Average Alimony Payment by State

Why There Is No Official Average

Start here, because this one fact explains why every figure you find online contradicts the last one you read.

The IRS does not publish state-level alimony data. The Census Bureau collects alimony received through its Survey of Income and Program Participation, but only as a single national number, with no breakdown by state. There is no federal register of support orders. Courts are not required to report what they award in any aggregated way.

So when you see an article claiming the average alimony payment in Ohio is some precise dollar figure, that number did not come from actual measurement. It is almost always a formula output, a poll of attorneys, or a rough estimate dressed up with more certainty than the data behind it deserves.

What the Formulas Actually Produce

The closest thing to an apples-to-apples comparison comes from a Custody X Change study that ran one hypothetical couple through every state guideline that produces a number. Same incomes, same marriage length, same custody split. The only variable was the state.

Louisiana came out highest by a wide margin. The reason is straightforward: its formula was the only one that ignored the recipient's income entirely. Every other state subtracts something for what the lower earner already makes, which pulls the number down.

Three states produced nothing at all. That is not a rounding artifact. In Texas the couple simply did not meet the eligibility threshold. In Virginia and New Mexico the formula netted out to zero on those particular facts.

The spread between Louisiana's $1,381 and Texas's $0 is the whole point of this comparison. Same couple, same jobs, same years married. The only thing that changed was which side of a state line they lived on.

The Six Formula States

Six states give you an actual number to work with: California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Each publishes a guideline formula that serves as the starting point. Courts can deviate, but the formula anchors the negotiation and gives both sides something concrete to argue around.

The Hard-Cap States

Two states go further than a guideline. They impose hard ceilings that override everything else, and in one of them, the first question is not how much you will pay but whether you qualify at all.

Everywhere Else: Judicial Discretion

In roughly two thirds of the country there is no formula. A judge reads through a statutory list of factors and picks a number.

The factors themselves are similar everywhere: how long the marriage lasted, how much each spouse earns or could earn, the standard of living the couple maintained, the age and health of both parties, whether one spouse gave up a career for the other, and how long the lower earner needs to get back on their feet.

What changes from courtroom to courtroom is how much weight each factor gets. Two judges in the same building, looking at the same facts, can land on meaningfully different numbers, and both decisions can stand on appeal. That is not a bug in the system. It is how discretion works.

A handful of these states still permit genuinely indefinite awards. Connecticut, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia continue to allow open-ended maintenance, particularly after long marriages with a substantial earning gap. Most states have dropped the word "permanent" since the reform wave that started around 2014, but dropping the label is not the same thing as eliminating the outcome.

The AAML Benchmark

When a state offers no formula, family law attorneys often fall back on the benchmark published by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. It has no legal authority anywhere, but it shows up in settlement discussions often enough that you should know what it says.

For duration, the AAML benchmark uses a sliding scale: 0.3 times the marriage length for marriages under three years, 0.5 for three to ten years, and 0.75 for ten to twenty years. Above twenty years, the benchmark suggests permanent support. So a fifteen-year marriage lands at about 11.25 years under the AAML model.

Use it as a reference point, not an answer. If your state has its own formula, that formula governs. In a discretion state, the AAML figure gives you a number to put on the table, but it is not a prediction of what a judge will do.

Sources: Custody X Change state alimony study, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers published guidelines, state statutory formulas including Texas Family Code Chapter 8 and Florida Statute 61.08. Updated July 2026. Alimony rules change frequently; confirm current law in your state before relying on these figures.

How Long Alimony Lasts

Duration is calculated separately from amount, and it almost always tracks how long the marriage lasted rather than how much anyone earns. This is where most people get their estimate wrong. A modest monthly payment stretched over many years adds up to more than a large payment that ends quickly.

Arizona set the shortest minimum in the Custody X Change study at six months. California's recommendation of forty-eight months was the longest. Between those two endpoints sits most of the country, with no real pattern beyond whatever brackets each state legislature decided to draw.

Tax Treatment

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 rewrote alimony taxation, and unlike several other provisions in that law, this change is permanent.

If your divorce agreement was executed after December 31, 2018, alimony is not deductible for the person paying it and not taxable income for the person receiving it. For agreements finalized before 2019, the old rules still apply: the payer deducts and the recipient declares it as income. That remains the case unless the agreement was later modified to opt into the new treatment.

This killed the tax arbitrage that used to make alimony attractive compared to a property settlement. A high earner in a top bracket could once shift income to a lower-bracket ex-spouse and reduce the total tax bill for both households. That math no longer works, and it has shifted how attorneys structure divorce settlements.

One more thing: state tax treatment does not always follow federal. A payment that carries no federal consequences may still create a state tax event, so check your state's rules rather than assuming the federal approach applies everywhere.

When Alimony Ends

Two triggers work the same way in every state. If the recipient remarries, periodic alimony stops automatically. If either party dies, it stops as well.

Beyond those two, most states allow modification or termination when circumstances change in a meaningful way. Retirement is the most common trigger. Courts are getting better at distinguishing between someone retiring at a normal age after a full career and someone who retires early specifically to shrink an alimony obligation. Serious illness, involuntary job loss, and a big income swing for either side can also justify a modification petition.

Cohabitation is a grayer area. Plenty of states will reduce or end alimony when the recipient moves in with a new partner, on the logic that shared living expenses reduce need. But the standard of proof varies wildly. Some states want evidence of shared finances, not just a shared address. Others require the payer to show the cohabitation actually improved the recipient's financial situation.

One thing many people do not realize: alimony survives bankruptcy. Domestic support obligations cannot be discharged under federal law, so filing for bankruptcy does not wipe out what you owe.

What Actually Drives the Number

Whether your state uses a formula or leaves it to a judge, the same handful of variables do most of the heavy lifting.

The income gap, not the income level. Every formula subtracts something for the recipient's earnings. Two spouses making $120,000 and $110,000 generate almost no support, no matter how comfortable those salaries sound. A gap of $120,000 to $30,000 produces a very different outcome.

Marriage length. Duration tracks this almost everywhere, and in some states it determines whether you qualify at all. Texas will not even consider maintenance for marriages under ten years unless there was family violence. Massachusetts and Illinois tie duration directly to the calendar.

Earning capacity, not just current earnings. If a spouse is voluntarily out of work or earning well below what their resume and credentials would support, most courts will impute income based on what that person could reasonably earn. Quitting a job or cutting your hours right before a hearing rarely fools anyone.

The standard of living during the marriage. In discretion states this is often the most powerful factor, and it is also the one most dependent on documentation. Bank statements, credit card records, and household budgets matter more here than any argument an attorney can make.

Career sacrifice. A spouse who stepped out of the workforce to raise children or who relocated for the other's career starts with a stronger claim, especially in long marriages. Courts increasingly treat this as a direct contribution to the earning capacity of the higher-paid spouse.

Sources: State family law statutes, Internal Revenue Code as amended by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, National Conference of State Legislatures. Updated July 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions