Wage Garnishment Calculator

The Federal Limit

Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act caps ordinary wage garnishment. Under 15 U.S.C. 1673(a), the amount taken in a workweek may not exceed the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. At $7.25 an hour, that protected floor is $217.50 a week.

Disposable earnings are what is left after deductions required by law. The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #30 lists federal, state and local taxes and the employee’s share of Social Security, Medicare and state unemployment insurance tax, and notes that voluntary deductions such as union dues or insurance premiums do not count. For longer pay periods it uses multiples of the weekly figure: $435 every two weeks, $471.25 twice a month and $942.50 a month (29 CFR 870.10).

Different limits apply to some debts. Support orders can take up to 50% of disposable earnings if the worker supports another spouse or child, or 60% if not, plus 5% more when the order collects support over 12 weeks overdue (15 U.S.C. 1673(b)). Defaulted federal student loans can be collected by administrative wage garnishment of up to 15% of disposable pay (20 U.S.C. 1095a), never more than the amount above 30 times the minimum wage (34 CFR 34.19); other federal agency debts follow a similar 15% rule (31 U.S.C. 3720D). Tax levies use their own exemption formula (26 U.S.C. 6334).

Federal law also bars an employer from firing someone because their wages were garnished for any one debt (15 U.S.C. 1674).

State Limits We Have Verified

A state law that allows less to be garnished controls (15 U.S.C. 1677). The calculator applies these state rules to ordinary court judgments. Each was read on the state legislature’s own website, except North Carolina’s, which we could not open directly and give as a caution rather than a computed figure:

For every other state the calculator labels the figure as the federal maximum only, which the state may bar or reduce. That is not a finding that the state adds nothing: many states have their own exemptions, and our debt collection laws by state guide covers them state by state.

Worked Example

A worker paid weekly earns $1,000 gross with $200 of required deductions, so disposable earnings are $800. Under the federal rule the most is $200 (25%, less than the $582.50 above the $217.50 floor). In Illinois it is $125 (the amount above 45 x $15.00 = $675, which is less than 15% of gross). In New York outside the New York City area it is $100 (10% of gross). In California it is $0, because $800 is below 48 x $16.90 = $811.20.