Simple Child Support Calculator
For a simple and easy calculation of child support in Pennsylvania, we recommend using the Pennsylvania Child Support Estimator.
The Pennsylvania Child Support Estimator is quite simple and easy to use. You can also expect it to be accurate and kept up to date in 2024.
For the state of Pennsylvania, we advise against using a different calculator as the results may be innacurate or misleading.
Overnights Calculator for Pennsylvania
According to Pennsylvania child support guidelines, payment amounts depend on how many overnight stays a child has with each parent annually.
Use this overnights calculator to work out how many nights of care you provide.
Calculate annual overnight stays
Regular nights
Vacation nights each year*
183 overnight stays per year.
50.0% of parenting time.
* Vacation nights are all nights when the regular schedule does not apply.
How Child Support is Calculated in Pennsylvania
Child support payments in Pennsylvania are calculated using the income shares only method. Payments depend on the combined income of the parents as well as the number of children eligible for support. A bigger combined income or extra children typically means higher payments.
The amounts transferred also depend on each parent’s income share or income percentage. Pennsylvanians paying the most support are non-custodial parents with high incomes. The biggest receivers are low-income parents with primary physical custody and a high-earning payer.
We refer to the method as "income shares only" since Pennsylvania lacks a well-defined way of adjusting payments for the exact amount of parenting time each parent contributes. A parent’s share of care time is not a detailed part of the guidelines, as is usually the case with income sharing models.
The parent with more than 50% of the overnights has primary custody. Note that a parent with partial custody of the child(ren) is entitled to a payments discount if he or she has more than 40% of overnights.
Factors affecting child support calculations are: (a) the physical custody schedule (b) the number of children covered by the support order (c) the monthly after-tax incomes of the parties and (d) certain additional expenses the parties may incur for the care of children.
Cooley and Handy Attorneys at Law
Pennsylvanian child support guidelines apply to the whole state, including the cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie and Reading. Variations in support payments may be made by the agreement of parents or at the discretion of a judge presiding over your case.
Payment Calculators by State