The other parent pays $506 |
(Before the ordinary medical amount.) *The calculator takes whole nights: 182 nights with you gives $157 and 183 gives $147. If actual overnights later differ from the order by at least 21 a year, either parent may ask to modify it (3.03(D)).
| Low income | The Low Income Threshold is $1,255 a month (the 2024 HHS poverty guideline). At or under it, base support is 10% of net income. Above it, the transition equation $125.50 + 50% of income over $1,255 (55%, 60%, 65% or 70% for 2 to 5 or more children) applies when it is lower (2025 MCSF-S 2.01, MCSF 3.02). |
|---|---|
| High income | The tables end at $17,871.57 of family income a month. Above it the top row's percentage keeps applying, but when income greatly exceeds it the court may use its discretion (3.02(E)). |
| Ordinary medical | $200 a year per child, $1,000 for five or more (2025 MCSF-S 2.02). The paying parent pays their percentage of it monthly; costs above it are split by percentage (3.04). |
| Health insurance | Each parent's premium for the children is multiplied by the other parent's percentage and the two are netted. A reasonable cost is up to 6% of the providing parent's gross income (3.05). |
| Child care | Net child care costs for work, a job search or school are shared the same way, presumed until the last day of the month the child is under 13 (3.06). |
| 10% / 90% limits | Since 2025, costs are shared by each parent's actual percentage, with no 10% minimum or 90% maximum (List of Major Changes, 3.01(B)). The Supplement's Percentage of Family Income table still shows those limits; we follow the manual. It only matters when one parent has more than 90% of combined income and there are medical, premium or child care amounts. |
| Not covered here | Children living with a nonparent, children in common split across several cases, and incapacitated parents follow special rules (3.02(A), 4.01, 4.02). |
Questions people ask
How is child support calculated in Michigan?
Each parent's net income is found first. The formula then works out a base support amount for each parent from the General Care Support Table, using the parents' family income and each parent's share of it. A parenting time offset based on each parent's overnights combines the two into one payment, and the children's health premiums, an ordinary medical amount and child care are added. The friend of the court recommends an amount and the court orders it.
How much is child support for one child in Michigan?
It depends on both incomes and the overnights. For example, with net incomes of $4,000 and $2,500 a month, the higher earner's base support is $810 and the other parent's is $506. If the child spends 100 nights a year with the higher earner, the offset makes it $704 a month, plus $10.26 for ordinary medical: $714.
How do overnights affect child support in Michigan?
Michigan adjusts support for every overnight, with no threshold. The parenting time offset weighs each parent's base support by the other parent's overnights raised to the power 2.5, so a few nights change little and the effect grows toward equal time. With equal time and equal incomes, neither parent pays; with equal time and different incomes, the higher earner pays half the difference between the two base amounts.
What is the minimum child support in Michigan?
There is no fixed minimum order. A parent whose net income is at or under the Low Income Threshold, $1,255 a month in the 2025 Supplement, has base support of 10% of that income. A court may deviate when the calculated amount is $20 or less and the cost of processing payments outweighs it (2025 MCSF 1.04(E)(17)).
Does Michigan use gross or net income for child support?
Net income, as the formula defines it: all income minus actual taxes, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory union dues and retirement, the parent's own share of health insurance and a few other items. It is not the same as take-home pay. Income a parent could earn may be counted only after the court looks at their actual ability and likelihood of earning it (2025 MCSF 2.01(G)).
Can the court order a different amount?
Yes. The formula is presumed correct, but the court may deviate when applying it would be unjust or inappropriate, and must state why and what the formula amount would have been. The manual lists examples, such as a child's special needs, extraordinary educational or medical expenses, or a parent supporting other children, and parents can agree to a deviation if the court approves it (2025 MCSF 1.04).
Updated November 8, 2026. Sources: 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual (effective January 1, 2025); 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Supplement (effective January 1, 2025: Low Income Threshold, General Care Support Tables and official schedules). As of November 2026 these are the latest edition we could find; Michigan's court websites blocked our checks, so a newer edition hasn't been ruled out (see courts.michigan.gov/mcsf). An estimate, not legal advice: the court, usually on the friend of the court's recommendation, sets the actual amount. Not affiliated with the State Court Administrative Office, MDHHS or any Michigan court.