Tools · Wage Garnishment
Vermont Wage Garnishment Calculator (2026)
Enter your disposable pay to see the most a creditor could take in Vermont (15%), the pay that stays protected, and which rule sets the limit.
Vermont 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 Vermont rule is the smaller figure here, so it governs: it protects more of your pay than the federal ceiling would.
These are the Vermont 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
- $120 per paycheck
- Disposable pay entered
- $800 weekly
- Vermont rule
- 15% cap: $120
- 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 Vermont wage garnishment reference, cited to 12 V.S.A. §3170(b).
How wage garnishment works in Vermont
For a consumer credit transaction, a Vermont creditor can take at most 15% of your disposable pay, because 12 V.S.A. §3170 exempts the greater of 85% of your weekly disposable earnings or 40 times the federal minimum wage.
Vermont calls wage garnishment "trustee process against earnings," and 12 V.S.A. §3170 makes it markedly more protective than the federal rule for consumer debt. Where a consumer credit transaction is behind the judgment, 85% of weekly disposable earnings is exempt, capping garnishment at 15%, and the floor is the greater of that or 40 times the federal minimum wage. A judge can exempt even more on a showing of hardship, and a debtor who recently received state public assistance cannot have an earnings order entered at all. General non-consumer debts fall back to a 75% / 30-times exemption.
This calculator shows the Vermont 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 Vermont wage garnishment reference, cited to 12 V.S.A. §3170(b).
Wage garnishment calculators for other states
Same tool, each with its own cap and protected floor.