Bankruptcy Means Test Calculator (Median Income by State)

The steps are the form’s own lines. Line 11 is the 6-month total divided by 6, line 12b is line 11 times 12, and line 13 is the median for the state and household size from the table below. Official Form 122A-1 (12/19) is listed by uscourts.gov as “Effective on December 1, 2019”, and Official Form 122C-1 (10/19) as “Effective on October 1, 2019”.

The form says “6 full months before you file”. The statute counts the 6-month period ending on “the last day of the calendar month immediately preceding the date of the commencement of the case if the debtor files the schedule of current income required by section 521(a)(1)(B)(ii)”, and subparagraph (ii) of the statute gives a different end date if the debtor does not file that schedule. The calculator takes the total as entered and does not decide which months count.

A household of 1 uses the column the table prints as “1 EARNER”. Above 4 people, the calculator adds $11,100 for each person above 4, as the table note says; $925 per month times 12 is $11,100 (our arithmetic from the adjusted amount in 90 FR 8941).

Equal to the median is the “less than or equal to” case on Form 122A-1 line 14a and on Form 122C-1 line 17a, and the “more than or equal to” case on Form 122C-1 line 21, which is the 5-year box.

• Which income counts. The calculator divides the one number entered. It does not classify income, so it neither adds nor removes anything. What lines 2 to 10 of Form 122A-1 count and exclude, including Social Security benefits, is stated on the form and in 11 U.S.C. § 101(10A).

  “Pension or retirement income. Do not include any amount received that was a benefit under the Social Security Act.”

  “(ii) excludes—
  (I) benefits received under the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.); […]”

  “Calculate your total current monthly income. Add lines 2 through 10 for each column. Then add the total for Column A to the total for Column B.”

• Business and rental income, net of expenses. Lines 5 and 6 of Form 122A-1 ask for net income after expenses. The calculator has no expense fields.

  “Gross receipts (before all deductions)”

  “Ordinary and necessary operating expenses”

• Military and veterans pay, including HAVEN Act amounts. Form 122A-1 line 10 says what is not included for uniformed services disability and combat-related pay. The U.S. Trustee Program means testing page also links a FAQ on the HAVEN Act of 2019. The calculator applies none of this.

  “Pension or retirement income. Do not include any amount received that was a benefit under the Social Security Act. Also, except as stated in the next sentence, do not include any compensation, pension, pay, annuity, or allowance paid by the United States Government in connection with a disability, combat-related injury or disability, or death of a member of the uniformed services. If you received any retired pay paid under chapter 61 of title 10, then include that pay only to the extent that it does not exceed the amount of retired pay to which you would otherwise be entitled if retired under any provision of title 10 other than chapter 61 of that title.”

  “Income from all other sources not listed above. Specify the source and amount. Do not include any benefits received under the Social Security Act; payments received as a victim of a war crime, a crime against humanity, or international or domestic terrorism; or compensation, pension, pay, annuity, or allowance paid by the United States Government in connection with a disability, combat-related injury or disability, or death of a member of the uniformed services.”

• Exemptions from the means test. The calculator does not ask about primarily consumer debts, disabled veteran status, or active duty or homeland defense service of the kind described in the statute.

  “Are your debts primarily consumer debts? […] No. Go to Form 122A-1; on the top of page 1 of that form, check box 1, There is no presumption of abuse, and sign Part 3.”

  “(D) Subparagraphs (A) through (C) shall not apply, and the court may not dismiss or convert a case based on any form of means testing—
  (i) if the debtor is a disabled veteran (as defined in section 3741(1) of title 38), and the indebtedness occurred primarily during a period during which he or she was—
  (I) on active duty (as defined in section 101(d)(1) of title 10); or
  (II) performing a homeland defense activity (as defined in section 901(1) of title 32); or […]”

• Marital status and Column B of Form 122A-1. Form 122A-1 line 1 decides whether a spouse’s income goes in Column B. The calculator takes one combined total and does not ask which box applies.

  “Married and your spouse is filing with you. Fill out both Columns A and B, lines 2-11.”

  “Living separately or are legally separated. Fill out Column A, lines 2-11; do not fill out Column B.”

• The marital adjustment on Form 122C-1. Form 122C-1 lines 13 and 19a can reduce the income used when a spouse is not filing. The calculator assumes both are $0.

  “Calculate the marital adjustment. Check one:
  You are not married. Fill in 0 below.
  You are married and your spouse is filing with you. Fill in 0 below.
  You are married and your spouse is not filing with you.
  Fill in the amount of the income listed in line 11, Column B, that was NOT regularly paid for the household expenses of you or your dependents, such as payment of the spouse’s tax liability or the spouse’s support of someone other than you or your dependents.”

  “If you are married, your spouse is not filing with you, and you contend that calculating the commitment period under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b)(4) allows you to deduct part of your spouse’s income, copy the amount from line 13.”

• The filing date. The calculator uses only the median table for cases filed on or after July 15, 2026. The U.S. Trustee Program lists earlier periods as separate pages.

  “[7/15/2026 or After] [4/01/2026 to 7/14/2026, Inclusive] [11/01/2025 to 3/31/2026, Inclusive]”

• Form 122A-2 and Form 122C-2. When the forms direct to Form 122A-2 or Form 122C-2, those calculations (expenses, debts and the amounts in 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)) are not computed.

  “If you checked line 14b, fill out Form 122A–2 and file it with this form.”

  “If you checked 17b, fill out Form 122C–2 and file it with this form.”

• Court orders. Form 122C-1 line 21 begins its instruction with “Unless otherwise ordered by the court”. The calculator reports the boxes without any order.

  “Line 20b is less than line 20c. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, on the top of page 1 of this form, check box 3, The commitment period is 3 years. Go to Part 4.”

• Official Form 122A-1 (12/19) does not say whether line 11 is rounded before it is multiplied by 12.
• Official Form 122A-1 (12/19), line 13, asks only “Fill in the number of people in your household.” and does not say who counts as a member of the household.
• The U.S. Trustee Program median income table (cases filed on or after July 15, 2026) has no row for American Samoa.
• The U.S. Trustee Program’s table for cases filed between April 1, 2026 and July 14, 2026 had the same figures when we compared the two on November 2, 2026. The calculator does not take a filing date and does not use earlier periods.

Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size (Cases Filed On or After July 15, 2026). Source: U.S. Trustee Program, www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20260715/bci_data/median_income_table.htm. When we checked on November 2, 2026, the list of periods on justice.gov/ust/means-testing began with [7/15/2026 or After] and listed no later period.

States and the District of Columbia

Commonwealths and U.S. territories

Chapter 7 vs Chapter 13 bankruptcy compares the two chapters with the same sources.