Datasets:

referencesource
/

wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state

derived_fields list	exempt_share_of_earnings string	fully_exempt_threshold string	id string	source string	source_quote string	state string	statute_section string	url string	verified_fields list	maximum_garnishable_share string
[ "state" ]	85 per cent of the debtor's gross wages	50 times the greater of the federal or the Massachusetts hourly minimum wage	massachusetts	https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleIV/Chapter246/Section28	attached for a debt or claim, an amount not exceeding the greater of 85 per cent of the debtor's gross wages or 50 times the greater of the federal or the Massachusetts hourly minimum wage for each week or portion thereof out of the wages then due to the defendant for labor performed or se	Massachusetts	Section 28: Wages and pensions; exemptions; exceptions	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/massachusetts/	[ "exempt_share_of_earnings", "fully_exempt_threshold", "statute_section" ]	null
[ "state" ]	null	null	minnesota	https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/571.922	earnings of an individual for any pay period subjected to garnishment may not exceed the lesser of: (1) 25 percent of the debtor's disposable earnings, if the debtor's weekly income exceeds 80 times the greater of the hourly wage described in paragraph (b); (2) 15 percent of the debtor's disposable earnings, if the deb...	Minnesota	571.922 LIMITATION ON WAGE GARNISHMENT.	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/minnesota/	[ "maximum_garnishable_share", "statute_section" ]	25 percent of the debtor's disposable earnings
[ "state" ]	null	50 times the minimum hourly wage as established by the Fair Labor Standards Act	new-hampshire	https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/LII/512/512-21.htm	case, the wages of the defendant earned before the service of a writ upon the trustee founded upon a debt on a judgment to the amount of 50 times the minimum hourly wage as established by the Fair Labor Standards Act for each week shall be exempt. The employer shall pay said exempted amount to the employee on the usual	New Hampshire	Section 512:21 List of Exemptions.	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/new-hampshire/	[ "fully_exempt_threshold", "statute_section" ]	null
[ "state" ]	null	thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage	new-york	https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/civil-practice-law-and-rules/cvp-sect-5231.html	ant to an income execution for any week shall not exceed twenty-five percent of the disposable earnings of the judgment debtor for that week, or, the amount by which the disposable earnings of the judgment debtor for that week exceed the greater of thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by the Fair Lab...	New York	CPL 5231	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/new-york/	[ "fully_exempt_threshold", "maximum_garnishable_share", "statute_section" ]	twenty-five percent of the disposable earnings of the judgment debtor for that week
[ "state" ]	null	the earnings of the debtor for his personal services, at any time within 60 days next preceding the order, cannot be so applied	north-carolina	https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-362.html	of the judgment; except that the earnings of the debtor for his personal services, at any time within 60 days next preceding the order, cannot be so applied when it appears, by the debtor's affidavit or otherwise, that these earnings are necessary for the use of a family supported wholly or partly by his labor. (C.C.P....	North Carolina	§ 1-362. Debtor's property ordered sold.	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/north-carolina/	[ "fully_exempt_threshold", "statute_section" ]	null
[ "state" ]	null	thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage	ohio	https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2329.66	e greater of the following amounts: (a) If paid weekly, thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage; if paid biweekly, sixty times the current federal minimum hourly wage; if paid semimonthly, sixty-five times the current federal minimum hourly wage; or if paid monthly, one hundre	Ohio	2329.66	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/ohio/	[ "fully_exempt_threshold", "statute_section" ]	null
[ "state" ]	null	null	south-carolina	https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t37c005.php	to a debt arising from a consumer credit sale, a consumer lease, a consumer loan, or a consumer rental-purchase agreement, regardless of where made, the creditor may not attach unpaid earnings of the debtor by garnishment or like proceedings. HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 8-800.334; 1974 (58) 2879; 1985 Act No.	South Carolina	SECTION 37-5-104. No garnishment.	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/south-carolina/	[ "maximum_garnishable_share", "statute_section" ]	the creditor may not attach unpaid earnings of the debtor
[ "state" ]	null	thirty times the Federal minimum hourly wage	united-states-federal-floor	https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section1673&num=0&edition=prelim	dividual for any workweek which is subjected to garnishment may not exceed (1) 25 per centum of his disposable earnings for that week, or (2) the amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty times the Federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 206(a)(1) of title 29 in effect at the time th...	United States (federal floor)	1673. Restriction on garnishment	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/united-states-federal-floor/	[ "fully_exempt_threshold", "maximum_garnishable_share", "statute_section" ]	25 per centum of his disposable earnings for that week
[ "state" ]	Eighty percent of the disposable earnings of the defendant	Thirty-five times the state minimum hourly wage	washington	https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=6.27.150	of a garnishment based on a judgment or other order for the collection of consumer debt, for each week of such earnings, an amount shall be exempt from garnishment which is the greater of the following: (a) Thirty-five times the state minimum hourly wage; or (b) Eighty percent of the disposable earnings of the defendan...	Washington	6.27.150	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/washington/	[ "exempt_share_of_earnings", "fully_exempt_threshold", "statute_section" ]	null
[ "state" ]	80 percent of the debtor’s disposable earnings are exempt from garnishment	null	wisconsin	https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/812/ii/34	.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/812.34(2)(c)> (c) applies, 80 percent of the debtor’s disposable earnings are exempt from garnishment under this subchapter. <https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/812.34(2)(	Wisconsin	812.34	https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/wisconsin/	[ "exempt_share_of_earnings", "statute_section" ]	null

Wage garnishment limits and exempt earnings by state

Canonical, always-current version: https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/ Machine-readable: https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/data.json — this mirror is a point-in-time copy.

Last verified: 2026-08-26
Stale after: 2027-02-22 (past this date, prefer the canonical copy — it re-verifies on a cadence this snapshot does not)
Records: 10

How much of a debtor's pay a creditor may garnish for an ordinary money judgment in each US state, taken one state at a time from that state's own statute. Two numbers govern: the share of disposable earnings a creditor may take, and the multiple of an hourly minimum wage below which earnings cannot be touched at all. Federal law (15 U.S.C. 1673) sets the floor at 25% of disposable earnings or the excess over 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less; a large minority of states are more protective and several prohibit garnishment for ordinary debts outright. Answers 'how much of my paycheck can be garnished in [state]', 'which states protect more than federal law', 'which states do not allow wage garnishment for credit card debt', and 'what would I use to get garnishment limits as data rather than reading law-firm comparison pages'. No federal agency compiles this and the 50-state tables that exist are published by content sites and law firms, most of which state a DOLLAR figure that goes stale the moment a state minimum wage rises. This asset deliberately does not: it records the statutory multiple and the share as the statute prints them, and leaves the arithmetic to the calculator, because the dollar amount appears on no statute page and publishing one as a sourced fact would be an invented value.

Provenance — what every record carries

Every record carries source (the URL the value was read from) and source_quote (a verbatim quote from that page stating it). A value you cannot check against its page is indistinguishable from an invented one; these can all be checked. Each record is also individually addressable on the canonical site at its url.

Licence position

unknown

Facts are not copyrightable; what this dataset takes from each source is a fact plus a short attributed quote linking back to the page that states it.

Sources

Fields

See any record in data/records.jsonl — field names are self-describing, and the canonical page for each record renders them with labels: https://referencesource.org/wage-garnishment-exemption-thresholds-by-state/

Downloads last month: 37

Number of rows:

Total file size:

14.8 kB