# California — Wage garnishment limits and exempt earnings by state

For California, maximum share of earnings a creditor may take is Twenty percent of the individual’s disposable earnings for that week; earnings wholly exempt is 48 times the state minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable; statute is 706.050, verified against its source on 2026-08-30.

- **State:** California _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Maximum share of earnings a creditor may take:** Twenty percent of the individual’s disposable earnings for that week _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Earnings wholly exempt:** 48 times the state minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute:** 706.050. _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> the maximum amount of disposable earnings of an individual judgment debtor for any workweek that is subject to levy under an earnings withholding order shall not exceed the lesser of the following: (1) Twenty percent of the individual’s disposable earnings for that week. (2) Forty percent of the amount by which the individual’s disposable earnings for that week exceed 48 times the state minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable. If a judgment debtor works in a location where the local minimum hourly wage is greater than the state

## Source

- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=706.050.&lawCode=CCP

Last verified: 2026-08-30. Review by: 2027-02-25.
Part of [Wage garnishment limits and exempt earnings by state](https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/).