What the Means Test is
The Means Test is the income-and-expense calculation Congress added in 2005 to filter out people who could plausibly afford to pay back their debts. It runs on two official forms — Form 122A-1 (the median-income comparison) and, if you don't pass that, Form 122A-2 (the full calculation). Almost everyone files the first form; only filers with above-median income have to complete the second.
Step 1 — The median-income test
This is the easy part. You take your average gross income over the prior 6 full calendar months, multiply by 2 to annualize it, and compare to your state's median for a household of your size. The median figures are published by the U.S. Trustee Program and updated periodically.
If your annualized income is at or below median, you pass the Means Test. You can file Chapter 7. The case proceeds normally and you don't have to do any more Means Test math.
Good to know: "Income" for the Means Test means more than just W-2 wages — it includes regular contributions from anyone who helps with household expenses, rental income, business income, pension and retirement distributions, interest, dividends, and most other regular cash inflows. It does not include Social Security benefits.
The 6-month lookback — why timing matters
The income window is the full 6 calendar months immediately before the month you file. So if you file in June, the lookback is December 1 through May 31. This matters because a recent change in income — losing a job, going on disability, having a hours cut — only gets reflected in the test once the slow months have rolled fully into the 6-month window.
People sometimes wait a month or two to file specifically so that a high-earning month rolls out of the window. Whether that's worth doing depends on your specific numbers and how much pressure you're under from creditors — exactly the kind of decision worth a free attorney consultation.
Step 2 — The full calculation (only if you're above median)
If your income is above the state median, the test isn't over — it just gets longer. Form 122A-2 walks through a structured deduction of expenses to figure out your monthly disposable income:
- Start with your monthly income from step 1.
- Subtract IRS-allowed living expenses for your household size and county (housing, food, transportation, utilities, healthcare — all from published IRS standards, not your actual spending).
- Subtract actual secured debt payments coming due over the next 60 months, divided by 60 (mortgage, car loan, etc.).
- Subtract priority debt (recent taxes, back child support) divided by 60.
- Add a few specific add-backs (childcare, court-ordered payments, etc.).
What's left is your monthly disposable income. Multiply that by 60 to get total disposable income over a hypothetical 5-year Chapter 13 plan.
The two thresholds
Once you have that 60-month disposable income number, compare it to two thresholds the law sets (updated periodically — these are the current ranges, not exact figures, and you should always verify against the official tables):
- Below the lower threshold (currently around $9,075): you pass. Chapter 7 is on the table.
- Above the upper threshold (currently around $15,150): you fail. The court will presume the filing is "abusive" and typically convert or dismiss to push you into Chapter 13.
- Between the two: a tie-breaker test — if your disposable income would pay back 25%+ of your unsecured debt, you fail; otherwise you pass.
Watch out: "Presumption of abuse" sounds dramatic but is technical — it just means the case starts in a default-fail posture that the filer or their attorney has to rebut with "special circumstances" (serious medical bills, a recently laid-off spouse, etc.). It's not a finding of bad faith. But you do generally need an attorney to make a special-circumstances argument convincingly.
Who's exempt from the Means Test entirely
A few categories of filers skip the Means Test:
- Disabled veterans whose debt was incurred primarily while on active duty or while performing homeland defense activity.
- Active-duty members of the Reserves or National Guard, for the duration of qualifying service and 540 days after.
- Filers whose debts are primarily non-consumer (i.e., more than half is business debt). The Means Test only applies when consumer debt is the majority of what you owe.
What this actually means for most people
The Means Test sounds intimidating, but the practical reality for most filers is straightforward: if your household income is at or below your state's median, you pass the test on the first form and you're done. The complicated 122A-2 calculation only matters for above-median filers, and even then most people who are genuinely struggling end up passing it because the IRS expense allowances are reasonably generous.
The Means Test is also where self-filing software earns its keep. The math is mechanical, the IRS standards lookup is tedious, and the cross-references between the two forms are easy to mess up by hand. BK Prepare's Means Test pre-check is free, with no signup wall — find out where you stand before you spend anything else on the process. See the pricing section for details.
What to do next
- If you pass at the median: Chapter 7 is almost certainly available. Read What is Chapter 7 bankruptcy? for the full process.
- If you're close to the median in either direction: the calculation matters and so does timing. Get a free attorney consultation.
- If you're well above median and have meaningful disposable income: you're probably looking at Chapter 13 — see Chapter 7 vs 13 vs 11.