Wage Garnishment Calculator
Calculate the maximum legal amount that can be garnished from your paycheck for debt based on federal CCPA guidelines.
Built for general U.S. informational use. Local rules, court practices, and case facts can change the result.
Wage Garnishment Calculator
Fill in the fields below to get your estimate
How Does Wage Garnishment Work?
Wage garnishment is a legal procedure where a portion of your earnings is withheld by your employer for the payment of a debt. Most garnishments require a court order, except for special debts like unpaid taxes, student loans, or child support.
Federal CCPA Protections
To ensure that individuals have enough money to live on, federal law limits how much can be taken from a paycheck. The maximum amount depends on your disposable income and the type of debt you owe.
- Standard Debt (Credit cards, medical bills, personal loans): Capped at 25% of disposable income, or whatever exceeds $217.50 per week.
- Child Support & Alimony: Capped at 50% to 65% depending on your family situation and arrearage status.
- Student Loans: Limited to 15% of your disposable income under federal rules.
- Unpaid Taxes: The IRS uses its own exemption tables based on the standard deduction and number of dependents; it often garnishes much more than the 25% standard limit.
Some states (like Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina) do not allow wage garnishment for standard consumer debts at all. In other states, the exemption amount is higher than the federal limit. This calculator uses the federal baseline.
How this estimate works
This tool estimates how much disposable earnings may be exposed under a federal-style garnishment cap and selected debt type. State exemptions or special debt categories can produce a lower or higher practical withholding amount.
Inputs this page weighs
- Gross and disposable earnings.
- Pay period.
- Debt category, such as ordinary debt, support, taxes, or student loans.
- Existing orders or state exemption rules.
How to verify the result
Compare the result with the order, pay stub, state exemption procedure, and federal wage-garnishment limits.
How to use this Wage Garnishment Calculator well
Best used when
- Estimating how much of a paycheck may be exposed under a federal-style cap.
- Planning household cash flow before responding to a garnishment issue.
- Comparing disposable-income scenarios with different debt amounts.
Be careful if
- Child support, taxes, and student-loan rules can differ from ordinary consumer debt caps.
- State law may protect more income than the federal baseline.
- More than one garnishment order can change the practical result.
Questions to answer next
- What type of debt is driving the garnishment order?
- How is disposable income defined under your state and the specific order?
- Do you qualify for any exemption, hardship, or claim-of-exemption procedure locally?
Before you use an employment calculator
What to gather first
- Pay stubs, offer letters, time records, commission statements, and benefit summaries.
- Termination notices, performance reviews, written complaints, and HR responses when relevant.
- A clean timeline showing when hours were worked, when you were terminated, or when the dispute began.
Why results may change
- Exemptions, mitigation income, and employer policies can materially change the result.
- State waiting-time penalties, caps, and agency procedures vary more than many people expect.
- The strongest claims usually depend on documentation, not just the math in the calculator.
Best next step
- Cross-check every number against wage records before relying on the estimate.
- Write down dates, witnesses, and communications while they are still easy to remember.
- Consider a consultation with employment counsel or the relevant labor agency if deadlines are short.