Wage Garnishment Calculator

Wage garnishment is a legal process where a portion of an employee's earnings is withheld by their employer to repay a debt. This can be ordered by a court or government agency for debts such as unpaid taxes, student loans, child support, or consumer debts.

Disposable pay is the amount of earnings left after legally required deductions are taken from gross pay. These mandatory deductions include federal, state, and local income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, state unemployment and disability taxes, and required pension contributions. Voluntary deductions like 401(k) contributions or health insurance do not reduce disposable pay for garnishment calculation purposes unless they are legally required.

For administrative wage garnishment of federal debts (e.g., student loans), the maximum that can be garnished is 15% of disposable pay. However, your employer must leave you with at least 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage per week. The garnishment amount is the lesser of these two calculations, meaning you are always protected by the higher threshold.

Federal law requires that employees retain at least 30 times the applicable federal minimum wage (currently $7.25/hour) as take-home pay each week. For bi-weekly pay periods the multiplier is 60, and for semi-monthly it is 65. This protected amount ensures that garnishment does not leave workers without sufficient income for basic living expenses.

Yes, multiple garnishment orders can exist simultaneously. However, the total amount garnished still cannot exceed the federal limits. Priority garnishments — such as child support, alimony, or taxes — are satisfied first, and the remaining garnishable amount is available for other creditors. This calculator accounts for 'Other Withholding with Priority' to help determine the available garnishable balance.

Yes. Child support and alimony have higher garnishment limits — up to 50-65% of disposable earnings. Federal and state tax debts also have different rules. The standard 15% cap and minimum wage protections apply specifically to administrative wage garnishment for non-tax federal debts like defaulted student loans.

Gross pay is your total earnings before any deductions. Disposable pay is gross pay minus legally mandated deductions such as income taxes, Social Security, and Medicare. Disposable pay is always higher than net (take-home) pay because voluntary deductions like health insurance or voluntary retirement contributions are not subtracted when calculating disposable pay for garnishment.

Federal law under the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) prohibits employers from terminating an employee because their wages are being garnished for a single debt. However, this protection does not extend to employees who have garnishments for two or more separate debts. State laws may provide additional protections.