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Wisconsin Child Support Calculator
Estimate Wisconsin child support with the DCF 150 percentage standard, the shared-placement formula for 92 or more overnights and the 2026 low-income schedule.
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How to Use the Wisconsin Child Support Calculator
Enter what you know and press Calculate Estimate. The calculator follows Wis. Stat. 767.511 and Wisconsin Administrative Code chapter DCF 150, the Wisconsin percentage-of-income standard, including the shared-placement formula and the 2026 low-income schedule (Appendix C).
- Enter each parent's gross monthly income as Parent A and Parent B.
- Choose the number of children (1 to 5 or more) and the parent the children live with most of the time.
- Enter the overnights per year the children spend with the other parent. If each parent has at least 92 overnights (25%), the shared-placement formula is used. Otherwise the payer pays a percentage of their own income.
- Add monthly child care and say which parent pays it. In shared placement it is split by placement time.
Your numbers are sent with the form, not placed in the page address, and this site does not store them. This is a planning estimate. A Wisconsin court decides the actual amount.
New Wisconsin Child Support Laws and Changes for 2026
Looking for new child support laws in Wisconsin for 2026? We did not find a new Wisconsin child support formula that starts in 2026. What changes every year is the low-income schedule in Appendix C. The department must revise it each year to follow the federal poverty guidelines. The current schedule is based on the 2026 federal poverty guidelines and is effective March 1, 2026. The next adjustment, for the 2027 guidelines, is scheduled for March 1, 2027.
The last revision of the main rule, chapter DCF 150, took effect January 1, 2024 (Register December 2023). Among other things, it rewrote the definition of income imputed based on earning capacity, added a rule for imputing income when little or no information is known (10 to 35 hours a week at the higher of the federal or state minimum wage), and states that a parent's incarceration is not voluntary unemployment.
A change in the guidelines does not automatically change an existing order. A parent generally has to ask the court for a modification.
How Wisconsin Calculates Child Support: the Percentage Standard
Wisconsin does not combine both parents' incomes. Under Wis. Stat. 767.511(1j), the court uses the percentage standard set by the Department of Children and Families. In the usual case, where one parent has the children most of the time, the parent who has them less (the payer) pays a percentage of their own monthly income available for child support:
| Number of children | Percentage of the payer's monthly income |
|---|
| 1 | 17% |
| 2 | 25% |
| 3 | 29% |
| 4 | 31% |
| 5 or more | 34% |
"Monthly income available for child support" is annual gross income (plus any income the court imputes and adjusted for business expenses) divided by 12. The other parent's income does not change the amount in this case. The percentage is the presumed amount. A court can deviate only after a request and written findings that the standard is unfair to the child or a party, based on the factors in 767.511(1m), which include the child's resources, each parent's resources, child care costs and "the award of substantial periods of physical placement to both parents".
Shared Placement in Wisconsin: 25% or 92 Overnights
The shared-placement formula can be used when both parents have court-ordered placement of at least 25% or 92 overnights a year and each is ordered to pay the child's basic support costs in proportion to their time. The steps in DCF 150.035(1) are:
- Multiply each parent's monthly income by the percentage standard for the number of children.
- Multiply each result by 150%, which accounts for the duplicated costs of two households.
- Multiply each result by the share of time the child spends with the other parent.
- Offset the two amounts. The parent with the higher amount is the shared-placement payer.
- The payer pays the lesser of the offset amount and the amount using the plain percentage standard.
The court also assigns variable costs such as child care, tuition and special needs in proportion to each parent's share of placement, with attention to any income difference. Time can include equivalent care: a block of at least 6 hours with a meal counts as half a day, and two such blocks count as one overnight.
Low-Income Payers and the Appendix C Schedule
If the payer's income is between about 75% and 150% of the federal poverty guidelines and the payer's total economic circumstances limit the ability to pay the full percentage, the court may use the reduced amounts in Appendix C. The 2026 schedule covers monthly income from $998 up to $2,031 for one person. The percentages rise gradually from 11.22% (one child) to the full 17%. A sample of the schedule:
| Monthly income up to | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|
| $998 | 11.22% = $112 | 16.5% = $165 | 19.14% = $191 |
| $1,248 | 12.66% = $158 | 18.63% = $232 | 21.61% = $270 |
| $1,500 | 14.11% = $212 | 20.75% = $311 | 24.07% = $361 |
| $1,752 | 15.55% = $272 | 22.88% = $401 | 26.54% = $465 |
| $2,031 | 17% = $345 | 25% = $508 | 29% = $589 |
Below the lowest income level in Appendix C, the court may set an amount appropriate for the payer's total economic circumstances, which can be lower than the lowest figure in the schedule. At 150% of the guidelines and above, the full percentages apply.
High-Income Payers
For a payer with monthly income of $7,000 or more ($84,000 a year), the court may apply reduced percentages to the part of income in the higher bands. Income under $7,000 always uses the full percentage.
| Number of children | Under $7,000 | $7,000 to $12,500 | Over $12,500 |
|---|
| 1 | 17% | 14% | 10% |
| 2 | 25% | 20% | 15% |
| 3 | 29% | 23% | 17% |
| 4 | 31% | 25% | 19% |
| 5 or more | 34% | 27% | 20% |
These reduced rates apply only to the part of income inside each band, and only if the court decides to use them. This calculator uses the full percentage as the main result and shows the reduced-percentage figure as a second number when it applies.
Wisconsin Child Support Examples
Amounts are monthly. In examples 1, 4 and 5 the children live with Parent A.
Example 1: Two children, 60 overnights with the other parent
A earns $3,000 and B earns $5,000. B is the payer and pays 25% of $5,000, which is $1,250.00 a month. A's income is not used.
Example 2: Shared placement (the example in DCF 150.035)
Two children. Parent A earns $2,000 and has them 219 days (60%). Parent B earns $3,000 and has them 146 days (40%). A: $2,000 × 25% × 150% × 40% = $300.00. B: $3,000 × 25% × 150% × 60% = $675.00. B pays the difference: $375.00 a month, the same as the example printed in the rule.
Example 3: Shared placement with child care
A earns $3,000 and B earns $5,000 with two children, and B has them 146 days. The offset is $675.00. If A pays $600 a month of child care, B's 40% placement share is $240, so B pays $915.00 a month. If B pays the child care instead, A's 60% share ($360) is subtracted, leaving $315.00 a month.
Example 4: Low-income payer (Appendix C)
A earns $3,000 and B earns $1,500 with one child. B's income is within Appendix C. The row for $1,500 shows 14.11%, or $212.00 a month, instead of 17% of $1,500 ($255.00).
Example 5: Income below the Appendix C schedule
B earns $900 with one child. This is below the lowest level ($998). The percentage standard gives $153.00, but the court may set a lower amount for B's circumstances.
Example 6: High-income payer
B earns $10,000 with two children. The full standard is 25% = $2,500.00 a month. If the court applies the high-income rates, support is 25% of the first $7,000 ($1,750) plus 20% of the next $3,000 ($600) = $2,350.
These are illustrations produced from the rule, not court rulings.
What Counts as Income in Wisconsin
Gross income includes salary and wages, interest and investment income, Social Security disability and old-age benefits, net proceeds of workers' compensation or personal injury awards meant to replace income, unemployment insurance, income continuation benefits, voluntary deferred compensation and retirement contributions, veterans disability benefits and military allowances, undistributed income of a closely held business the parent controls, and all other income whether taxable or not.
It excludes child support received, foster care and kinship care payments, public assistance, food stamps, Supplemental Security Income and other social service payments. A court can impute income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed without good cause, or from underproductive assets.
Health Insurance and Medical Costs in Wisconsin
The court assigns responsibility for the child's health insurance and uninsured medical expenses by order (DCF 150.05). A private plan is considered affordable if its full cost does not exceed 10% of the insuring parent's monthly income, and the other parent may be ordered to contribute up to 10% of their own income, not more than the cost to add the child. A parent with income below 150% of the federal poverty level cannot be ordered to enroll a child or contribute unless there is no cost. These amounts are in addition to the percentage standard, so this calculator does not add them.
What This Wisconsin Estimate Does Not Include
- Income adjustments such as imputed income, business expenses and support already ordered for other children (serial-family rule).
- Split placement, where each parent has at least one child but not all.
- The child's Social Security or adoption assistance benefit, health insurance contributions and uninsured medical costs.
- Deviations from the standard and the court's discretion on high-income and low-income rules.
Wisconsin Child Support Terms
- Percentage standard
- The share of the payer's income that sets the child support amount.
- Payer
- The parent who owes child support.
- Shared placement
- Both parents have at least 25% or 92 overnights.
- Variable costs
- Costs above basic support such as child care and tuition.
- Appendix C
- The reduced-percentage schedule for low-income payers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wisconsin Child Support
Is this the official Wisconsin child support calculator?
No. ChildSupportCalculator.xyz is an independent tool and is not affiliated with the State of Wisconsin. It applies Wis. Stat. 767.511 and chapter DCF 150. Wisconsin courts and county child support agencies decide actual amounts.
How is child support calculated in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin uses a percentage of the payer's income: 17% for one child, 25% for two, 29% for three, 31% for four and 34% for five or more. If both parents have at least 25% or 92 overnights, the shared-placement formula applies instead.
Are there new child support guidelines in Wisconsin in 2026?
We did not find a new formula for 2026. The low-income schedule (Appendix C) is revised every year and the current version, based on the 2026 federal poverty guidelines, took effect March 1, 2026. The main rule was last revised effective January 1, 2024.
Does Wisconsin use gross or net income?
Gross income. Wisconsin applies the percentage standard to monthly income available for child support, which is gross income, plus any imputed income and adjusted for business expenses.
Does the other parent's income matter in Wisconsin?
Not in the usual case. The payer pays a percentage of their own income. The other parent's income matters in the shared-placement formula, where both incomes are used.
How many overnights make it shared placement in Wisconsin?
Each parent must have at least 25% of overnights, or 92 a year, and be ordered to cover the child's basic costs in proportion to time. Some non-overnight care can count as equivalent care.
Is there a Wisconsin child support calculator for 50/50 custody?
Yes. Enter 182 overnights for the other parent. The shared-placement formula offsets the two parents' obligations, and the higher-income parent usually pays.
Is there a maximum income in the Wisconsin child support standard?
No cap. For a payer with income of $7,000 a month or more, the court may apply reduced percentages to the higher bands, which the page explains.
What is the minimum child support in Wisconsin?
There is no fixed minimum. For low-income payers the court may use the Appendix C schedule (about $112 a month for one child at the lowest level in 2026) or set an amount suited to the payer's circumstances.
Does the Wisconsin calculator need my personal details or a login?
No. This site needs no login and does not store your numbers.
Official Wisconsin Child Support Resources
Published: October 13, 2026
Last reviewed: October 13, 2026
Researched and reviewed by Eric John, founder and editor, using official state statutes and guidance. How we build and check our calculators · Corrections
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