What Is a Bankruptcy Means Test Calculator?

A bankruptcy means test calculator condenses the arithmetic behind the Chapter 7 eligibility test into a single page. The means test exists to keep debtors who can afford to repay part of their unsecured debts out of Chapter 7, steering them into a five-year Chapter 13 plan instead. The first question it asks is simple: is your current monthly income above or below the median income for a household of your size in your state? Below the median, you generally pass and the deeper calculation is never reached.

Above the median the test becomes a subtraction exercise governed by statute. Allowed living expenses — the IRS National and Local Standards for your county — secured debt payments and priority obligations are deducted from income. What remains is disposable income, and the law asks whether sixty months of it could pay a meaningful share of what you owe. Two thresholds answer that: twenty-five percent of your nonpriority unsecured debt, and a fixed statutory cap. Cross the right line and the court presumes abuse.

How It Works

The calculator annualizes current monthly income and compares it with the state median for your household size. If income is above the median, it totals the allowed deductions, subtracts them from income and multiplies the residue by sixty. That five-year total is then tested against both statutory thresholds: the greater of twenty-five percent of nonpriority unsecured debt or $9,075 for the first test, and the $15,150 cap for the second. Meeting either test, while above the median, produces a presumption of abuse.

The table shows each step — the median comparison, the deductions, both threshold tests and the final presumption — so the path to the answer is auditable. The calculator also reports how large the sixty-month total is relative to your unsecured debt, which is the ratio the test is ultimately measuring. Note how sensitive the result is to the deduction figures: because sixty times a single month's disposable income is compared with the thresholds, a deduction difference of a few hundred dollars can move the outcome by more than a thousand dollars of tested capacity, which is why the official form is worth running with precise county standards rather than comfortable estimates.

Understanding Your Results

The primary card reports monthly disposable income and whether your income sits above or below the state median. The three-stat bar frames the statutory question: annualized income, the sixty-month total and whether a presumption of abuse arises. A result of "no presumption" below the median means Chapter 7 is generally available; above the median it means the deeper arithmetic did not reach the thresholds.

Treat this as an estimate, not a ruling. The official test is Form 122A, which applies county-specific standards, distinguishes debt types under detailed rules, and allows special circumstances to rebut a presumption of abuse. Median figures change twice a year and vary by household size and state, so update the median input with current published data. If you are anywhere near a threshold, have a bankruptcy attorney run the official form before filing — small differences in deductions frequently decide the outcome.