For two children before the court, the Texas guideline is 25% of the paying parent's monthly net resources (Family Code §154.125). That's 5 points more than the 20% for one child — and it's applied to net resources, not gross pay. Below: real dollar amounts by income, the two-child maximum and minimum, and the situations that change the 25% — other children elsewhere, one child aging out, and 50/50 custody.
25% total — not 25% per child
The most common misreading of the Texas schedule: two children does not mean 20% + 20%, and it doesn't mean 25% each. The percentage is one combined figure for all children before the court — 25% covers both. That's why the schedule steps up only 5 points per additional child (20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%): the legislature assumed a second child adds to household costs, but doesn't double them. So going from one child to two raises guideline support by a quarter, not by half.
Sample amounts for two children
These examples assume a single W-2 employee using the Texas Attorney General's 2026 tax method to convert gross wages to net resources. Yours may differ with health-insurance deductions or other income — the net-resources guide shows exactly how the conversion works.
| Monthly gross income | Net resources | Support (25%) |
|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $1,781 | $445 |
| $3,000 | $2,592 | $648 |
| $4,000 | $3,396 | $849 |
| $5,000 | $4,199 | $1,050 |
| $6,000 | $4,957 | $1,239 |
| $8,000 | $6,364 | $1,591 |
| $10,000 | $7,771 | $1,943 |
Reading the table in annual terms: at $5,000 gross, two-child support of $1,050/month is $12,600 a year; at $6,000 gross, $1,239/month is roughly $14,900 a year. The full chart shows the same incomes for 1–5 children side by side.
What if the two children have different mothers or fathers?
The 25% figure is for two children in the same case. If the paying parent also has a legal duty to support children in another household, Texas uses a different, lower percentage table under §154.129 — for two children before the court plus one child elsewhere, the percentage applied drops below 25%. The more children the parent supports across households, the lower the percentage in the case in front of the judge. The calculator handles the common setups, but genuinely tangled multi-family situations are worth an attorney's review.
Low-income rule — and the floor
If the paying parent's net resources are below $1,000/month, two children fall under the low-income schedule at 20% instead of 25% (§154.125(c)).
There's also an effective floor. A parent with little or no provable income is presumed to earn federal minimum wage for a 40-hour week (§154.068) — about $1,257 gross and $1,161 net per month. Since $1,161 is above the $1,000 line, the standard 25% applies: minimum two-child support is roughly $290/month (25% × $1,161). And a parent who is intentionally unemployed or underemployed can be assessed on earning potential instead (§154.066) — details in the unemployment guide.
What the 25% does — and doesn't — cover
The 25% covers the children's everyday support — housing, food, clothing, and basic needs. It does not include the children's health and dental insurance or uninsured medical bills. Texas orders medical and dental support separately (§154.182), usually by making one parent carry insurance while the parents split co-pays and deductibles per the order's terms. So a two-child order is typically 25% of net resources plus medical and dental support on top of it — budget for the total, not just the percentage. The medical support guide explains how those amounts are set.
Does 50/50 custody change the 25%?
Not on its own. Many parents assume equal possession cancels child support, but Texas guideline support is driven mainly by the paying parent's income, not the exact number of overnights. With two children and a real income gap, the higher earner is often still ordered to pay something near the guideline — sometimes through an offset the court fashions between the two parents' guideline amounts. A judge can deviate from 25% when possession is equal (§154.123), but that's a discretionary decision, not an automatic result. The 50/50 custody guide works through the offset math.
A step-by-step example
Two children, paying parent earns $6,000/month gross as a W-2 employee with no insurance deduction:
- Gross $6,000 → net resources ≈ $4,957 (after federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare under the 2026 method)
- Two children → 25%
- $4,957 × 25% = $1,239/month in base support — about $14,900 a year
- Plus the children's health/dental insurance and a share of uninsured medical costs
If the same parent were also paying the children's health-insurance premium, that premium would be deducted before the 25% applies, nudging the base number down while the premium itself is credited as medical support.
What happens when one child ages out?
A Texas child-support duty for a particular child generally ends when that child turns 18 or graduates high school, whichever is later. But when the older of two children ages out, support does not automatically drop to the one-child rate in most cases. Unless the order itself spells out a step-down, the paying parent (or the Attorney General) typically has to request a modification to move the order from 25% to 20% — until that happens, the 25% keeps running, and there's no refund later for the gap.
The dollar stakes are easy to see with the $6,000-gross example above: 25% of $4,957 is $1,239/month, while the one-child 20% is about $991/month — a difference of roughly $248 every month. Orders written today often anticipate this with staged amounts; older orders frequently don't. Check what your order actually says, and see the end-date guide and the modification guide for the mechanics.
Starting or changing a two-child order
You don't always need a private attorney. The Texas Attorney General's Child Support Division can open a case, establish an order, and review existing orders for free. An order can be modified when three years have passed and the guideline figure would change by at least 20% or $100, or when there's a material and substantial change in circumstances such as a job loss, a raise, or a child aging out (§156.401). One caution: informal side agreements to pay less don't bind a court — get any change into a signed order, and keep payments flowing through the state registry so every dollar is credited.
Frequently asked questions
Is it 25% per child?
No — 25% total for both children together. The Texas schedule assigns one combined percentage to all children before the court: 20% for one, 25% for two, 30% for three.
What's the maximum for two children in 2026?
$2,925/month under the guidelines — 25% of the $11,700 net-resources cap in effect since September 1, 2025. A court can go higher only on the children's proven needs.
What's the minimum for two children?
With no provable income, the minimum-wage presumption (§154.068) puts net resources around $1,161/month, so two-child support lands near $290/month. Parents with actual net resources under $1,000/month pay under the reduced 20% low-income schedule.
Does the payment drop automatically when the older child turns 18?
Usually not by itself — unless the order includes a built-in step-down, the 25% continues until the order is modified. File early: a modification generally reaches back only to the date the other parent is served, not to when the child aged out.
Do both parents' incomes matter for the 25%?
The guideline runs on the paying parent's net resources only. The other parent's income can influence a deviation under §154.123, but it doesn't enter the baseline two-child arithmetic.