Lookup · 39 answers
How much of my paycheck can be garnished?
Find how much of one week's pay a creditor can take in your state, and how much the law protects.
Where does this come from?
Straight from azleg.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, leg.colorado.gov, cga.ct.gov, code.dccouncil.gov, legis.iowa.gov, leg.state.fl.us, capitol.hawaii.gov, legislature.idaho.gov, ilga.gov, ksrevisor.gov, mgaleg.maryland.gov, malegislature.gov, revisor.mn.gov, revisor.mo.gov, archive.legmt.gov, nebraskalegislature.gov, leg.state.nv.us, gencourt.state.nh.us, codes.findlaw.com, ncleg.gov, ndlegis.gov, codes.ohio.gov, oksenate.gov, oregonlegislature.gov, palegis.us, scstatehouse.gov, uscode.house.gov, legislature.vermont.gov, law.lis.virginia.gov, app.leg.wa.gov, code.wvlegislature.gov, docs.legis.wisconsin.gov and wyoleg.gov. Every answer links the page it was read from and quotes the line on that page that says it, so you can check it yourself in one click. The full list is under Where this came from.
How do you know it's right?
Each value is checked back against its own source page: the number has to appear in the sentence we quote, and that sentence has to appear on the page. Anything that fails is fixed or left out rather than published. More on how that works.
How up to date is it?
We last checked every number here on . These change over time, so they are due to be checked again by — if that date passes, a notice appears at the top of the page.
Wage Garnishment Calculator — Find how much of one week's pay a creditor can take in your state, and how much the law protects.
About this data
How much of a debtor's pay a creditor may garnish for an ordinary money judgment in each US state, taken one state at a time from that state's own statute. Two numbers usually govern: the share of disposable earnings a creditor may take, and the multiple of an hourly minimum wage below which earnings cannot be touched at all. A few states do it a third way and cap what one creditor may take across a whole CALENDAR YEAR instead, banded by what the debtor is expected to earn that year -- Iowa is the case here, and it states no weekly share of its own at all. Federal law (15 U.S.C. 1673) sets the floor at 25% of disposable earnings or the excess over 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less; a large minority of states are more protective and several prohibit garnishment for ordinary debts outright. Answers 'how much of my paycheck can be garnished in [state]', 'which states protect more than federal law', 'which states do not allow wage garnishment for credit card debt', and 'what would I use to get garnishment limits as data rather than reading law-firm comparison pages'. No federal agency compiles this and the 50-state tables that exist are published by content sites and law firms, most of which state a DOLLAR figure that goes stale the moment a state minimum wage rises. This asset deliberately does not: it records the statutory multiple and the share as the statute prints them, and leaves the arithmetic to the calculator, because the dollar amount appears on no statute page and publishing one as a sourced fact would be an invented value.
39 records covering 34 states, one fact each. Every value is transcribed from the source that states it and carries the sentence it was taken from: 34 sources across 34 sites, last checked 2026-08-30, due for re-check by 2027-02-25. Every record is listed below, each linking the page its value came from.
| State | Maximum share of earnings a creditor may take | Earnings wholly exempt | Statute | Expected earnings for the calendar year | Most one creditor may take in a calendar year | Share of earnings that is exempt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | ten percent of disposable earnings for that week | sixty times the applicable minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable | 33-1131. Definition; wages; salary; compensation | |||
| California | Twenty percent of the individual’s disposable earnings for that week | 48 times the state minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable | 706.050. | |||
| Colorado | Twenty percent of the individual's disposable earnings for that week | forty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by 29 U.S.C. sec. 206 (a)(1) in effect at the time the earnings are payable | 13-54-104. Restrictions on garnishment and levy under execution or attachment - definitions. | |||
| Connecticut | twenty-five per cent of his disposable earnings for that week | forty times the higher of (A) the minimum hourly wage prescribed by Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, USC Title 29, Section 206(a)(1), or (B) the full minimum fair wage established by subsection (i) of section 31-58 | 52-361a | |||
| District of Columbia | 25% of the amount by which the judgment debtor's disposable wages for that week exceed 40 times the minimum hourly wage | 40 times the minimum hourly wage | § 16–572. Attachment of wages; percentage limitations; priority of attachments. | |||
| Iowa | 642.21 Exemption from net earnings. | expected earnings of fifty thousand dollars or more | not more than ten percent of an employee’s expected earnings | |||
| Iowa | 642.21 Exemption from net earnings. | expected earnings of sixteen thousand dollars or more, but less than twenty-four thousand dollars | not more than eight hundred dollars may be garnished | |||
| Iowa | 642.21 Exemption from net earnings. | expected earnings of thirty-five thousand dollars or more, but less than fifty thousand dollars | not more than two thousand dollars may be garnished | |||
| Iowa | 642.21 Exemption from net earnings. | expected earnings of twelve thousand dollars or more, but less than sixteen thousand dollars | not more than four hundred dollars may be garnished | |||
| Iowa | 642.21 Exemption from net earnings. | expected earnings of twenty-four thousand dollars or more, but less than thirty-five thousand dollars | not more than one thousand five hundred dollars may be garnished | |||
| Florida | Disposable earnings of a head of a family, which are greater than $750 a week, may not be attached or garnished unless such person has agreed otherwise in writing | a head of family whose disposable earnings are less than or equal to $750 a week | 222.11 Exemption of wages from garnishment. | |||
| Hawaii | five per cent of the first $100 per month, ten per cent of the next $100 per month, and twenty per cent of all sums in excess of $200 per month | §652-1 | ||||
| Idaho | twenty-five per cent (25%) of his disposable earnings for that week | thirty (30) times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by 29 U.S.C.A. 206(a)(1) in effect at the time the earnings are payable | 11-207. Restriction on garnishment — Maximum. | |||
| Illinois | 15% of such gross amount paid for that week | 45 times the Federal Minimum Hourly Wage prescribed by Section 206(a)(1) of Title 29 of the United States Code, as amended, or, under a wage deduction summons served on or after January 1, 2006, the minimum hourly wage prescribed by Section 4 of the Minimum Wage Law, whichever is greater | Sec. 12-803. Wages subject to collection. | |||
| Iowa | 642.21 Exemption from net earnings. | two hundred fifty dollars for each judgment creditor, except as provided in chapter 252D and sections 598.22, 598.23, and 627.12, or when those earnings are reasonably expected to be in excess of twelve thousand dollars for that calendar year | ||||
| Kansas | Twenty-five percent of the individual's aggregate disposable earnings for that workweek | 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage | 60-2310 | |||
| Maryland | 30 times the State minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the wages are due, multiplied by the number of weeks during which the wages due were earned | §15–601.1. | 75 percent of the disposable wages due | |||
| Massachusetts | 50 times the greater of the federal or the Massachusetts hourly minimum wage | Section 28: Wages and pensions; exemptions; exceptions | 85 per cent of the debtor's gross wages | |||
| Minnesota | 25 percent of the debtor's disposable earnings | 571.922 LIMITATION ON WAGE GARNISHMENT. | ||||
| Missouri | twenty-five percentum | thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in effect at the time the earnings are payable | 525.030 | |||
| Montana | 25% of the debtor's disposable earnings for that week | 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable | 25-13-614. Earnings of judgment debtor | |||
| Nebraska | Twenty-five percent of his or her disposable earnings for that week | thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1) in effect at the time earnings are payable | 25-1558 | |||
| Nevada | Twenty-five percent of the person’s disposable earnings for the relevant workweek if the person’s gross weekly salary or wage on the date the most recent writ of garnishment was issued exceeded $770 | 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 206(a)(1) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 | NRS 31.295 Garnishment of earnings: Limitations on amount. | |||
| New Hampshire | 50 times the minimum hourly wage as established by the Fair Labor Standards Act | Section 512:21 List of Exemptions. | ||||
| New York | twenty-five percent of the disposable earnings of the judgment debtor for that week | thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage | CPL 5231 | |||
| North Carolina | the earnings of the debtor for his personal services, at any time within 60 days next preceding the order, cannot be so applied | § 1-362. Debtor's property ordered sold. | ||||
| North Dakota | Twenty-five percent of disposable earnings for that week | forty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 | 32-09.1-03. Restriction on garnishment of earnings. | |||
| Ohio | thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage | 2329.66 | ||||
| Oklahoma | §31-1. Property exempt from attachment, execution or other forced sale - Bankruptcy proceedings. | Seventy-five percent (75%) of all current wages or earnings for personal or professional services earned during the last ninety (90) days | ||||
| Oregon | For wages payable on or after July 1, 2026, and before July 1, 2027, $400. | 18.385 Wage exemption. | 75 percent of the disposable earnings of an individual are exempt from execution | |||
| Pennsylvania | The wages, salaries and commissions of individuals shall while in the hands of the employer be exempt from any attachment, execution or other process except upon an action or proceeding | § 8127. Personal earnings exempt from process. | ||||
| South Carolina | the creditor may not attach unpaid earnings of the debtor | SECTION 37-5-104. No garnishment. | ||||
| United States (federal floor) | 25 per centum of his disposable earnings for that week | thirty times the Federal minimum hourly wage | 1673. Restriction on garnishment | |||
| Vermont | 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage | § 3170. Exemptions; issuance of order | 75 percent of the debtor’s weekly disposable earnings | |||
| Virginia | Twenty-five percent of his disposable earnings for that week | 40 times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1) or the Virginia minimum hourly wage prescribed by § 40.1-28.10 , whichever is greater, in effect at the time earnings are payable | § 34-29. (Effective until July 1, 2027) Maximum portion of disposable earnings subject to garnishment. | |||
| Washington | Thirty-five times the state minimum hourly wage | 6.27.150 | Eighty percent of the disposable earnings of the defendant | |||
| West Virginia | twenty percent thereof and no more | fifty times the federal minimum hourly wage then in effect | §38-5A-3. Application for suggestee execution against salary or wages; extent of lien and continuing levy; exemption; priority among suggestee executions. | |||
| Wisconsin | 812.34 | 80 percent of the debtor’s disposable earnings are exempt from garnishment | ||||
| Wyoming | Twenty-five percent (25%) of defendant's disposable earnings for that week | thirty (30) times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1), in effect at the time the earnings are payable | 1-15-408. Garnishment of earnings for personal services. |
Where this came from
Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 34 sources this dataset was assembled from.
- azleg.govhttps://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01131.htm
- leginfo.legislature.ca.govhttps://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=706.050.&lawCode=CCP
- leg.colorado.govhttps://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2023-title-13.pdf
- cga.ct.govhttps://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_906.htm
- code.dccouncil.govhttps://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/16-572
- legis.iowa.govhttps://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/642.21.pdf
- leg.state.fl.ushttp://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0222/Sections/0222.11.html
- capitol.hawaii.govhttps://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0652/HRS_0652-0001.htm
- legislature.idaho.govhttps://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title11/T11CH2/SECT11-207/
- ilga.govhttps://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=073500050K12-803
- ksrevisor.govhttps://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch60/060_023_0010.html
- mgaleg.maryland.govhttps://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcl§ion=15-601.1
- malegislature.govhttps://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleIV/Chapter246/Section28
- revisor.mn.govhttps://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/571.922
- revisor.mo.govhttps://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=525.030
- archive.legmt.govhttps://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0250/chapter_0130/part_0060/section_0140/0250-0130-0060-0140.html
- nebraskalegislature.govhttps://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-1558
- leg.state.nv.ushttps://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-031.html
- gencourt.state.nh.ushttps://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/LII/512/512-21.htm
- codes.findlaw.comhttps://codes.findlaw.com/ny/civil-practice-law-and-rules/cvp-sect-5231.html
- ncleg.govhttps://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-362.html
- ndlegis.govhttps://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t32c09-1.pdf
- codes.ohio.govhttps://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2329.66
- oksenate.govhttps://oksenate.gov/sites/default/files/2019-12/os31.pdf
- oregonlegislature.govhttps://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors018.html
- palegis.ushttps://www.palegis.us/statutes/consolidated/view-statute?txtType=PDF&ttl=42&div=00.&chpt=81&sctn=27&subsctn=0
- scstatehouse.govhttps://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t37c005.php
- uscode.house.govhttps://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section1673&num=0&edition=prelim
- legislature.vermont.govhttps://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/12/121/03170
- law.lis.virginia.govhttps://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title34/chapter4/section34-29/
- app.leg.wa.govhttps://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=6.27.150
- code.wvlegislature.govhttps://code.wvlegislature.gov/38-5A-3/
- docs.legis.wisconsin.govhttps://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/812/ii/34
- wyoleg.govhttps://www.wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title01.pdf
Machine-readable
- data.jsonThe whole dataset — every record with its source URL and source quote.
- Open Knowledge Format bundleOne JSON object per line — every record's frontmatter and quoted span exactly as it is held here, in one fetch.
- How this is made and checkedWhat "verified against source" does and does not mean.
From your own code
Same records, same quotes, without scraping the page: refsource is on PyPI and npm. Each value comes back carrying the URL it was read from and the sentence on that page that states it — .source and .quote sit on the value itself rather than in a side channel, so the checking step is available instead of skipped.
pip install refsource
refsource lookup wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state state=Arizona
npx -y refsource lookup wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state state=Arizona