This is the weakest finding on this site: one fact pattern ranks Massachusetts’s order highest of fifty jurisdictions at equal parenting time

The fact pattern run through all fifty-one jurisdictions on this page is my own: three children, a payor at $201,000 a year, the other parent at $29,640 a year ($570 a week), no child care claimed. I disclose it because the ranking below only means what it says if the reader can see exactly what was held fixed. The data behind every figure on this page is described on the data page, which links each of the three underlying files directly.

Tiered: see method below. One fact pattern; the ranking generalizes to nothing else.

Fifty of fifty-one jurisdictions survived a four-stage check; Georgia did not, and carries no number here

Each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia was profiled from its own primary guidelines documents, computed twice by independent passes, reconciled where the two passes disagreed, and then adversarially attacked for defects. Fifty of the fifty-one jurisdictions modeled survived every stage. Georgia is the one held out: its enacted formula, and the state’s own online calculator, both produce a lower order under primary custody than under equal parenting time, an inversion the analysis could not resolve into a single trustworthy number, so Georgia is left off every ranking below rather than given a wrong one.

That leaves fifty jurisdictions ranked. A tier this size, checked this way, is still one analysis of one fact pattern, not a survey, and not a claim about any other income level, custody split, or number of children.

The fact pattern is fixed, and it is the same order used throughout this site

Every ranking on this page holds one fact pattern constant: three children, a payor at $201,000 a year, the other parent at $29,640 a year, no child care claimed. Change any one of those inputs (the number of children, the income split, whether child care is claimed) and every ranking below could move, in either direction. This is one point in a very large space of possible families, not a distribution over them, and it should not be read as one.

At equal parenting time, Massachusetts’s order is the highest of the fifty jurisdictions modeled

$4,388 a month Massachusetts's Box 1 order at the worked example: $321 more than New York, the next-highest of the fifty jurisdictions modeled

Equal parenting time: Massachusetts orders the most of fifty jurisdictions.

Monthly order at one fact pattern, three children, $201,000 and $29,640, no child care.

Fifty of fifty-one survived every verification stage; Georgia is held out because its enacted formula produces a lower order under primary custody than under equal time, which the state's own calculator reproduces. One fact pattern; the ranking generalizes to nothing else.

Source: model/charts/fig5_states.py · data (JSON) · data (CSV)

Equal-parenting-time monthly order, all fifty jurisdictions modeled: full data behind Exhibit E11

Rank	Jurisdiction	Monthly order
1	Massachusetts, this page’s worked example	$4,388.48
2	New York	$4,067.61
3	New Hampshire	$3,838.66
4	Texas	$3,510.00
5	Missouri	$3,139.00
6	Connecticut	$3,138.20
7	Wisconsin	$3,117.35
8	New Jersey	$3,002.31
9	North Dakota	$2,939.00
10	Maine	$2,899.02
11	Washington	$2,819.56
12	Hawaii	$2,774.00
13	Rhode Island	$2,684.45
14	Colorado	$2,652.32
15	Iowa	$2,630.25
16	Ohio	$2,564.15
17	California	$2,424.32
18	Pennsylvania	$2,378.42
19	Alaska	$2,367.95
20	Maryland	$2,309.54
21	Kansas	$2,296.63
22	Indiana	$2,283.25
23	Delaware	$2,281.35
24	District of Columbia	$2,253.73
25	Louisiana	$2,227.23
26	Arkansas	$2,118.68
27	Mississippi	$2,097.44
28	Wyoming	$1,900.85
29	North Carolina	$1,883.12
30	Illinois	$1,881.45
31	Virginia	$1,872.18
32	Nevada	$1,842.80
33	Tennessee	$1,833.00
34	South Carolina	$1,832.22
35	New Mexico	$1,823.64
36	Idaho	$1,794.22
37	South Dakota	$1,788.96
38	Alabama	$1,746.00
39	Florida	$1,735.21
40	West Virginia	$1,724.21
41	Vermont	$1,686.42
42	Nebraska	$1,475.23
43	Montana	$1,461.00
44	Michigan	$1,445.25
45	Arizona	$1,309.36
46	Oklahoma	$1,284.42
47	Minnesota	$1,174.71
48	Kentucky	$1,087.80
49	Oregon	$1,072.00
50	Utah	$1,058.31

With the children primarily with the lower earner, only Hawaii’s order is higher

Lower earner primary: only Hawaii's Melson formula orders more than Massachusetts.

The same fact pattern with the children primarily with the lower earner.

Hawaii's design is shared with Delaware and Montana; at this income gap it exhausts the self-support reserve differently from an income-shares schedule.

Source: model/charts/fig5_states.py · data (JSON) · data (CSV)

Lower-earner-primary monthly order, all fifty jurisdictions modeled: full data behind Exhibit E12

Rank	Jurisdiction	Monthly order
1	Hawaii	$5,821.00
2	Massachusetts, this page’s worked example	$4,714.22
3	Wisconsin	$4,491.71
4	New York	$4,067.61
5	Delaware	$3,990.73
6	New Hampshire	$3,838.66
7	Kansas	$3,838.03
8	Iowa	$3,744.73
9	Texas	$3,510.00
10	District of Columbia	$3,467.96
11	Alaska	$3,462.96
12	California	$3,436.04
13	Maryland	$3,295.11
14	Louisiana	$3,269.06
15	North Dakota	$3,219.00
16	Missouri	$3,139.00
17	Connecticut	$3,138.20
18	Rhode Island	$3,123.22
19	Colorado	$3,090.30
20	Pennsylvania	$3,086.76
21	Montana	$3,073.50
22	Illinois	$3,037.90
23	New Jersey	$3,002.31
24	North Carolina	$2,934.30
25	Maine	$2,899.02
26	Washington	$2,819.56
27	Michigan	$2,808.44
28	Wyoming	$2,801.97
29	New Mexico	$2,795.32
30	Alabama	$2,736.00
31	Virginia	$2,672.09
32	South Carolina	$2,669.21
33	South Dakota	$2,623.12
34	Vermont	$2,594.42
35	Mississippi	$2,564.76
36	Ohio	$2,564.15
37	Idaho	$2,549.85
38	Indiana	$2,548.03
39	West Virginia	$2,518.77
40	Florida	$2,512.99
41	Nevada	$2,485.00
42	Nebraska	$2,402.03
43	Arkansas	$2,349.64
44	Utah	$2,332.66
45	Arizona	$2,290.06
46	Minnesota	$2,271.30
47	Tennessee	$2,031.00
48	Oklahoma	$2,008.78
49	Kentucky	$1,871.67
50	Oregon	$1,772.00

A parent with the children a third of the time gets a formula credit in 28 jurisdictions and none in 23; Massachusetts is among the 23

This is a count, not a dollar claim. Massachusetts’s own Box 2 (one parent with the children about a third of the time) is its one-third case, and Massachusetts does not treat that arrangement as earning a discrete formula credit the way 28 other jurisdictions do.

A parent with the children a third of the time gets a formula credit in 28 jurisdictions and none in 23.

A count, not a dollar amount. Massachusetts is among the 23; its Box 2 is the one-third case.

In the one clean pairing with a credit-giving state the dollar effect runs the other way, so the count is a structural fact and nothing more.

Source: data (JSON)

Massachusetts’s presumptive formula ceiling ranks 13th of the 41 jurisdictions that state one

This figure corrects an earlier comparison this project made against nine benchmark states, in which Massachusetts appeared second. Measured against the 41 jurisdictions that state a combined-income ceiling for their presumptive schedule, Massachusetts’s $450,000 ceiling ranks 13th: 12 jurisdictions state a higher ceiling, 28 a lower one, and the median among the 41 is $360,000. Ten further jurisdictions use a percentage-of-obligor, Melson, or open formula with no stated combined-income ceiling. Net-income ceilings are not dollar-for-dollar comparable with gross ones, and this table does not adjust for that difference.

Massachusetts's presumptive formula runs to $450,000; 12 schedules run higher, 28 stop lower.

Forty-one jurisdictions have a combined-income schedule that stops at a stated figure; the median is $360,000, seven stop at exactly $40,000 a month, and Utah's runs to $1.2 million.

Ten jurisdictions use a percentage-of-obligor, Melson, or open formula with no combined ceiling. Net-income ceilings are not dollar-for-dollar comparable with gross ones.

Source: model/charts/fig9_ceilings.py · data (JSON) · data (CSV)

Combined-income ceiling of the presumptive schedule, 41 jurisdictions that state one: full data behind Exhibit E16

Rank	Jurisdiction	Ceiling (annual)	Basis
1	Utah	$1,200,000	gross
2	Louisiana	$600,000	gross
3	Washington	$600,000	net
4	Virginia	$510,000	gross
5	Colorado	$480,000	gross
6	Georgia	$480,000	gross
7	Missouri	$480,000	gross
8	New Mexico	$480,000	gross
9	North Carolina	$480,000	gross
10	Rhode Island	$480,000	gross
11	South Carolina	$480,000	gross
12	Indiana	$478,400	gross
13	Massachusetts, this page’s worked example	$450,000	gross
14	Idaho	$440,000	gross
15	West Virginia	$420,000	gross
16	Maine	$400,000	gross
17	New Hampshire	$373,068	gross
18	Vermont	$360,300	other
19	Alabama	$360,000	gross
20	Arizona	$360,000	gross
21	Arkansas	$360,000	gross
22	Iowa	$360,000	net
23	Kentucky	$360,000	gross
24	Maryland	$360,000	gross
25	Oregon	$360,000	gross
26	Pennsylvania	$360,000	net
27	South Dakota	$360,000	net
28	Tennessee	$339,000	gross
29	Ohio	$336,000	gross
30	Illinois	$328,500	net
31	Connecticut	$312,000	net
32	District of Columbia	$240,000	gross
33	Minnesota	$240,000	gross
34	Nebraska	$240,000	net
35	Kansas	$216,000	gross
36	Michigan	$214,459	net
37	New York	$193,000	gross
38	New Jersey	$187,200	net
39	Oklahoma	$180,000	gross
40	Wyoming	$180,000	net
41	Florida	$120,000	net

Ten further jurisdictions state no combined-income ceiling for their presumptive schedule:

Jurisdictions with no stated combined-income ceiling

Jurisdiction	Formula type
Alaska	obligor cap, not combined income
California	no stated ceiling
Delaware	no stated ceiling
Hawaii	no stated ceiling
Mississippi	obligor cap, not combined income
Montana	no stated ceiling
Nevada	obligor cap, not combined income
North Dakota	obligor cap, not combined income
Texas	obligor cap, not combined income
Wisconsin	no stated ceiling

Massachusetts’s equal-time order exceeds the primary-custody order of 47 of the 49 other ranked jurisdictions

The same fact pattern as the two rankings above, but recombined: Massachusetts computed under Box 1 (the children half the time with each parent) is placed on the same scale as every other jurisdiction computed with the children primarily with the lower earner. Only Hawaii and Wisconsin order more at primary custody than Massachusetts does at equal time. Massachusetts’s own primary-custody order, $4,714.22, is included for scale.

The Commonwealth’s own consultant, in the report the Task Force adopted, attributes Massachusetts’s higher amounts to its cost of living, not to the design of the formula. See Attachment D. Whatever that explains about the level of Massachusetts’s orders generally, it does not explain why an arrangement giving each parent half the children’s time is priced here where sole primary custody is priced almost everywhere else.

Massachusetts's equal-time order exceeds the primary-custody order of 47 of the 49 other ranked jurisdictions.

The same fact pattern as the two rankings above, with Massachusetts computed under Box 1 and every other jurisdiction computed with the children primarily with the lower earner.

Only Hawaii and Wisconsin order more at primary custody than Massachusetts does at equal time; Massachusetts's own primary-custody order, $4,714, is marked for scale.

Source: model/charts/fig10_ma_shared_vs_primary.py · data (CSV)

Massachusetts's equal-time order against every other jurisdiction's primary-custody order: full data behind Exhibit E17

Rank	Jurisdiction	Custody basis	Monthly order
1	Hawaii	primary	$5,821.00
2	Massachusetts, this page’s worked example	primary (for scale)	$4,714.22
3	Wisconsin	primary	$4,491.71
4	Massachusetts, this page’s worked example	equal	$4,388.48
5	New York	primary	$4,067.61
6	Delaware	primary	$3,990.73
7	New Hampshire	primary	$3,838.66
8	Kansas	primary	$3,838.03
9	Iowa	primary	$3,744.73
10	Texas	primary	$3,510.00
11	District of Columbia	primary	$3,467.96
12	Alaska	primary	$3,462.96
13	California	primary	$3,436.04
14	Maryland	primary	$3,295.11
15	Louisiana	primary	$3,269.06
16	North Dakota	primary	$3,219.00
17	Missouri	primary	$3,139.00
18	Connecticut	primary	$3,138.20
19	Rhode Island	primary	$3,123.22
20	Colorado	primary	$3,090.30
21	Pennsylvania	primary	$3,086.76
22	Montana	primary	$3,073.50
23	Illinois	primary	$3,037.90
24	New Jersey	primary	$3,002.31
25	North Carolina	primary	$2,934.30
26	Maine	primary	$2,899.02
27	Washington	primary	$2,819.56
28	Michigan	primary	$2,808.44
29	Wyoming	primary	$2,801.97
30	New Mexico	primary	$2,795.32
31	Alabama	primary	$2,736.00
32	Virginia	primary	$2,672.09
33	South Carolina	primary	$2,669.21
34	South Dakota	primary	$2,623.12
35	Vermont	primary	$2,594.42
36	Mississippi	primary	$2,564.76
37	Ohio	primary	$2,564.15
38	Idaho	primary	$2,549.85
39	Indiana	primary	$2,548.03
40	West Virginia	primary	$2,518.77
41	Florida	primary	$2,512.99
42	Nevada	primary	$2,485.00
43	Nebraska	primary	$2,402.03
44	Arkansas	primary	$2,349.64
45	Utah	primary	$2,332.66
46	Arizona	primary	$2,290.06
47	Minnesota	primary	$2,271.30
48	Tennessee	primary	$2,031.00
49	Oklahoma	primary	$2,008.78
50	Kentucky	primary	$1,871.67
51	Oregon	primary	$1,772.00

What this page does not show

One fact pattern is not a distribution. Nothing here says what a lower-income family, a two-child family, or a family with claimed child care would see in any of these fifty jurisdictions; those are different points that have not been computed. Nothing here says Massachusetts’s amounts are wrong; the Commonwealth’s own consultant offers a reason for them, cost of living, that this page does not test or dispute. What this page does show, at the one fact pattern tested: an arrangement giving each parent equal time is priced by Massachusetts’s Worksheet at a level most other jurisdictions reserve for one parent having the children the great majority of the time.

Check it yourself

Every ranking above comes from a dataset committed to this repository, built through the profile-compute-reconcile-attack process described above.

• The data
• data/fifty-state/tier-50-2026-09-05.json
• data/fifty-state/credit-at-122-2026-09-05.json
• data/fifty-state/ceilings-2026-09-06.json
• The repository