Child Support If You Make $500 a Week in Arizona
Every cell in the table below shows the same amount, and that is not a rendering mistake. At this income the Arizona self-support reserve sets the ceiling, and that ceiling is lower than any schedule figure the guideline would otherwise produce.
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Guideline child support scenarios at $500 a week
The paying parent earns $500 a week ($2,166.67 a month) in every cell below. The other parent's monthly income changes across rows, and the number of children changes across columns; both genuinely change the result.Every figure is computed with the real Arizona guideline engine, the same one behind the full calculator, not a lookup table built for this page.
| Other parent's income | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|
| No reported income | $65.87 | $65.87 | $65.87 |
| $2,000 a month | $65.87 | $65.87 | $65.87 |
| $4,000 a month | $65.87 | $65.87 | $65.87 |
| $6,000 a month | $65.87 | $65.87 | $65.87 |
Every dollar figure is a monthly amount, the presumptive guideline result before add-ons like child care or health insurance and before any court deviation. "Not available" means the engine behind this site declined to compute that specific combination rather than guess; the reason is shown next to it.
Why one number repeats across the whole table
Section VIII of the 2022 Arizona Child Support Guidelines protects a minimum amount of the paying parent own income before support is ordered. That protected floor is the self-support reserve, set at 80 percent of full-time monthly earnings at the state minimum wage. For 2026 the Industrial Commission minimum wage is $15.15 an hour, which works out to $2,626.00 a month at 40 hours a week, and 80 percent of that is $2,100.80.
A paying parent earning $500 a week has $2,166.67 a month of gross income. Subtract the $2,100.80 reserve and only $65.87 remains available for support. Because that ceiling sits below every schedule amount the guideline would otherwise assign, it becomes the answer in all twelve cells, identical for one child or three, and identical no matter what the other parent earns.
How to read a table where every cell matches
The repeated figure is the reserve ceiling, not a schedule result. Reading across a row shows no increase for a second or third child, and reading down a column shows no change as the other parent income rises, because neither input can lift an order above what the reserve leaves available.
This is the only income level in the Arizona series where that happens. At $750 a week the reserve stops binding and the numbers begin responding to both child count and the other parent income.
What this estimate includes
- The Section VIII self-support reserve test applied to every cell
- The 2026 reserve figure derived from the state minimum wage
- A disclosed 0-day parenting-time baseline under primary custody
What it leaves out
- A schedule amount larger than the reserve allows at this income
- The Parenting Time Table adjustment, which needs real days per year
- Add-ons such as health insurance or child care
Worth knowing
The reserve is tied to the Arizona minimum wage, so it moves whenever that wage changes. The $2,100.80 figure on this page reflects the 2026 rate of $15.15 an hour and would need recalculating for a different year.
A reserve-capped order is still a real guideline order. It is not a minimum-wage exemption and it does not mean no support is owed; it means the guideline itself limits the amount at this income level.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the amount the same for one child and for three?
Because the self-support reserve, not the schedule, is setting the number. The reserve leaves $65.87 available at this income, and the guideline will not order more than that regardless of how many children are in the case.
How is the $2,100.80 reserve figure calculated?
It is 80 percent of full-time monthly earnings at the Arizona minimum wage. At the 2026 rate of $15.15 an hour, 40 hours a week over 52 weeks gives $2,626.00 a month, and 80 percent of that is $2,100.80.
Why does the other parent income not change anything here?
A higher other-parent income normally lowers the paying parent share of the combined obligation. At this income the reserve ceiling already sits below every one of those shares, so the ceiling controls in every column.
Does a court have to order this exact amount?
No. The reserve produces a guideline ceiling, and Arizona allows a court to deviate where the guideline result would be inappropriate in a specific case. The figure here is what the guideline calculation itself yields.
What is the 0-day baseline this page uses?
Arizona adjusts the basic obligation using the paying parent parenting-time days per year. This page fixes that at 0 days, which falls in the guideline first band of 0 to 19 days and carries a zero adjustment.
At what income does the reserve stop controlling the result?
Once monthly gross income rises far enough above $2,100.80 that the remaining amount exceeds the schedule share. In this series that has already happened by $750 a week, where every cell shows a distinct schedule-driven figure.
About the numbers on this page
Every figure in the table above comes from running the real Arizona child support engine on this site, the same engine and data pack behind the full Arizona child support calculator. Nothing on this page is a separate estimate or a reimplementation of the math. See the sources below for the statutes and official worksheets behind the Arizona guideline.
Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log
Changelog: page first published as part of the child support by income series. Material changes are dated in the update log.