Wage Garnishment for Debt: Limits and Protected Income

Twenty-five percent is the number everyone quotes for wage garnishment, and for a lot of low-wage workers it's the wrong one. Federal law lets a creditor holding a court judgment take the lesser of 25% of your weekly disposable earnings or whatever you clear above $217.50 a week. So a person who clears $250 a week can lose $32.50 of it, not $62.50.

Wage garnishment is a legal process in which your employer withholds part of your pay and sends it to someone you owe. For a credit card, a medical bill, or a personal loan, it can't start until a creditor has sued you and won. Everything below is about the limits on that process: how much of a paycheck the law lets a creditor take, which states refuse to let it happen at all, what happens to the money in your bank account, and which income is off-limits entirely.

Garnishment is a court process, and Felix is not a law firm. If you've been served with a lawsuit or a garnishment notice, the people who can act on it are a lawyer, a legal aid office, or the court that issued the order. This page gives you the facts to walk into that conversation knowing the rules.

When can a creditor garnish your wages for a consumer debt?

A creditor can garnish wages for a consumer debt only after it sues you and a court enters a judgment saying you owe the money. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau puts it directly: most creditors can garnish wages or benefits only after a court issues a judgment. A collection letter, a phone call, or a credit report entry gives nobody the power to touch your paycheck.

The order of events is the same almost everywhere. A creditor or debt buyer files suit, and you're served with a summons that carries a deadline to respond. If you don't respond, the court usually enters a default judgment. The judgment creditor then asks the court for a garnishment order (some states call it a writ or an income execution), which goes to your employer.

The fuller picture of what an unpaid account turns into is in what happens if you never pay a collection, and the lawsuit step itself is covered in what to do when a debt collector sues you. Two facts from earlier in the chain change everything after it: whether the debt is still inside your state's statute of limitations, and whether the right company is suing. A suit by a buyer that can't prove it owns the account is a different case from a suit by the original lender, which is why the difference between an original creditor and a debt buyer matters here.

A collector also can't bluff about this. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, at 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(4), bars a debt collector from saying or implying that nonpayment will lead to garnishment of your wages unless that action is lawful and actually intended. "We'll garnish your paycheck Friday," said about a debt with no judgment behind it, is the kind of statement your FDCPA rights exist to stop.

How much of your paycheck can be garnished for a credit card or medical debt?

For an ordinary consumer debt, federal law caps wage garnishment at the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings for the week or the amount by which those earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. The rule is 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a), part of Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. With the federal minimum wage at $7.25 an hour, 30 times that is $217.50 a week.

That produces three bands, which the U.S. Department of Labor spells out in Fact Sheet #30 (December 2024):

• Disposable earnings of $217.50 a week or less: nothing can be garnished.
• Between $217.50 and $290: only the amount above $217.50 can be taken.
• $290 a week or more: the cap is a flat 25%.

Disposable earnings of $250 for the week

Disposable earnings

$250.00

Test 1: 25% of disposable earnings

$62.50

Test 2: amount above $217.50

$32.50

Maximum garnishment (the lesser)

$32.50

Protected, stays with you

$217.50

15 U.S.C. § 1673(a); U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #30, December 2024. Federal minimum wage $7.25 an hour.

In words: on $250 of weekly disposable earnings, 25% would be $62.50, but the amount above $217.50 is only $32.50, so $32.50 is the federal maximum and the other $217.50 is protected. On $600 a week, 25% is $150 and the amount above $217.50 is $382.50, so the maximum is $150.

The same thresholds scale to every pay schedule. The Department of Labor publishes them directly.

Pay period	Nothing can be garnished at or below	Only the excess is garnishable between	Flat 25% maximum at or above
Weekly	$217.50	$217.50 and $290.00	$290.00
Every two weeks	$435.00	$435.00 and $580.00	$580.00
Twice a month	$471.25	$471.25 and $628.33	$628.33
Monthly	$942.50	$942.50 and $1,256.66	$1,256.66

• Pay periodWeekly

  Nothing can be garnished at or below

  $217.50

  Only the excess is garnishable between

  $217.50 and $290.00

  Flat 25% maximum at or above

  $290.00

• Pay periodEvery two weeks

  Nothing can be garnished at or below

  $435.00

  Only the excess is garnishable between

  $435.00 and $580.00

  Flat 25% maximum at or above

  $580.00

• Pay periodTwice a month

  Nothing can be garnished at or below

  $471.25

  Only the excess is garnishable between

  $471.25 and $628.33

  Flat 25% maximum at or above

  $628.33

• Pay periodMonthly

  Nothing can be garnished at or below

  $942.50

  Only the excess is garnishable between

  $942.50 and $1,256.66

  Flat 25% maximum at or above

  $1,256.66

U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #30 (December 2024). Figures are disposable earnings and assume the $7.25 federal minimum wage.

Disposable earnings is not your take-home pay. Federal law defines it in 15 U.S.C. § 1672 as earnings left after "any amounts required by law to be withheld." The Department of Labor lists what counts as required: federal, state and local taxes, Social Security, Medicare, state unemployment insurance, and retirement withholding the law requires. Voluntary deductions such as health and life insurance, union dues, voluntary retirement contributions and payroll advances usually are not subtracted. If you pay $80 a week for health coverage, the garnishment is calculated as though that $80 were still in your check.

More than one creditor doesn't raise the ceiling. According to the Department of Labor, the total withheld under ordinary garnishments can't exceed these limits however many orders your employer receives. Two judgment creditors share the same 25%, they don't each get one.

Your state can protect more, never less. Many states set a lower percentage or a higher protected amount, and where state law protects more of your pay, the state rule wins. Your court's self-help center or a legal aid office can tell you which figure applies.

Which debts can be garnished without a lawsuit?

A handful of government debts can be garnished without a lawsuit, and they run under their own caps rather than the 25% rule. None of them is a credit card, medical bill, or private loan, so they sit outside what Felix works on, but they explain why some people see a garnishment with no court case behind it.

Type of debt	Court judgment required first?	How much can be taken
Credit card, medical bill, personal loan, buy now pay later, or any private debt sold to a collector	Yes	Lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above $217.50 a week, unless state law protects more
Defaulted federal student loan	No. Administrative garnishment after notice and a chance for a hearing	Up to 15% of disposable pay (20 U.S.C. § 1095a)
Child support or alimony	Requires a support order, which is itself a court or agency order	Up to 50% of disposable earnings if you support another spouse or child, 60% if not, plus 5% more if over 12 weeks behind
Federal taxes	No. An IRS levy after notice and demand and a written notice of intent to levy (26 U.S.C. § 6331)	Not subject to the Title III percentage limits; you keep an exempt amount set by your standard deduction and dependents
State taxes	Sometimes not; it depends on the state's own collection powers	Not subject to the Title III percentage limits

• Type of debtCredit card, medical bill, personal loan, buy now pay later, or any private debt sold to a collector

  Court judgment required first?

  Yes

  How much can be taken

  Lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above $217.50 a week, unless state law protects more

• Type of debtDefaulted federal student loan

  Court judgment required first?

  No. Administrative garnishment after notice and a chance for a hearing

  How much can be taken

  Up to 15% of disposable pay (20 U.S.C. § 1095a)

• Type of debtChild support or alimony

  Court judgment required first?

  Requires a support order, which is itself a court or agency order

  How much can be taken

  Up to 50% of disposable earnings if you support another spouse or child, 60% if not, plus 5% more if over 12 weeks behind

• Type of debtFederal taxes

  Court judgment required first?

  No. An IRS levy after notice and demand and a written notice of intent to levy (26 U.S.C. § 6331)

  How much can be taken

  Not subject to the Title III percentage limits; you keep an exempt amount set by your standard deduction and dependents

• Type of debtState taxes

  Court judgment required first?

  Sometimes not; it depends on the state's own collection powers

  How much can be taken

  Not subject to the Title III percentage limits

15 U.S.C. § 1673(b); 20 U.S.C. § 1095a; 26 U.S.C. § 6331; IRS, Information About Wage Levies; U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #30 (December 2024); CFPB, August 2023.

Federal student loans are the case most people bump into. Under 20 U.S.C. § 1095a, the Department of Education can garnish up to 15% of disposable pay "notwithstanding any provision of State law," which is why a Texas resident can see a student loan garnishment even though Texas bars wage garnishment for private consumer debt. Private student loans follow the private-creditor rule and need a judgment.

Which states ban or limit wage garnishment for consumer debt?

Four states bar or sharply restrict wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debts: Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina. In each one, the protection comes from the state's own constitution or statutes, and each has exceptions, mostly for support, taxes, and student loans.

Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina

Each state's constitution or statute, cited in the table below. Exceptions apply in every state.

State	Rule for ordinary consumer debt	Main exceptions	Source
Texas	Current wages can't be garnished	Court-ordered child support and spousal maintenance; federal collectors such as the IRS and federal student loans	Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 28
Pennsylvania	Wages held by the employer are exempt from attachment	Divorce and support, board for four weeks or less, residential-lease judgments (capped at 10% of net wages), state higher-education loans, criminal restitution and fines	42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(a)
North Carolina	Earnings from the 60 days before the order can't be applied to a judgment when needed to support your family	The family-need showing is made by affidavit or otherwise; taxes, support and federal debts follow their own rules	N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-362
South Carolina	A creditor can't garnish unpaid earnings for a consumer credit sale, consumer loan, consumer lease or rental-purchase agreement	Debts outside those consumer credit categories, and support and government debts	S.C. Code § 37-5-104

• StateTexas

  Rule for ordinary consumer debt

  Current wages can't be garnished

  Main exceptions

  Court-ordered child support and spousal maintenance; federal collectors such as the IRS and federal student loans

  Source

  Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 28

• StatePennsylvania

  Rule for ordinary consumer debt

  Wages held by the employer are exempt from attachment

  Main exceptions

  Divorce and support, board for four weeks or less, residential-lease judgments (capped at 10% of net wages), state higher-education loans, criminal restitution and fines

  Source

  42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(a)

• StateNorth Carolina

  Rule for ordinary consumer debt

  Earnings from the 60 days before the order can't be applied to a judgment when needed to support your family

  Main exceptions

  The family-need showing is made by affidavit or otherwise; taxes, support and federal debts follow their own rules

  Source

  N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-362

• StateSouth Carolina

  Rule for ordinary consumer debt

  A creditor can't garnish unpaid earnings for a consumer credit sale, consumer loan, consumer lease or rental-purchase agreement

  Main exceptions

  Debts outside those consumer credit categories, and support and government debts

  Source

  S.C. Code § 37-5-104

Texas Legislature; Pennsylvania General Assembly; North Carolina General Assembly; South Carolina Legislature. Statutes change and courts interpret them; confirm the current rule for your situation with a local lawyer or legal aid office.

The Texas rule is the plainest. Article XVI, Section 28 of the Texas Constitution reads: "No current wages for personal service shall ever be subject to garnishment, except for the enforcement of court-ordered: (1) child support payments; or (2) spousal maintenance." Pennsylvania's 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127 exempts wages, salaries and commissions "while in the hands of the employer," and South Carolina's § 37-5-104 says a creditor on a consumer credit sale, loan, lease or rental-purchase agreement "may not attach unpaid earnings of the debtor by garnishment."

One caveat runs through all four. The protection covers wages at the employer. Once your pay lands in a checking account, it may be treated as money in the bank rather than as wages, and the rules for bank accounts are different and state-specific. If you live in one of these states and a creditor has a judgment, ask a local lawyer how your state treats deposited wages.

Can a creditor freeze or levy your bank account for a debt?

A judgment creditor can ask the court to levy your bank account, which freezes and then takes money already deposited, but federal rules protect two months of certain federal benefits in that account automatically. A levy reaches a lump sum rather than a slice of each paycheck, and for a private debt it also requires a judgment.

The protection for benefits comes from 31 CFR Part 212, a Treasury rule that tells banks what to do the moment a garnishment order arrives:

• Within two business days of receiving the order, the bank must review the account for federal benefit payments from the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Office of Personnel Management, or the Railroad Retirement Board, paid by direct deposit.
• It looks back two months. The "protected amount" is the lesser of the benefit payments deposited during that two-month lookback period or the account balance on the day of the review.
• You keep full access to the protected amount. The rule says the bank "shall not freeze" it, and a protected amount established this way "shall be conclusively considered to be exempt from garnishment." You don't have to file anything to get it.
• No fees out of protected money. The bank can't charge a garnishment fee against the protected amount.
• If money beyond the protected amount is in the account, you get a notice within three business days of the review, explaining the order, the protected amount, any money frozen under state law, and your right to claim further exemptions and to consult a lawyer or legal aid.

Here is the arithmetic. Say $1,400 of Social Security arrives by direct deposit each month and your balance is $3,500 when the bank reviews the account. Two months of deposits is $2,800, which is less than the balance, so $2,800 is protected and only the remaining $700 is exposed to the levy, subject to whatever your state also exempts. If the balance were $2,000, the whole $2,000 would be protected.

There is one exception built into the rule. An order from the United States or a state child support agency that carries a "Notice of Right to Garnish Federal Benefits" is handled under the bank's usual procedures instead, because those collectors are allowed to reach benefits.

Which income can't be garnished for a private debt?

Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, VA benefits, and federal civil service and military retirement benefits are generally protected from garnishment by private creditors and debt collectors. The CFPB's list of federal benefits protected from debt collectors also includes servicemember pay, military annuities and survivor benefits, federal student aid, Railroad Retirement benefits, and FEMA disaster assistance.

Protection from private creditors is not protection from everyone. The CFPB notes that Social Security and SSDI can sometimes be garnished for money owed to the government, such as back taxes or federal student loans, and for child or spousal support.

State law adds more protected categories on top of the federal ones, and they vary widely from state to state. If most of your income is exempt, a judgment may reach very little, but that is a legal conclusion for a legal aid attorney to confirm, not a self-assessment. When money is tight, deciding which bills to pay first starts from knowing which of your income a collector can actually reach.

Can you be fired because your wages are garnished?

An employer can't fire you because your wages were garnished for one debt. The protection is in the Consumer Credit Protection Act itself.

The Department of Labor reads "any one debt" to cover every levy or proceeding brought to collect that single debt, so a second order on the same judgment doesn't remove the protection. A garnishment for a second, separate debt falls outside the federal rule, though some states protect workers further. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1674(b), a willful violation can bring a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in prison, or both.

How do you claim an exemption from wage garnishment?

You claim an exemption by filing the court's exemption form, or asking for a hearing, with the court that issued the garnishment order, before that court's deadline. The federal cap and the bank protections for direct-deposited benefits apply without any filing. Everything beyond them (a state wage exemption, a head-of-household exemption, benefits deposited by paper check, money that came from an exempt source) usually has to be claimed.

The process differs by state, but the general shape is the same. When a garnishment starts, you are typically sent a notice that lists the exemptions available in your state and includes a form to claim them. The deadline to return that form is often short, sometimes a matter of days, and missing it can mean the money is paid to the creditor. You'll usually need to show where the money came from: pay stubs, benefit award letters, bank statements showing the deposits.

Two earlier steps can keep a garnishment from happening at all. If the suit hasn't been decided yet, answering it on time is what prevents the default judgment that makes garnishment possible. And if the debt is old, a time-barred debt is a defense that only works when someone raises it in court. If you're weighing whether bankruptcy makes sense once a judgment is in place, how bankruptcy compares with debt settlement sets out the trade-offs before you talk to an attorney.

Can you negotiate a debt before it reaches garnishment?

Yes. A creditor or debt collector can agree to settle a consumer debt for less than the full balance at any point before a lawsuit, and nothing about the collection process requires waiting for one. Wage garnishment sits at the far end of the collection process, and the stretch before it is where negotiation usually has the most room.

Requesting validation of a debt makes a collector prove what it claims before you discuss money. Answering a collection letter in writing keeps a paper trail. If the account is still with the original lender, a creditor hardship program may lower the payment without a settlement at all. If repaying the full balance at lower interest is realistic, a debt management plan compared with settlement is worth reading. If it isn't, negotiating a settlement on your own and knowing what percentage to offer are the core of the work, including for medical bills that have gone to collections.

Negotiating doesn't replace answering a lawsuit. If you've been served, the court deadline comes first, and any settlement talk happens alongside your response, ideally with a lawyer or legal aid office involved. Judgment creditors can also agree to a voluntary payment arrangement or a reduced payoff, but once a judgment exists, a lawyer should be part of that conversation.

Where Felix fits

Felix negotiates unsecured debts like credit cards, medical bills, and accounts with collection agencies, before a lawsuit enters the picture. For each account you enroll, Felix drafts a first-person settlement letter, you read and e-sign it, and it's mailed in your name from your own address. Creditors are never obligated to negotiate, and nobody can promise you a result.

Felix's lane stops at the courthouse door. Felix doesn't represent anyone in court, can't file an answer or an exemption claim, and can't stop a garnishment. If you've been sued or your pay is already being garnished, a lawyer or legal aid office is the right call, and nothing here substitutes for that. The FAQ covers what the service does and doesn't do, and pricing is a subscription, never a percentage of your debt, shown in full before you enroll any account.