Written & reviewed by NotALawyer Review AI · Updated June 26, 2026
For most ordinary consumer debts, federal law sets a floor that protects part of every paycheck. A creditor generally can't take more than the lesser of two amounts: 25% of your disposable (take-home) pay, or the amount by which your weekly pay exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage. Some states protect more of your wages, and a few effectively bar garnishment for ordinary debts altogether. Higher limits apply to child support, alimony, and unpaid taxes — and for most debts, a creditor has to sue you and win a court judgment before it can garnish anything.
Under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, garnishment for most consumer debts is capped at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings, or pay above 30 times the federal minimum wage. 'Disposable' means what's left after legally required deductions like taxes — not after rent or car payments.
The federal numbers are only the minimum protection. Many states cap garnishment lower, tie it to a higher local minimum wage, or exempt wages for heads of household — and a small number effectively block wage garnishment for ordinary debts. The 'your state' panel and comparison table on this page show where yours lands.
Child support and alimony can reach a larger share of your pay — under federal law, up to 50–60%, plus a bit more for past-due support. Unpaid federal taxes and defaulted federal student loans use separate formulas and, unlike most debts, can sometimes garnish without first going to court.
A credit-card company or medical biller generally can't garnish your wages on its own. It has to file a lawsuit, obtain a judgment, and then get a garnishment order. That means you typically get notice and a chance to respond — and to claim any exemptions you're entitled to — before money comes out.
Say someone takes home $600 a week. Twenty-five percent of that is $150. Thirty times the $7.25 federal minimum wage is $217.50, and $600 minus $217.50 is $382.50. A creditor for an ordinary debt could take the lesser of those two — $150 — unless that person's state protects more. This is just an illustration of the math, not a calculation of any real situation.
More on this topic: the Consumer Rights & Finance hub
Under federal law, the most a creditor can garnish from a paycheck for ordinary consumer debt is the lesser of 25% of your disposable (after-tax) earnings or the amount your weekly pay exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage — so the first $217.50 of weekly take-home is always protected. States may protect more, and many do, by shielding a larger share of pay or tying the exemption to a higher state minimum wage. A few states go further and bar wage garnishment for most consumer debts entirely.
| State | Consumer-debt wage-garnishment limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Alaska | At least $473/week of net earnings exempt (more protective than federal) | Alaska Stat. §09.38.030 |
| Arizona | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Arkansas | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| California | Lesser of 20% of disposable pay or 40% of pay over 48× state minimum wage | Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §706.050 |
| Colorado | Lesser of 20% of disposable pay or pay over 40× minimum wage (more protective) | Colo. Rev. Stat. §13-54-104 |
| Connecticut | Lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 40× minimum wage (more protective) | Conn. Gen. Stat. §52-361a |
| Delaware | 85% of wages exempt — a creditor may take at most 15% (more protective) | Del. Code tit. 10, §4913 |
| District of Columbia | Pay up to 40× DC minimum wage exempt; only 25% of the excess garnishable | D.C. Code §16-572 |
| Florida | Head-of-family wages exempt if disposable pay is $750/week or less | Fla. Stat. §222.11 |
| Georgia | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Hawaii | Graduated state formula or the federal limit, whichever protects more pay | Haw. Rev. Stat. §652-1 |
| Idaho | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Illinois | Lesser of 15% of gross pay or pay over 45× minimum wage (more protective) | 735 ILCS 5/12-803 |
| Indiana | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Iowa | Annual dollar caps limit how much one creditor can garnish per year | Iowa Code §642.21 |
| Kansas | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Kentucky | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Louisiana | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Maine | Lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 40× minimum wage (more protective) | Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 9-A, §5-105 |
| Maryland | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Massachusetts | Greater of 85% of gross wages or 50× minimum wage is exempt (more protective) | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 246, §28 |
| Michigan | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Minnesota | Greater of 75% of disposable pay or 40× minimum wage exempt; lower rates for lower earners | Minn. Stat. §571.922 |
| Mississippi | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Missouri | Head-of-household pay is 90% exempt — at most 10% garnishable (more protective) | Mo. Rev. Stat. §525.030 |
| Montana | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Nebraska | Head-of-family pay is 85% exempt — at most 15% garnishable (more protective) | Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-1558 |
| Nevada | 82% of disposable pay exempt if gross weekly pay is $770 or less (more protective) | Nev. Rev. Stat. §31.295 |
| New Hampshire | 50× minimum wage exempt; wage attachment is one-time, not a continuing garnishment | N.H. Rev. Stat. §512:21 |
| New Jersey | Capped at 10% of pay for earners up to 250% of the federal poverty level | N.J. Stat. §2A:17-50 |
| New Mexico | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| New York | Lesser of 10% of gross pay or 25% of disposable pay (more protective) | N.Y. CPLR §5231 |
| North Carolina | Most wages exempt — no wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debt | N.C. Dept. of Labor — Garnishments (N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-362) |
| North Dakota | Greater of 75% or 40× minimum wage exempt, plus $20/week per dependent | N.D. Cent. Code §32-09.1-03 |
| Ohio | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Oklahoma | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Oregon | 75% of disposable pay exempt, with a weekly dollar floor above the federal minimum | Or. Rev. Stat. §18.385 |
| Pennsylvania | Most wages exempt — consumer-debt wage garnishment effectively barred | 42 Pa. C.S. §8127 |
| Rhode Island | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| South Carolina | Most wages exempt — consumer-debt wage garnishment barred by statute | S.C. Code §37-5-104 |
| South Dakota | Pay over 40× minimum wage garnishable, minus $25/week per dependent (more protective) | S.D. Codified Laws §21-18-51 |
| Tennessee | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Texas | Most wages exempt — consumer-debt wage garnishment effectively barred | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §63.004 |
| Utah | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Vermont | Consumer debt: greater of 85% of disposable pay or 40× minimum wage exempt | 12 V.S.A. §3170 |
| Virginia | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
| Washington | Consumer debt: greater of 80% of disposable pay or 35× state minimum wage exempt | Wash. Rev. Code §6.27.150 |
| West Virginia | Consumer debt: 80% of disposable pay exempt — at most 20% garnishable (more protective) | W. Va. Code §46A-2-130 |
| Wisconsin | 80% of disposable pay exempt; fully exempt if household income is below the poverty line | Wis. Stat. §812.34 |
| Wyoming | Federal limit: lesser of 25% of disposable pay or pay over 30× minimum wage | CCPA Title III, 15 U.S.C. §1673 |
General information, not legal advice. Garnishment for child or spousal support, unpaid taxes, and student loans follows different — and usually higher — limits. Confirm the rule and the current figures with your court or a licensed attorney in your state.
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