Child Support If You Make $1,500 a Week in Colorado
At $1,500 a week the self-support reserve no longer flattens the table, and the other parent income starts moving every row again.
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Guideline child support scenarios at $1500 a week
The paying parent earns $1500 a week ($6,500.00 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 Colorado 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 | $1,101.00 | $1,660.00 | $1,986.00 |
| $2,000 a month | $955.88 | $1,433.06 | $1,706.06 |
| $4,000 a month | $869.14 | $1,285.76 | $1,508.62 |
| $6,000 a month | $819.52 | $1,217.32 | $1,434.16 |
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.
The taper ends, and the table responds again
Colorado self-support reserve tapers from 80 to 95 percent as income rises, which means its flattening effect is strongest at the bottom of the income scale. At $500 a week that effect held every other-parent row level. By $1,500 a week, $6,500 a month gross, the payer has moved far enough up the scale that the reserve no longer dominates.
The result is visible in the grid below: the four other-parent rows now differ for each child count, because the underlying income-shares schedule is free to respond to the combined income. For one child the obligation runs from $1,101 down to $821.18 across the rows.
Comparing this page to the lower-income Colorado pages
The $500 and $750 pages in this series sit closer to the reserve zone, where the other-parent rows flatten or move less. This page sits past that zone, so the grid reads like a conventional income-shares table: each other-parent row is a distinct, computed result.
The overnight baseline stays at zero for the payer, so no parenting-time credit is applied. The movement you see here comes from income, not from custody.
What this estimate includes
- The full income-shares response now that the reserve taper has eased
- The interpolated 2026 schedule up to $40,000 a month
- Results for 1, 2, or 3 children across four other-parent incomes
What it leaves out
- The flattening behavior of the reserve, which applies at lower incomes
- Any parenting-time credit, held at zero by the fixed baseline
- Child care and health insurance add-ons
Worth knowing
The transition between the flattened low-income pages and this responsive one is itself a feature of the 2026 rules. The reserve does not vanish at a single line; it tapers, so there is a range of incomes where the flattening fades gradually.
Readers comparing Colorado income levels will notice the table comes alive as income rises. That is the reserve taper doing its job, not a change in how the schedule itself works.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this page look different from the $500 page?
At $500 a week the self-support reserve held every other-parent row level. At $1,500 a week the taper has eased enough that the schedule responds fully, so the four rows now differ.
What exactly is the 80 to 95 percent taper?
The reserve protection phases out gradually between 80 and 95 percent of some baseline as income rises, rather than disappearing at a single cutoff. That gradual phase-out is why the flattening is strongest at the bottom of the income scale.
Does the other parent income move the result at $1,500 a week?
Yes. For one child the obligation falls from $1,101 to $821.18 as the other parent income rises from none to $6,000 a month, and similar movement appears in the two and three-child columns.
Does the overnight baseline still matter at this income?
Yes. The baseline remains zero payer overnights, so no parenting-time credit applies. A real overnight count would still lower the obligation, but this page holds the assumption constant to isolate income.
Is this income near the top of the Colorado schedule?
No. The schedule runs to $40,000 a month, and even the highest combined income on this page stays well below that, so no scenario approaches the schedule ceiling.
Where can I see the reserve and the schedule applied together?
The full Colorado child support calculator on this site applies both, and the Colorado Judicial Branch electronic worksheet linked in the sources implements the same HB25-1159 rules.
About the numbers on this page
Every figure in the table above comes from running the real Colorado child support engine on this site, the same engine and data pack behind the full Colorado 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 Colorado 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.