Ohio Child Support Guide 2026: How the Guidelines Calculate Your Amount
Parents facing a support case in Ohio usually want one number: how much will the court order? A statewide guideline formula turns both parents’ incomes and the number of children into a presumptive monthly amount. This guide explains how it works. Run your own figures in the free Ohio child support calculator.
How is child support calculated in Ohio?
Ohio uses an income-shares model. The court adds both parents’ adjusted annual gross incomes, looks up the basic obligation for that combined income and number of children on the state’s JFS 07767 schedule, then charges the paying parent their percentage share, with add-ons for child care, health insurance and cash medical.
The rules sit in Chapter 3119 of the Ohio Revised Code, and the math runs on state worksheets — JFS 07768 for sole or shared parenting, JFS 07769 for split parenting — backed by the JFS 07766 guideline manual. The administrative rules tying the forms together were refreshed effective April 1, 2026 (Ohio Administrative Code 5101:12-1-17). Unlike the old pre-2019 system, both parents’ incomes drive the result.
What is the Ohio child support schedule?
The basic child support schedule is form JFS 07767, a state table of annual amounts for combined incomes from $8,400 to $336,000 in $600 steps for one to six children — for example $19,283 a year for two children at $96,000 combined income.
The current schedule is the Rev. 6/2023 version of the form. If a combined income falls between two rows, the court or agency may use the higher row, the lower row, or a proportionally interpolated figure (ORC 3119.05(G)(2)). At lower incomes the amounts flatten across the child columns — that is the self-sufficiency reserve, explained below, and not a misprint.
Does Ohio use gross or net income for child support?
Gross income — specifically each parent’s adjusted annual gross income. Unlike states that convert to net, Ohio does not subtract income taxes or Social Security. The worksheet starts with gross income from all sources, then subtracts only specific adjustments such as court-ordered spousal support actually paid and a credit for other children.
“Gross income” is defined broadly in ORC 3119.01: wages, overtime, commissions, bonuses, rents, dividends, pensions, Social Security and disability benefits, and spousal support received, among other sources. Means-tested benefits such as Ohio Works First and SSI are excluded. Bonuses and commissions are averaged under ORC 3119.05(D), and a court can impute potential income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed.
How much is child support in Ohio for two children?
Parents earning $62,400 and $33,600 a year with two children have a combined income of $96,000, which the schedule sets at $19,283 a year. The higher earner has a 65 percent share, owes about $1,044 a month in base support, and roughly $1,587 a month once child care, health insurance and cash medical are added.
That worked example assumes $6,000 a year of work-related child care and a $3,000 children’s health premium, with the paying parent at 73 overnights — below the 90-overnight line, so no parenting-time reduction applies. Change any input and the number moves: more child care raises it, and crossing 90 overnights takes 10 percent off the base obligation, as the next sections explain.
Does parenting time reduce child support in Ohio?
Yes, in one specific way. When a court-ordered parenting time order gives a parent ninety or more overnights a year, Ohio law reduces that parent’s annual support obligation by ten percent. There is no sliding scale beyond that — more overnights do not keep reducing the percentage.
The rule is ORC 3119.051, and the reduction can be removed later if the parent, without just cause, fails to exercise the ordered time. Families on shared-parenting plans work differently: the sole/shared worksheet computes an obligation for each parent and offsets the two, and courts may deviate from the guideline for extended parenting time under ORC 3119.23 and 3119.231.
What are the Ohio child care caps and cash medical support?
Ohio splits work-related child care by income share, but only up to statewide maximum costs that depend on the child’s age: $16,116 a year for an infant, $14,254 for a toddler, $12,801 for preschool and $8,780 for a school-age child. Separately, cash medical support adds $510.21 per child per year.
Both figures come from the JFS 07766 guideline manual (Rev. 4/2026): the age caps are Table 2, based on the 2022 Child Care Market Rate Survey, and the cash medical table is Table 3. Child care must also be net of subsidies and any child care tax credit. Health insurance is treated separately — the children’s premium is split by income share, and coverage counts as reasonable in cost only up to 5 percent of the providing parent’s gross income (ORC 3119.302). Cash medical is ordered when the children are not covered by private insurance.
What is the minimum child support in Ohio?
Eighty dollars a month for all the children in the order, under section 3119.06 of the Revised Code. Ohio also protects low earners through a self-sufficiency reserve built into the schedule itself, set at one hundred sixteen percent of the federal poverty level, which flattens schedule amounts at lower incomes.
The worksheet adds a second protection: a parent’s obligation can never exceed the schedule amount for that parent’s own income alone, and never falls below a $960-a-year floor at the worksheet stage. The $80 order minimum is not absolute either — a court or agency may order less, or nothing, in appropriate circumstances such as a medically documented disability, and a current obligation is suspended while the obligor receives means-tested assistance and complies with a seek-work order.
Can an Ohio court order more or less than the guideline amount?
Yes. The guideline figure is the presumed amount, but a court may deviate when it finds the guideline would be unjust or inappropriate — for example for a child’s special needs, parenting time beyond the standard order, or other support obligations — and must state its reasons in the order.
One situation is built into the law: when combined income tops the schedule’s $336,000 maximum, ORC 3119.04 has the court set support case-by-case from the children’s and parents’ needs and standard of living — but the basic obligation may not fall below the amount at the schedule maximum without special findings. Deviations are still the exception in ordinary cases, so a careful guideline estimate is a realistic preview.
How can you estimate your own Ohio child support?
Gather both parents’ yearly gross incomes, the number of children, the paying parent’s overnights per year, your yearly child care cost and the children’s health insurance premium, then enter them in the Ohio child support calculator. It applies the official schedule, income shares, the reserve check and the parenting-time reduction.
See also our Illinois child support calculator for the neighboring state’s very different net-income approach, and the paycheck calculator for take-home pay estimates.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does child support end in Ohio?
Generally at age 18. If the child is still attending an accredited high school full time, the duty of support continues until the child graduates or turns 19, whichever comes first, unless a court orders otherwise — for example for a child with disabilities.
Can Ohio child support be modified?
Yes. Either parent can ask the court to modify an order after a substantial change in circumstances, and county child support enforcement agencies conduct administrative reviews of orders every 36 months. A recalculation that differs meaningfully from the current order can itself support a change.
Is child support taxable in Ohio?
No. It is not taxable income for the parent who receives it, and the parent who pays it cannot deduct it, for either federal or Ohio taxes.
Who pays child support if both parents earn the same?
With primary custody and equal incomes, the non-residential parent still pays a 50 percent share of the basic obligation — the residential parent’s share counts as spent directly on the children. Under a shared-parenting plan, the worksheet offsets each parent’s obligation against the other, which can reduce the payment further.
Disclaimer: This guide is general information and an estimate only — not legal advice. Support orders are set by the court or a child support enforcement agency under Ohio Rev. Code Chapter 3119 and may differ from any estimate here. For advice about your case, consult an Ohio family law attorney.
