Can income be imputed based on what a parent earned in a previous, higher-paying job?

Yes, a parent's earnings in a previous, higher-paying job are relevant evidence of their genuine earning capacity, and a court can impute income at that historical level if it finds the parent is currently earning less by choice rather than because of a genuine change in circumstances. The key question is why the change happened: a layoff, industry decline, health issue, or other circumstance genuinely beyond the parent's control is treated very differently from a parent who voluntarily left a well-paying role for a lower-paying one without an adequate explanation.

Courts also look at how much time has passed and whether the parent has made reasonable efforts to find comparable work since the change, since a genuinely difficult job market or industry-wide decline can mean a previous salary is no longer realistically achievable even with good-faith effort. A parent relying on their higher previous earnings to argue for imputed income should be prepared to show that comparable roles still exist and that the current lower income reflects a choice, not a market reality. Because this analysis depends heavily on timing and effort, evidence about the reason for the change and subsequent job search activity is central either way.