Tools · Wage Garnishment
Massachusetts Wage Garnishment Calculator (2026)
Enter your disposable pay to see the most a creditor could take in Massachusetts ($750/week protected), the pay that stays protected, and which rule sets the limit.
Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts rule is the smaller figure here, so it governs: it protects more of your pay than the federal ceiling would.
These are the Massachusetts 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.
- Most a creditor could take
- $50 per paycheck
- Disposable pay entered
- $800 weekly
- Massachusetts rule
- 15% cap: $50
- 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 Massachusetts wage garnishment reference, cited to M.G.L. c. 246, s. 28.
How wage garnishment works in Massachusetts
Massachusetts protects far more pay than the federal baseline: weekly earnings up to 50 times the minimum wage, which is $750 a week right now, cannot be garnished at all, and even above that a creditor is capped at 15% of gross wages.
Massachusetts uses a formula, not a simple flat percentage. Under M.G.L. c. 246 s. 28 the trustee (your employer) must reserve, and treat as exempt, the greater of 85% of your gross weekly wages or 50 times the greater of the federal or Massachusetts minimum wage. Flip that around and a creditor may take only the lesser of 15% of gross wages or the amount by which your weekly pay rises above the 50-times floor of $750. For lower and middle earners the $750 floor is what protects them, since pay at or under $750 leaves nothing to garnish. For higher earners the 15% ceiling becomes the limit instead. Support orders and tax debts follow different rules and are not held to the 15% cap.
This calculator shows the Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts wage garnishment reference, cited to M.G.L. c. 246, s. 28.
Wage garnishment calculators for other states
Same tool, each with its own cap and protected floor.