A bankruptcy attorney can run the means test in 15 to 30 minutes during a free consultation. The DIY version takes 2 to 4 hours of careful work with the right documents. The test itself is mostly arithmetic once you have your last six months of paystubs and an honest expense list.
What the means test does. The means test under 11 U.S.C. § 707(b) decides whether you qualify for Chapter 7 or are pushed into Chapter 13 by a presumption of abuse. The test runs in two parts. Part 1 compares your household income to your state's median income. If you are below median, you pass automatically. Part 2 is the deeper calculation that applies if you are above median.
Part 1: the state median check. You take your Current Monthly Income, which is the average of your gross household income over the six full calendar months before filing. You annualize it (multiply by 12). You compare to the U.S. Trustee Program's state median for your household size. The tables are updated twice a year and are published on the U.S. Trustee Program's website. If your annualized CMI is at or below the median, Part 1 says you pass.
The household income definition. Household income for the means test includes wages, salary, tips, commissions, business income, interest, dividends, rental income, royalties, alimony or maintenance received, unemployment compensation, pension and retirement income, and other regular contributions to household expenses. Social Security benefits are explicitly excluded (per a 2015 amendment), which often pushes Social Security recipients below the state median even with substantial benefits.
The six-month window. The look-back is the six full calendar months before the month of filing. If you file on June 15, the window is December 1 through May 31. If you had a big bonus in March, that bonus gets averaged in. If you had a layoff in February and have been unemployed since, the post-layoff months pull your average down. Timing your filing can change Part 1 dramatically if your income has recently dropped.
Part 2: the expense deduction calculation. If you are above the state median, you continue to a longer form (Official Form 122A-2). The form has lines for IRS-allowed expense standards (housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, healthcare), actual out-of-pocket expenses (childcare, health insurance, mandatory payroll deductions, term life insurance, court-ordered support), secured debt payments due in the next 60 months averaged to a monthly figure, priority debt divided by 60, and a Chapter 13 trustee fee allowance.
The IRS allowed expense standards. The IRS publishes standardized expense allowances by category. Housing and utilities vary by county. Transportation has both an operating cost (varies by region) and an ownership allowance per vehicle (currently $588 for one car, capped at two cars). Food, clothing, personal care, and household supplies follow national standards based on household size. The IRS standards are deliberately tighter than most filers' actual spending, which is why the means test exists.
The threshold math. Multiply your monthly disposable income after deductions by 60. If the result is less than $9,075 (2026 figure), you pass. Between $9,075 and $15,150, the case is in the 'gray zone' where the result depends on whether unsecured creditors would receive at least 25 percent of their claims. Above $15,150 (or above $9,075 if it represents 25 percent of nonpriority unsecured debt), the means test presumes abuse and Chapter 7 is denied unless you can rebut the presumption with special circumstances under § 707(b)(2)(B).
Why attorneys run it so fast. Consumer bankruptcy attorneys use software (BestCase, NextChapter, etc.) that pulls the IRS standards by ZIP code, calculates CMI from paystubs, and produces a completed means test form. Once you supply paystubs, recent tax returns, and a basic expense list, the software outputs the result in minutes.
The honest summary. The means test isn't designed to be hard for honest filers. Most consumer debtors with below-median income pass in seconds at Part 1. Above-median filers need the full calculation, but most still pass after honest deductions. An attorney consultation is the fastest way to know where you stand.