Tools · Wage Garnishment
Washington Wage Garnishment Calculator (2026)
Enter your disposable pay to see the most a creditor could take in Washington (20%), the pay that stays protected, and which rule sets the limit.
Washington 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 Washington rule is the smaller figure here, so it governs: it protects more of your pay than the federal ceiling would.
These are the Washington 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
- $160 per paycheck
- Disposable pay entered
- $800 weekly
- Washington rule
- 20% cap: $160
- 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 Washington wage garnishment reference, cited to RCW 6.27.150.
How wage garnishment works in Washington
For an ordinary consumer debt, a creditor with a Washington judgment can take at most 20% of your disposable earnings each week, because the law protects the greater of 80% of your disposable pay or 35 times the state minimum wage.
The 80% / 35x floor only applies to consumer debt, which the statute defines as debt incurred by a person mainly for personal, family, or household purposes. For a debt that is not consumer debt, such as a business judgment, the older federal-style rule applies: the greater of 75% of disposable earnings or 35 times the federal minimum wage is protected, so a creditor can reach up to 25%. Whether a debt counts as consumer debt decides how much of your paycheck is safe, so it is worth confirming on the garnishment paperwork.
This calculator shows the Washington 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 Washington wage garnishment reference, cited to RCW 6.27.150.
Wage garnishment calculators for other states
Same tool, each with its own cap and protected floor.