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Chapter 7 means test walkthrough
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The Chapter 7 means test starts with one comparison: gross household income for the six full months before filing, averaged and annualized, against the state median for the household size. This walkthrough does that arithmetic in your browser with a median you look up yourself, then explains the second step. It describes the math; it does not decide eligibility.
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Gross income received in each month
Enter what was received in each month, before taxes, for everyone in the household whose income the form counts. Leave a field blank for zero. Do not enter Social Security benefits (retirement, SSDI, SSI): §101(10A)(B)(ii) excludes them from current monthly income, and the U.S. Trustee’s form instructions treat them separately. Certain VA and Department of Defense disability and death benefits are excluded the same way.
What goes in each column?
- Wages, salary, tips, commissions: Gross — before taxes and deductions.
- Self-employment or business income: Gross receipts minus ordinary business expenses, per the form instructions.
- Rental and other real-property income: Gross rents minus ordinary operating expenses.
- Unemployment compensation: Counted on the form unless it is Social Security Act benefits (see note).
- Other counted income: Pension, retirement, interest, alimony/support received, regular contributions by others to household expenses.
Look this up yourself on the DOJ U.S. Trustee Program means-testing page and choose the table for cases filed on or after the date closest before your hypothetical filing month. The medians are republished on a schedule — each table is headed with the filing date it applies from — which is why this tool never stores or asserts one. A number baked into a calculator is a number that goes quietly stale.
Step 1 walkthrough
Enter at least one month of income above to see the six-month average and annualized figure the form would produce.
What this tool assumes
- Exactly six full calendar months; a partial window is rejected rather than pro-rated.
- Income is gross and counted on the form — Social Security Act benefits and HAVEN Act veterans’ benefits are excluded and should not be entered.
- The median is the figure you typed from the U.S. Trustee table for your state, household size, and filing date. The tool stores none.
- Step 2 is explained, not computed: disposable income under Form 122A-2 depends on IRS standards by county that this tool does not reproduce.
- Three non-income gates (counseling, the 180-day refiling bar, prior-discharge time limits) are outside this tool entirely.
How does the bankruptcy means test work?
Two steps, and most filers only ever do the first. Step one is Official Form 122A-1: add up income received in the six full months before the filing month, divide by six, multiply by twelve, and compare to the median family income the U.S. Trustee publishes for the state and household size. At or below the median, the form is finished and no presumption of abuse arises. Above it, step two on Form 122A-2 subtracts standardized and certain actual expenses to find disposable income and measures it against the statutory trigger line described in the tool. The full explanation, including special circumstances and the business-debt and veteran exemptions, is in the means test, explained.
Do I qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy if I am under the median?
Being at or below the median generally satisfies the income gate, but the means test is one of four gates. The others are a credit-counseling briefing within 180 days before filing, no disqualifying dismissal in the prior 180 days, and no discharge in a prior case filed within the look-back period. And qualifying is not the same as Chapter 7 being the better choice: non-exempt property is administered by a trustee in Chapter 7 and often kept in Chapter 13. All four gates, with a worked example.
Why does this tool refuse to say “you qualify”?
Because three things a calculator cannot see routinely change the answer. Household size is counted differently across districts (heads-on-beds versus dependents versus an economic-unit test). Income of a non-filing spouse is included on the form with a marital-adjustment deduction that is itself contested. And the six-month window moves every month, so the honest output of the arithmetic is a sentence about numbers you entered, dated to the median edition you used. Sites that return a verdict are usually collecting a lead. This one is not — there is no form to submit.
Strongly consider talking to a professional
Anyone near the median line, above it, with a non-filing spouse, with fluctuating self-employment income, or with a household-size question benefits from a consumer bankruptcy attorney reading the actual pay records. Free initial consultations are common. Many people find one through the NACBA directory, a state bar lawyer-referral service, or LSC-funded legal aid for income-qualified households — see how to find and vet a bankruptcy attorney.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a Chapter 7 means test calculator that tells me if I qualify?
No, on purpose. It reproduces the arithmetic of Official Form 122A-1 — six months of gross income, averaged, annualized, and compared against a median figure you enter — and then explains what the second step does. The means test is applied by a bankruptcy court to a signed form, and the answer can turn on household-size and expense-categorization questions that a calculator cannot decide. The output sentence describes the numbers; it never says anyone qualifies or does not.
Which six months does the bankruptcy means test use?
The six full calendar months that end on the last day of the month before the case is filed, under 11 U.S.C. §101(10A). A case filed on any day in September looks at March through August. Because the window rolls, the same person can land on different sides of the median from one month to the next — that is a legitimate timing question for an attorney, not a trick.
Does Social Security count in current monthly income?
Generally no. §101(10A)(B)(ii) excludes benefits received under the Social Security Act — retirement, SSDI, and SSI — from current monthly income, and the HAVEN Act added certain VA and Department of Defense disability and death benefits to the exclusions. Most other regular income counts, including wages, self-employment and rental income net of ordinary expenses, unemployment compensation in most districts, pensions, support received, and regular contributions others make to household expenses. The U.S. Trustee form instructions are the authority on edge cases.
Where do I find the state median income for the means test?
On the DOJ U.S. Trustee Program means-testing page, which publishes a median family income table by state and household size, each edition labeled with the filing date it applies from. The medians are revised on a schedule, so any article or calculator that prints a dollar figure is quoting an edition that may already be superseded. This tool asks you to look up and enter the figure yourself for that reason.
What happens if my income is above the median?
A second calculation on Official Form 122A-2. It subtracts IRS National and Local Standard allowances, certain actual expenses, and averaged secured and priority debt payments from current monthly income to reach monthly disposable income, then multiplies by 60. Under §707(b)(2)(A)(i) a presumption of abuse arises if that figure is not less than the lesser of 25% of nonpriority unsecured claims (or a dollar floor, whichever is greater) or a dollar ceiling. The presumption can be rebutted with documented special circumstances. Many above-median filers still proceed in Chapter 7; others go to Chapter 13.
Do the dollar figures in the means test change?
Yes, on two separate schedules. The state medians and IRS standards are republished by the U.S. Trustee Program several times a year. The dollar thresholds written into §707(b) itself adjust every three years under 11 U.S.C. §104; the current ones took effect for cases filed on or after April 1, 2025 and are next due to change on April 1, 2028. This page states the statutory figures with their verification date and links the source so they can be re-checked.
Terms used on this page
Go deeper
- The bankruptcy means test, explainedBoth steps in full, special circumstances, and who is exempt from the test entirely.
- Do I qualify for Chapter 7? The four gatesCounseling, the 180-day bar, prior discharges, and the means test — with a worked example.
- How to find and vet a bankruptcy attorneyWhat a consultation should cover, what it costs, and the free routes for income-qualified filers.
- Bankruptcy document checklistThe pay stubs, statements, and returns the means-test forms are built from.
Sources
- 11 U.S.C. §101(10A) — definition of “current monthly income”; the six-month window and the Social Security Act and veterans’ benefit exclusions (LII, verified 2026-09-04).
- 11 U.S.C. §707(b) — the means test; §707(b)(2)(A)(i) presumption thresholds of $10,275 and $17,150 as adjusted by Judicial Conference notice of Jan. 30, 2025 (90 F.R. 8941), effective April 1, 2025 (LII “Adjustment of Dollar Amounts” note, verified 2026-09-04).
- 11 U.S.C. §104 — the three-year adjustment cycle for dollar amounts in the Bankruptcy Code.
- DOJ U.S. Trustee Program — Means testing — current median family income tables by state and household size, IRS National and Local Standards, and form instructions (the page the tool asks you to read the median from).
- U.S. Courts — Bankruptcy forms — Official Forms 122A-1 (statement of current monthly income), 122A-1Supp (exemption from presumption), and 122A-2 (means test calculation).
- DOJ U.S. Trustee Program — HAVEN Act FAQs — which veterans’ benefits are excluded from current monthly income.
Educational information — not advice
This topic involves court deadlines and rights you can permanently lose.
This page provides general educational information about credit, debt, and consumer protections. It is not legal advice, financial advice, or credit repair services, and reading it does not create any professional relationship. Laws, procedures, deadlines, and dollar amounts vary by state and change over time.
Before acting or deciding not to act, strongly consider consulting a licensed attorney in your state. If cost is a concern, legal aid organizations may help for free. See our full disclaimer.