Wage Garnishment Calculator
Estimate how much of your paycheck can be legally garnished under federal CCPA limits for consumer debt, child support, and federal student loans.
Wage Garnishment Calculator
Gross Pay This Period
Your pay before any deductions, for the pay frequency selected below.
Pay Frequency
The protected floor is defined weekly and scaled to your pay period.
Legally-Required Deductions
Income tax, the employee share of Social Security and Medicare, SUI, and mandatory retirement only.
Do not include health insurance, a voluntary 401(k), or union dues. Those are voluntary deductions and are not subtracted before garnishment is calculated.
Garnishment Type
Each debt type has its own federal limit.
Support Order Details
These set the 50/55/60/65% support cap.
Your State (optional)
Flags states that ban or limit consumer garnishment. Leave blank for the federal estimate.
Applicable Minimum Wage
Defaults to the federal $7.25. The 30x floor uses the higher of federal or state minimum wage, so raise this if your state minimum wage is higher.
Estimates only, this is not tax or legal advice. Garnishment limits vary by state, court order, and debt type.
Notes & Assumptions
- Consumer debt: lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount over the 30x minimum wage floor (DOL Fact Sheet #30).
- Child support/alimony: 50% (supporting another family) or 60% (not), plus 5% if more than 12 weeks in arrears. The 30x floor does not apply.
- Federal student loan: 15% of disposable earnings, still subject to the 30x floor (34 CFR 34.19).
- Unpaid taxes: the IRS uses Publication 1494 exemption tables instead of a percentage cap, so this tool shows guidance, not a fixed figure.
- The CCPA cap is a total per-pay-period ceiling regardless of how many garnishment orders you have.
Know Exactly What You Earned
Timeclock44 logs your hours and pay so you can check gross wages and deductions before a garnishment ever hits. Get the app to keep the records that back up your paycheck.
How wage garnishment limits work under federal law
Wage garnishment is a court-ordered or agency-ordered process that takes money directly from your paycheck to pay a debt. The federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA), Title III, sets a nationwide ceiling on how much can be taken for most ordinary debts. The rule is the lesser of two numbers: 25% of your disposable earnings, or the amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. Whichever is smaller is the most that can be garnished that pay period.
At the current $7.25 federal minimum wage, the 30x figure is $217.50 per week. That creates three zones for a weekly paycheck. If your disposable earnings are $217.50 or less, nothing can be garnished for a consumer debt. Between $217.50 and $290, only the amount over $217.50 can be taken, which works out to less than 25%. Once disposable earnings pass $290, the flat 25% cap takes over. For longer pay periods the floor is multiplied to match: roughly $435 biweekly, $471.25 semi-monthly, and $942.50 monthly.
These limits apply to a single pay period and to your total garnishment, not to each creditor separately. If two creditors hold orders against you, the combined amount still cannot exceed the CCPA ceiling. The numbers above are the federal floor. Many states protect more, and four states block consumer garnishment entirely.
Disposable earnings vs. gross pay
Garnishment is calculated on disposable earnings, not gross pay and not take-home pay. Disposable earnings are gross pay minus the deductions the law requires. That list is short: federal, state, and local income tax, the employee share of Social Security and Medicare, state unemployment insurance, and mandatory state-retirement contributions. These are the only items that come out before the garnishment math runs.
The common mistake is subtracting voluntary deductions too. Health insurance premiums, a voluntary 401(k), union dues, charitable contributions, and savings bonds are NOT subtracted to find disposable earnings, even though they reduce the cash you actually take home. Because of that, your disposable earnings are usually higher than your net pay, and the amount that can be garnished is based on the higher figure. When you use the calculator, enter only legally required deductions in the deductions field. To see your real net after every deduction, our final paycheck calculator models the full picture.
Garnishment limits by debt type
The 25% consumer cap is only one of several limits, and which one applies depends on the kind of debt. Ordinary consumer debts (credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, most court judgments) follow the lesser-of-25%-or-floor rule described above. Child support and alimony are treated more harshly: up to 50% of disposable earnings if you support another spouse or child, or 60% if you do not, with an extra 5% (to 55% or 65%) when you are more than 12 weeks behind. The 30x minimum wage floor does not protect support garnishments.
Defaulted federal student loans are capped at 15% of disposable earnings through administrative wage garnishment under 34 CFR 34.19, and that 15% is still subject to the protected floor. Unpaid federal taxes follow their own rules. The IRS is not bound by the CCPA percentage limits and instead leaves you a set exempt amount from its Publication 1494 tables, based on your filing status and number of dependents. Because that figure varies, this calculator flags tax garnishment as informational and points you to Pub 1494 rather than printing a hard number. To check the gross pay you started from, the salary vs hourly calculator can help you convert between pay structures.
State protections and when garnishment is blocked
Federal law sets the minimum protection, not the maximum. States are free to shield more of your wages, and many do. Four states (Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina) effectively ban wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debts, with only narrow exceptions. In those states, a credit card issuer or medical creditor generally cannot garnish your paycheck even after winning a judgment. When you select one of those states with the consumer-debt type, this tool returns $0 and flags it.
Even in states that allow consumer garnishment, the cap may be lower than the federal 25%. Some states tie the floor to their own higher minimum wage, which is why the calculator includes a minimum wage override. Use our minimum wage by state lookup to find the rate that applies to you. Keep in mind that the state bans cover consumer debt only: child support, alimony, unpaid taxes, and federal student loans remain collectible everywhere. Because state laws and individual court orders vary, treat these figures as a starting estimate and confirm the specifics with your state labor department or a qualified attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about wage garnishment calculator
How much of my paycheck can be garnished?
For most consumer debts, federal law (the Consumer Credit Protection Act) caps garnishment at the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings or the amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. At the current $7.25 federal minimum wage, that floor is $217.50 per week. If your weekly disposable pay is at or below $217.50, nothing can be taken for a consumer debt. Child support, alimony, federal student loans, and back taxes follow different limits.
What are disposable earnings, and what gets subtracted to calculate them?
Disposable earnings are your gross pay minus the deductions the law requires: federal, state, and local income tax, the employee share of Social Security and Medicare, state unemployment insurance, and mandatory state-retirement contributions. Voluntary deductions do NOT come out first. Health insurance premiums, a voluntary 401(k), union dues, charitable giving, and savings bonds are not subtracted before garnishment is calculated, which is why disposable earnings are usually higher than your take-home pay.
What is the 30 times federal minimum wage rule (the $217.50 weekly floor)?
The CCPA protects a baseline of weekly income from garnishment for ordinary debts. That floor equals 30 times the federal minimum wage. At $7.25 an hour, 30 x $7.25 = $217.50 per week. Disposable earnings below that line cannot be garnished at all. Earnings between $217.50 and $290 can only be garnished down to $217.50 (the amount over the floor), and only above $290 does the flat 25% cap take over. For longer pay periods the floor scales up: about $435 biweekly, $471.25 semi-monthly, and $942.50 monthly. Some states apply their higher state minimum wage to this floor, which protects more of your pay.
How much can be garnished for child support or alimony?
Support orders are not bound by the 25% consumer cap. Under the CCPA, up to 50% of disposable earnings can be taken if you are supporting another spouse or child, or up to 60% if you are not. Either limit rises by 5% (to 55% or 65%) when you are more than 12 weeks behind on payments. The 30x minimum wage floor does not apply to support garnishments. Some states cap support garnishment lower than the federal ceiling, so check your state's rule.
How much can be taken for federal student loans?
Administrative wage garnishment for defaulted federal student loans is capped at 15% of your disposable earnings under the Higher Education Act (34 CFR 34.19). It is still subject to the same 30x minimum wage floor, so low earners keep the protected $217.50 weekly baseline. If your loan and a separate consumer judgment both garnish you, the total still cannot exceed the 25% CCPA ceiling for that pay period.
Which states don't allow wage garnishment for consumer debt?
Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina effectively ban wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debts (each allows narrow exceptions). In those states a credit card company or medical creditor generally cannot garnish your wages even after winning a judgment. Child support, alimony, unpaid taxes, and federal student loans can still be collected. Many other states set caps below the federal ceiling, so your state may protect more of your pay than the federal estimate shows. Our /tools/minimum-wage-by-state-lookup/ helps you confirm the state minimum wage that sets your protected floor.
Can my employer fire me for a wage garnishment?
Under the CCPA, your employer cannot fire you because your wages are garnished for a single debt. That protection covers one garnishment. The federal law does not extend the firing protection to a second or third separate debt, though some states add stronger protections. If you were terminated for a single garnishment, you can report it to the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
Is health insurance or my 401(k) subtracted before garnishment is calculated?
No. Only legally required deductions reduce gross pay to disposable earnings. Health insurance premiums, a voluntary 401(k), union dues, and similar voluntary withholdings are left out of that math, so do not enter them in the deductions field. Including them would understate your disposable earnings and the amount that can be garnished. To see your actual take-home after all deductions, check our /tools/final-paycheck-calculator/.