Wage garnishment: how much of my paycheck can they take?
Direct answer: Most creditors must sue and win a court judgment first. Federal law then caps wage garnishment at 25% of your pay after required deductions, or the amount over $217.50 a week, whichever is less. Child support can take 50% to 65%, federal agencies 15%, and tax levies follow other rules.
By the numbers: Paid weekly, $217.50 or less of disposable earnings can't be garnished at all (30 × the $7.25 federal minimum wage); from $290 a week, the limit is 25%. Biweekly: $435 and $580. Monthly: $942.50 and $1,256.66. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #30 (December 2024)
“Most creditors can only garnish wages or benefits after a court issues a judgment saying that you owe the debt and that the creditor can garnish your wages or benefits to satisfy the debt.” — CFPB, Can a debt collector take or garnish my wages or benefits?
Updated 2026-10-17
Quick Q&AHow much of my paycheck can be garnished?
For an ordinary debt like a credit card or medical bill, the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings or the amount over 30 times the $7.25 federal minimum wage ($217.50 a week). Disposable earnings are what's left after legally required deductions such as taxes and Social Security (15 U.S.C. 1673, DOL Fact Sheet #30).
Can a debt collector garnish my wages without going to court?
Usually not. Most creditors need a court judgment first (CFPB). The exceptions include federal agencies collecting federal debts, defaulted federal student loans, tax agencies and child support agencies, which can garnish without suing you.
How much can be taken for child support?
Up to 50% of disposable earnings if you're supporting another spouse or child, or 60% if you aren't, plus 5% more if the support is more than 12 weeks behind (DOL Fact Sheet #30).
Can my Social Security be garnished for a credit card debt?
Generally no. Banks must protect two months of Social Security, SSI, VA and other federal benefits that are directly deposited (31 CFR 212). Social Security can be taken for some federal debts and for child support or alimony; SSI generally can't (CFPB).
Can I be fired for having my wages garnished?
Not for one debt. Federal law bars an employer from firing you because your pay is garnished for any one debt, no matter how many orders are served to collect that debt (15 U.S.C. 1674, DOL Fact Sheet #30). It doesn't protect you if there are garnishments for two or more debts.
What times can a debt collector call me?
Under Regulation F, calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time are presumed inconvenient, and a collector who calls more than seven times in seven days about a debt is presumed to be harassing you (12 CFR 1006.6, 1006.14).
How much can be garnished in Tennessee?
The same 25% or 30-times-minimum-wage limit as federal law (Tenn. Code 26-2-106), plus $2.50 more per week is protected for each dependent child under 16 who lives in Tennessee, if you tell your employer (26-2-107).
Garnishment starts with a court judgment, then has a ceiling. A creditor or debt collector generally has to sue you and win before it can take pay. Even then, federal law protects the first $217.50 a week of your disposable earnings and caps the rest at 25%. Child support, federal debts and taxes follow different limits. The calculator below shows the most that can be taken from your paycheck.
The math:
Disposable earnings = gross pay − legally required deductions (tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare, required retirement). Health insurance, union dues and 401(k) contributions you chose usually don't count (DOL Fact Sheet #30).
Example (paid every 2 weeks, $1,200 gross, $200 required deductions): $1,000 disposable; 25% = $250; amount over $435 = $565; the lesser, $250, is the most a judgment creditor can take. With one child under 16 in Tennessee: $245.
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Your roadmap
Don't ignore court papers. Respond by the deadline; if you don't, the court can enter a default judgment and allow garnishment (CFPB).
Check the math on your pay stub with the calculator: the employer can't take more than the federal limit, no matter how many orders it gets.
Protect benefits: have Social Security, SSI or VA benefits directly deposited; the bank must protect two months of them (31 CFR 212).
Claim exemptions in court (the garnishment notice explains how); in Tennessee, tell your employer about children under 16.
Complain about a collector to the CFPB (CFPB complaint), or about an employer that takes too much or fires you over one garnishment to the Labor Department, 1-866-487-9243.
How much of my paycheck can be garnished?
Federal limits (15 U.S.C. 1673, DOL Fact Sheet #30), plus Tennessee's child exemption. Nothing you type leaves your phone.
Federal wage garnishment limits by pay period (disposable earnings)
Paid
Nothing can be taken
Only the amount over the floor
Up to 25%
Weekly
$217.50 or less
$217.51 to $289.99
$290.00 or more
Every 2 weeks
$435.00 or less
$435.01 to $579.99
$580.00 or more
Twice a month
$471.25 or less
$471.26 to $628.32
$628.33 or more
Monthly
$942.50 or less
$942.51 to $1,256.65
$1,256.66 or more
Ordinary debts (court judgments), at the $7.25 federal minimum wage. Pay periods longer than a week use the number of workweeks; a month counts as 4⅓ workweeks. Sources: DOL Fact Sheet #30 · 29 CFR 870 · 15 U.S.C. 1673.
What counts as disposable earnings
Subtracted (required by law): federal, state and local income tax withholding; your share of Social Security, Medicare and state unemployment tax; retirement withholding the law requires.
Not subtracted (usually): health and life insurance, union dues, 401(k) or other retirement you chose, charity, savings bonds, payroll advances.
Earnings include wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, severance, pension payments and employer disability plan payments. For tipped workers, the cash wage plus any tip credit counts; tips above that don't.
The limit applies to the total taken in a pay period, however many garnishment orders the employer gets. Sources: DOL Fact Sheet #30 · 29 CFR 870.
When the 25% limit doesn't apply
Child support and alimony: up to 50% of disposable earnings if you support another spouse or child, 60% if you don't, +5% if more than 12 weeks behind.
Federal agency debts (not taxes): up to 15% of disposable pay through administrative wage garnishment, no lawsuit needed, after at least 30 days' written notice and a chance for a hearing or a repayment agreement. It still can't go below 30 times the minimum wage.
Defaulted federal student loans: up to 15% of disposable pay, also without a court order. On Jan. 16, 2026 the Education Department announced it is delaying wage garnishment and Treasury offset to let borrowers use new repayment options; check studentaid.gov for the current status.
Taxes and Chapter 13 bankruptcy: federal and state tax debts and Chapter 13 orders aren't limited by this law. An IRS levy leaves an exempt amount set by IRS Publication 1494.
When a bank gets a garnishment order, it must check within two business days whether Social Security, SSI, VA, federal retirement or Railroad Retirement benefits were directly deposited in the last two months, and protect that amount (or your balance, if lower). It can't charge a garnishment fee against it.
Example from the CFPB: $1,000 a month in Social Security by direct deposit, $3,000 in the account: the bank must leave you $2,000, and $1,000 can be turned over.
Benefits deposited by check aren't automatically protected; you may have to go to court to prove where the money came from.
The automatic protection doesn't apply when the order is from the U.S. government or a state child support agency. Federal agencies like the IRS or the Education Department can take up to 15% of Social Security or SSDI; SSI is generally protected even then.
These apply to debt collectors: companies collecting debts owed to someone else, or a lender using another name. They usually don't cover a lender collecting its own debt in its own name.
Calling hours: before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time is presumed inconvenient. Collectors can't contact you at times or places they know are inconvenient (12 CFR 1006.6(b)).
Call limits: more than seven calls in seven days about one debt, or a call within seven days after talking with you about it, is presumed to be harassment (1006.14(b)).
Validation notice and 30 days: the collector must give you the debt details. Dispute in writing within the validation period (it ends 30 days after you get the notice) and the collector must stop collecting until it sends verification (1006.34, 1006.38).
Stop contact: if you tell a collector in writing to stop contacting you, or that you refuse to pay, it must stop, except for limited notices such as saying it will sue (1006.6(c)). The debt doesn't go away.
Lawyer: if you have a lawyer for the debt and the collector knows it, it must contact the lawyer instead (1006.6(b)(2)).
Old debts: a collector can't sue or threaten to sue over a time-barred debt, one past your state's deadline to sue (1006.26(b)).
The CFPB's advice: “If you’re sued for an unpaid debt, you should respond to the lawsuit, either personally or through a lawyer by the date specified in the court papers.” Responding doesn't mean you agree you owe it. If you don't respond, the court can enter a default judgment, and the creditor may then be able to garnish wages, put a lien on property or freeze your bank account (CFPB: if you're sued).
Free legal aid may be available; the CFPB points to state legal aid programs, bar association referrals and, for servicemembers, the local JAG office.
Tennessee garnishment rules
Tennessee uses the same limit as federal law: the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount over 30 times the federal minimum wage (Tenn. Code 26-2-106).
Add $2.50 a week to what's protected for each dependent child under 16 who lives in Tennessee. You have to tell your employer about each child, or it doesn't apply (Tenn. Code 26-2-107).
The debtor pays the costs of the garnishment on each debt a creditor sues on (26-2-106(c)).
In any state, if the state limit is lower than the federal one, the lower garnishment wins (DOL Fact Sheet #30).
Not legal advice. These are the federal limits and Tennessee rules from the laws and agencies listed, with dates. Your court order, your state's exemptions and your employer's payroll decide the actual amount; a consumer lawyer or legal aid office can tell you which exemptions you can claim.
For an ordinary debt like a credit card or medical bill, the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings or the amount over 30 times the $7.25 federal minimum wage ($217.50 a week). Disposable earnings are what's left after legally required deductions such as taxes and Social Security (15 U.S.C. 1673, DOL Fact Sheet #30).
Can a debt collector garnish my wages without going to court?
Usually not. Most creditors need a court judgment first (CFPB). The exceptions include federal agencies collecting federal debts, defaulted federal student loans, tax agencies and child support agencies, which can garnish without suing you.
How much can be taken for child support?
Up to 50% of disposable earnings if you're supporting another spouse or child, or 60% if you aren't, plus 5% more if the support is more than 12 weeks behind (DOL Fact Sheet #30).
Can my Social Security be garnished for a credit card debt?
Generally no. Banks must protect two months of Social Security, SSI, VA and other federal benefits that are directly deposited (31 CFR 212). Social Security can be taken for some federal debts and for child support or alimony; SSI generally can't (CFPB).
Can I be fired for having my wages garnished?
Not for one debt. Federal law bars an employer from firing you because your pay is garnished for any one debt, no matter how many orders are served to collect that debt (15 U.S.C. 1674, DOL Fact Sheet #30). It doesn't protect you if there are garnishments for two or more debts.
What times can a debt collector call me?
Under Regulation F, calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time are presumed inconvenient, and a collector who calls more than seven times in seven days about a debt is presumed to be harassing you (12 CFR 1006.6, 1006.14).
How much can be garnished in Tennessee?
The same 25% or 30-times-minimum-wage limit as federal law (Tenn. Code 26-2-106), plus $2.50 more per week is protected for each dependent child under 16 who lives in Tennessee, if you tell your employer (26-2-107).
Estimates, not financial advice. Taxes, insurance, PMI and fees vary by lender, county and city; confirm with your lender, dealer and state agency before acting.