How Minnesota Child Support Is Calculated: A Worked Example

Last reviewed November 3, 2026

A Minnesota child support calculation example shows how the statutory formula turns two incomes and a parenting schedule into a monthly figure. The steps are set out in Minn. Stat. § 518A.34, and each one builds on the last. This page walks through every step with one hypothetical family. It is part of the site’s guide to child support in Minnesota.

The numbers below are invented and rounded for clarity. Real cases often involve overtime, self-employment income, other children, or public assistance, and any of these can change the result.

The Hypothetical Family

Consider two parents of one child. Neither parent has children from another relationship. Their facts are as follows:

• Parent A earns $6,000 per month in gross wages. The child spends 146 overnights per year with Parent A, or about 40 percent.
• Parent B earns $4,000 per month in gross wages. The child spends the remaining 219 overnights with Parent B.
• Parent B pays a child care provider so that Parent B can work. After the estimated tax credit, the net cost is $700 per month.
• Parent B carries the child on an employer health plan. The added cost of covering the child is $200 per month.

Step 1: Gross Income

The calculation begins with each parent’s gross income. Minnesota defines gross income broadly. It includes wages, self-employment income, bonuses, and many types of benefits (Minn. Stat. § 518A.29). A court may also impute income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed (Minn. Stat. § 518A.32).

In this example, the figures are simple: $6,000 for Parent A and $4,000 for Parent B.

Step 2: PICS and Combined Income

Next, each parent’s gross income is reduced by any credit for nonjoint children that the parent supports (Minn. Stat. § 518A.33). The result is called the parental income for determining child support, or PICS.

Because neither parent here has other children, each PICS equals gross income. The combined PICS is therefore $10,000 per month.

Step 3: Each Parent’s Percentage Share

Each parent’s PICS is divided by the combined PICS. That percentage controls how every later cost is shared.

• Parent A: $6,000 ÷ $10,000 = 60 percent
• Parent B: $4,000 ÷ $10,000 = 40 percent

Step 4: The Guideline Table

The combined PICS is then located in the basic support guideline table in Minn. Stat. § 518A.35, subd. 2. The table estimates what parents at a given income level spend on their children each month.

For a combined PICS between $10,000 and $10,099 with one child, the table lists $1,230. This is the combined basic support obligation. It represents the child’s basic needs, such as housing, food, and clothing, before anyone’s share is assigned.

Step 5: Dividing the Basic Support Obligation

The combined obligation is multiplied by each parent’s percentage share:

• Parent A: $1,230 × 60% = $738
• Parent B: $1,230 × 40% = $492

At this point, neither figure is a payment. Instead, these are each parent’s share of the child’s basic costs.

Step 6: The Parenting Expense Adjustment

Every parent spends money on a child during parenting time. For that reason, the law adjusts basic support for the overnights each parent provides (Minn. Stat. § 518A.36, subd. 2). The statute uses a cubed formula, which changes support gradually as parenting time changes.

The formula works in six parts:

1. Cube Parent A’s annual overnights: 146³ = 3,112,136.
2. Cube Parent B’s annual overnights: 219³ = 10,503,459.
3. Multiply the first result by Parent B’s share ($492): 1,531,170,912.
4. Multiply the second result by Parent A’s share ($738): 7,751,552,742.
5. Subtract the fourth figure from the third: −6,220,381,830.
6. Divide by the sum of the two cubes (13,615,595): −$456.86.

A negative result means that Parent A, the parent with fewer overnights, is the obligor. Parent A’s basic support obligation is therefore about $457 per month. Without the adjustment, Parent A would have paid the full $738 share.

When parenting time and incomes are both equal, no basic support is paid unless the court finds that the child’s expenses are not equally shared (Minn. Stat. § 518A.36, subd. 3).

Step 7: Child Care Support

Work-related or education-related child care costs are divided by the same percentage shares (Minn. Stat. § 518A.40, subd. 1). The cost is first reduced by the estimated federal and state child care tax credits.

Here, the net cost is $700. Parent A’s 60 percent share is $420 per month. No parenting expense adjustment applies to child care. The site’s page on child care support covers the low-income and change-in-care rules.

Step 8: Medical Support

The cost of the child’s health coverage is also divided by percentage share. Likewise, so are uninsured and unreimbursed health expenses, such as deductibles and co-pays (Minn. Stat. § 518A.41, subd. 5).

Parent B pays $200 per month for the child’s coverage. Parent A’s 60 percent share is $120 per month. Future uninsured costs would be split 60/40 as they arise. See medical support for more detail.

The Result

Component	Parent A pays monthly
Basic support (after parenting expense adjustment)	$457
Child care support	$420
Medical support (contribution to coverage)	$120
Total presumptive support	$997

This figure is a presumption, not a final answer. Several further checks can change it.

Checks That Can Change the Figure

Ability to Pay

A support order is presumed not to exceed the obligor’s ability to pay. The court subtracts a self-support reserve, equal to 120 percent of the federal poverty guideline for one person, from the obligor’s PICS (Minn. Stat. § 518A.42). In this example, Parent A’s income is well above that reserve, so no reduction applies.

Deviation

The guideline amount is a rebuttable presumption (Minn. Stat. § 518A.35, subd. 1). A court may depart from it after considering the factors in Minn. Stat. § 518A.43. When it does, it must explain why in written findings (Minn. Stat. § 518A.37, subd. 2).

High Combined Income

The guideline table tops out at a combined PICS of $20,000 per month, a limit the statute allows to be adjusted over time. Above that level, basic support is capped at the top-row amount unless the court finds that a child’s needs justify more (Minn. Stat. § 518A.35, subd. 3).

Running Your Own Numbers

The state’s official Minnesota Child Support Guidelines Calculator performs these steps. It also applies the child care credit tables automatically. The calculator’s output is an estimate, and the court still makes the final determination.

Each party must also disclose income with a financial affidavit, supported by recent pay stubs and tax returns (Minn. Stat. § 518A.28). Accurate inputs matter as much as the formula itself. For the broader framework, including how orders change over time, see Minnesota Child Support and MN Child Support, Basic Support.