Tools · Wage Garnishment
Maryland Wage Garnishment Calculator (2026)
Enter your disposable pay to see the most a creditor could take in Maryland (25% (with a higher protected floor)), the pay that stays protected, and which rule sets the limit.
Maryland wage garnishment calculator
Disposable earnings is your pay after legally required deductions: federal and state taxes, Social Security, and Medicare. It is close to your take-home pay, before voluntary deductions like a 401(k) or health premiums.
The Maryland rule and the federal ceiling land on the same figure here, so either way this is the most a creditor could take.
These are the Maryland figures applied to what you entered: a plain summary of the limits, not a determination that any garnishment is correct or incorrect. Court orders set the actual withholding.
The figure above is the most the percentage caps allow. Maryland also protects a set amount of pay outright, and this calculator cannot pin that floor to one dollar figure. In most Maryland counties, the greater of $145 a week or 75% of your disposable wages is exempt, so a creditor can reach only the lesser of 25% of disposable pay or the amount above $145 a week. In Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne's, and Worcester counties, the exempt amount is instead the greater of 75% of disposable wages or 30 times the federal minimum wage ($217.50 a week).
- Most a creditor could take
- Up to $200 per paycheck
- Disposable pay entered
- $800 weekly
- Maryland rule
- 25% cap: $200
- Federal ceiling
- 25% / $217.50 floor: $200
Plain-language summary, not legal advice.
Informational only, not legal advice. Garnishment limits carry exceptions this summary cannot weigh (support orders, taxes, student loans, existing court orders), and exemptions often must be claimed by a deadline. See the full rules, the exemption steps, and the citations on the Maryland wage garnishment reference, cited to Md. Code, Com. Law §15-601.1.
How wage garnishment works in Maryland
A Maryland creditor can take up to 25% of your disposable pay on an ordinary judgment, but the amount fully protected each week is larger than the federal floor, and it is set differently in four counties than in the rest of the state.
Maryland uses a "greater of" exemption, so whichever calculation protects more of your pay controls, and the ceiling on what a creditor takes remains 25% of disposable wages. The statute names a $145-per-week floor for most counties, but a Maryland federal court in Marshall v. Safeway (2014) held that where the federal 30 times minimum wage floor is more protective than the state $145 figure, the federal floor applies because state law cannot go below it. The four Eastern Shore counties (Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne's, Worcester) already use the 30x federal minimum wage floor by statute. Support and tax garnishments follow their own separate rules.
This calculator shows the Maryland figures applied to your own pay. It is informational only and not legal advice: support orders, taxes, and student loans follow their own rules, and exemptions often must be claimed by a short deadline. For the full rule, the exemption steps, and the citations, see the Maryland wage garnishment reference, cited to Md. Code, Com. Law §15-601.1.
Wage garnishment calculators for other states
Same tool, each with its own cap and protected floor.