Means Test

The income-based calculation that determines whether a filer qualifies for Chapter 7 or must file Chapter 13 instead.

The means test is what decides whether you’re actually eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It takes your average gross household income over the six months before you filed and compares it to the median for a household your size in your state. Come in at or below the median, and you’re automatically clear to file Chapter 7. Come in above it, and there’s a second, more detailed calculation — using IRS-published expense standards — that figures out how much disposable income you’d actually have left, and whether that’s high enough to push you toward Chapter 13 instead.

Those median income figures aren’t fixed — the U.S. Trustee Program updates them roughly twice a year based on Census data, and they vary by both state and household size. Because the numbers shift, this site’s means-test estimator walks through how the calculation actually works and links you to the current official table, rather than baking in a figure that could be out of date by the time you read it.