For most consumer debts like credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans, a debt collector with a court judgment can garnish up to 25% of your disposable earnings each pay period, and no more. Federal law also protects the first $217.50 of your weekly disposable earnings from any ordinary-debt garnishment at all. Those are the ceilings a debt collector works within. Child support, back taxes, and defaulted federal student loans run on separate tracks with higher limits, and some income never reaches a collector in the first place.
The Federal 25% Cap
The Consumer Credit Protection Act sets the ceiling. For an ordinary consumer debt, the maximum a creditor can take from any single paycheck 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.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment With the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour, that 30-times figure comes out to $217.50 per week.2U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws
What that looks like on an actual paycheck:
- If your weekly disposable earnings are $217.50 or less, nothing can be taken.
- Between $217.50 and $290 per week, the collector gets only the amount above $217.50.
- Above $290 per week, the straight 25% cap applies.
Someone with $250 in weekly disposable pay loses $32.50, not $62.50. The two-part test exists to leave lower-wage workers enough to cover basic living costs.
Disposable Earnings Are Not Your Take-Home Pay
The 25% cap applies to a bigger number than most people expect. Disposable earnings are what’s left after your employer subtracts only the deductions the law requires: federal, state, and local income taxes, Social Security, Medicare, and any mandatory state disability or unemployment contributions.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1672 – Definitions4U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
Voluntary deductions do not reduce the number the percentage is applied to. Health insurance premiums, 401(k) contributions, union dues, and similar payroll items stay in the calculation. Your disposable earnings for garnishment are usually higher than the net pay printed at the bottom of your check, and the first garnished paycheck is often where that gap becomes obvious.
When the Limit Is Higher Than 25%
The 25% ceiling is for ordinary debts collected by private creditors. A few categories of debt operate under different and larger limits.
Child Support and Alimony
Support orders can reach much deeper into a paycheck. If you’re currently supporting another spouse or child outside the order, the cap is 50% of disposable earnings. If you’re not, it rises to 60%. Fall more than 12 weeks behind, and an additional 5% is added, pushing the ceiling to 55% or 65%.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment A support order takes priority over a credit card judgment, so an ordinary collector only gets whatever room remains under the 25% cap after support comes out.
Federal Student Loans and Other Federal Debts
Federal agencies have a tool private collectors don’t: they can garnish your wages without first suing you. Through administrative wage garnishment, the government can take up to 15% of your disposable earnings to collect defaulted federal student loans and other non-tax federal debts.4U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act The agency must send written notice and offer a hearing first, but no courthouse is involved. The 15% is separate from the 25% consumer-debt cap, and all garnishments combined still cannot drop you below the $217.50 weekly floor.
IRS Tax Levies
The IRS doesn’t cap what it takes. It flips the calculation around and calculates what you’re allowed to keep based on filing status, pay frequency, and number of dependents, then levies everything above that figure.5Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1494 – Tables for Figuring Amount Exempt from Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income When your employer gets the levy notice, you have three days to submit a statement claiming your filing status and dependents. Miss that window, and the exempt amount is calculated as married filing separately with zero dependents, which produces the smallest exemption possible.6Internal Revenue Service. What if I Get a Levy Against One of My Employees, Vendors, Customers or Other Third Parties?
State Rules May Cut the Number Further
Federal law sets a ceiling, not a floor. Several states go further and prohibit wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debt altogether, including Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In those states, a credit card company with a judgment cannot touch your paycheck, though child support, taxes, and student loans still apply.
Other states cap garnishment below 25% or add protections for specific workers. A head-of-household exemption, available in several states, can reduce or entirely eliminate garnishment for a worker who provides more than half the support for a child or dependent. These enhanced protections usually have to be claimed by filing paperwork with the court; if you don’t assert them, the standard garnishment amount comes out by default. When federal and state rules conflict, the one leaving you with more money controls.4U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
If You’re a 1099 Worker, the Cap Doesn’t Protect You
The 25% ceiling applies only to a traditional employer-employee relationship. If you’re paid as an independent contractor on a 1099, the Consumer Credit Protection Act’s limits don’t shield those payments. A creditor with a judgment may be able to reach a far larger share of what you’re owed, depending on your state’s rules for non-wage income, and in some cases the full amount owed up to the judgment balance. Child support orders still apply to independent contractor payments under separate rules.
What’s Off-Limits Entirely
Certain income is protected from most creditors no matter what. These sources generally cannot be garnished by a private debt collector:
- Social Security retirement, disability, and Supplemental Security Income benefits.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 407 – Assignment of Benefits
- Veterans’ benefits administered by the VA.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 U.S. Code 5301 – Nonassignability and Exempt Status of Benefits
- Unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6334 – Property Exempt from Levy
- Funds in ERISA-qualified 401(k) plans, pensions, and other federally governed employer retirement plans. Protection weakens once the money is withdrawn into a regular bank account.
- Federal student aid while in your school account or shortly after disbursement.
Child support and federal tax debts can still reach some of these sources even where private creditors cannot. States layer additional exemptions on top, often shielding a portion of bank account funds, home equity, or a vehicle up to a set value.
Protection Inside Your Bank Account
Once a creditor has a judgment, a bank levy can freeze your account up to the judgment amount in a single stroke. Federal benefits deposited directly get automatic protection: when the bank receives the garnishment order, it must look back two months and shield an amount equal to any Social Security, SSI, VA, or similar federal benefit deposits during that window, without requiring you to lift a finger.10Legal Information Institute. 31 CFR Appendix C to Part 212 – Examples of the Lookback Period and Protected Amount The automatic protection only works for direct deposits. A paper benefit check you deposit yourself won’t be flagged, and the protection doesn’t apply to garnishments for federal tax debts, child support, or federal student loans.
Challenging or Reducing a Garnishment
You can contest a garnishment that targets exempt income, exceeds the legal percentage, or stems from a debt you don’t actually owe. The usual path is a written claim of exemption or motion to reduce, filed with the court that issued the order. Filing fees run from nothing up to around $85 depending on the jurisdiction. Deadlines are short, sometimes as little as 10 to 30 days after you get the garnishment notice, so move quickly.
Bring documentation. Pay stubs showing your disposable earnings, benefit statements proving Social Security or VA deposits, and bank records tracing protected funds all strengthen the claim. For a hardship argument, you’ll generally need to show that basic living expenses exceed what’s left after garnishment. Federal agencies reviewing hardship claims for student loan garnishments compare the expenses you claim against IRS national standards for families of similar size and income, and may reject expenses above those benchmarks.11eCFR. 34 CFR 34.24 – Claim of Financial Hardship by Debtor Subject to Garnishment
Missing the initial window isn’t necessarily the end. A later change in your circumstances, such as lost income, a new dependent, or an unexpected medical expense, can justify going back to the court for a modification. Judges have discretion to lower the percentage or pause garnishment entirely.
Your Employer Cannot Fire You Over a Single Garnishment
Federal law makes it a crime for an employer to fire you because your wages are being garnished for a single debt, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year in jail, or both.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1674 – Restriction on Discharge from Employment by Reason of Garnishment The federal shield covers one garnishment only. If a second order arrives for a separate debt, the federal protection drops away, though some states extend coverage to multiple garnishments.