Child Support in Minnesota

By Matt Majeski, Minnesota divorce and family law attorney since 2008. Last reviewed October 2026.

Raising a Child Is Expensive

Child support in Minnesota matters to many parents, and for good reason: raising a child is expensive. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent “Expenditures on Children by Families” report estimated that a middle-income family would spend about $233,610 to raise a child born in 2015 to age 17. That figure is in 2015 dollars, so the real cost today is even higher.

Also, that estimate doesn’t include pregnancy, childbirth, or college. It also varies with household income, where you live, and how many children you have.

What Is Child Support in Minnesota?

Under Minnesota law, “child support” means a court-ordered amount for basic support, child care support, and medical support. A child support order can come from a custody, divorce, legal separation, annulment, or paternity case.

Together, these three parts make up what people call “child support.” In fact, every child support order must address all three.

A Three-Part System

Part 1: Basic Support

Basic support covers a child’s day-to-day needs, such as housing, food, clothing, transportation, and education costs.

Part 2: Child Care Support

Child care support covers child care a parent needs in order to work or go to school. The guidelines split these costs between the parents based on their incomes. As children get older, child care costs usually shrink or go away.

Part 3: Medical Support

Medical support covers the child’s health and dental coverage. That may be private insurance or public coverage, such as Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare. It also covers uninsured medical and dental costs. Again, the guidelines split these costs based on the parents’ incomes.

How to Calculate Child Support

Two things mainly determine child support:

• The gross income of each parent, and
• The parenting time each parent has with the child.

Other factors sometimes affect the amount, too. You can find them in the Minnesota child support statutes (Minn. Stat. chapter 518A). However, income and parenting time come up in every case, so they’re the most-argued issues. To estimate support, you can use Minnesota’s official guidelines calculator.

Parents’ Income for Child Support

Since child support depends on both parents’ gross incomes, you’ll need each parent’s gross income to calculate it.

Gross income is a parent’s total income before taxes, as defined in Minn. Stat. § 518A.29. It can include:

• Salaries, wages, commissions, and bonuses
• Self-employment income
• Workers’ compensation and unemployment benefits
• Annuity payments
• Military retirement and pension distributions
• Disability payments
• Spousal maintenance received
• Social Security or veterans benefits paid to a joint child based on a parent’s eligibility
• Potential income (income a court finds a parent could earn, if they are voluntarily unemployed or underemployed)

Also, gross income from wages counts before deductions such as 401(k) contributions and health insurance premiums.

On the other hand, some income doesn’t count. For example, public assistance (such as MFIP or SNAP) and child support received for other children are left out.

Common Disputes

Paying the other parent can create conflict, especially if the relationship ended badly. However, child support disputes are rarely about the math itself. After all, Minnesota uses a calculator to set “guideline” support, so the calculation is fairly simple.

Instead, disputes usually involve the numbers that go into the calculator. Since income and parenting time matter most, they’re usually the most disputed.

In fact, because parenting time affects child support, some parenting time arguments are really child support arguments in disguise. Attorneys and judges know this well.

Can Child Support Be Changed Later?

Yes. Either parent can ask the court to modify child support after a substantial change, such as a big change in income or parenting time. For example, the law presumes a change is substantial if a new guideline calculation would change support by at least 20 percent and at least $75 per month. For more, see How much is child support in Minnesota?

Related reading: Changing Child Support in Minnesota and Unmarried Parents: Paternity and Custody in Minnesota.

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