Wage Garnishment Limits in District of Columbia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

D.C.'s wage garnishment rules sit in D.C. Code §§ 16-571 through 16-584. The cap and priority rule are in § 16-572, the matching employer withholding duty in § 16-573, the hardship-exemption procedure in § 16-572.01, and the anti-discharge protection in § 16-584. The current version of § 16-572 reflects the 2018 Wage Garnishment Fairness Amendment Act (D.C. Law 22-296), which replaced an earlier version of the statute that simply restated the federal formula.

Maximum that can be garnished

Under § 16-572(1)(A), the amount subject to attachment is 25% of the amount by which the debtor's disposable wages for the week exceed 40 times the applicable minimum hourly wage. This is a different shape than the common formula that takes the lesser of 25% of earnings or the amount over a minimum-wage floor: D.C. only exposes 25% of the excess above the floor to garnishment, not up to the full excess. Section 16-573(d) confirms the floor is a complete bar below it — the employer withholds nothing at all if disposable wages don't exceed 40 times the minimum hourly wage that week.

State rule vs. federal floor

Federal law (15 U.S.C. § 1673(a)) caps ordinary garnishment at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings, or the amount earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. D.C.'s rule beats that on both fronts: it uses a bigger multiplier for the protected floor (40x instead of 30x) and, above that floor, only exposes 25% of the excess rather than potentially all of it, so less of a D.C. paycheck can be taken than federal law alone would allow.

Minimum-wage protected floor

The 40-times multiplier in § 16-572(1)(A) is pegged to "the minimum hourly wage, as prescribed in § 32-1003," in effect when the wages are paid — the District's own minimum wage, not the (typically lower) federal minimum wage.

Support, tax & student loan debts

Support judgments don't follow § 16-572's percentage formula at all. Instead, § 16-577 caps them at 50% of gross wages (not disposable wages) for the pay periods ending in the month, and lets a court give a support judgment priority over any other execution. A formal child-support withholding order issued under the District's Title 46 child-support-enforcement chapter goes further: it outranks every other legal process against the same wages and instead follows the federal CCPA support cap (up to 50-65% of disposable earnings, 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b)). Federal tax levies and federal student loan wage garnishment are handled through separate federal administrative processes and don't run through this D.C. Code chapter at all.

Head-of-household/family exemption

D.C. doesn't use a fixed dollar head-of-household exemption. Instead, § 16-572.01 lets a judgment debtor file a motion asking the Superior Court to exempt additional wages on a showing of undue financial hardship. The court must hold a hearing within 30 days of the motion, and if the debtor receives public assistance from one of several listed programs (TANF, SSI, Medicaid, and others), the law presumes hardship for them automatically rather than requiring proof from scratch.

Multiple garnishments at once

Only one attachment on a debtor's wages can be paid at a time (§ 16-572(3)). Where more than one is issued against the same employer, whichever was first delivered to the marshal has priority, and later attachments wait their turn in that same order (§§ 16-572(4), 16-507(b)).

Protection from being fired

§ 16-584 makes it illegal to fire an employee because a creditor has garnished, or tried to garnish, wages to pay a judgment. Unlike the federal rule (15 U.S.C. § 1674), which only protects against discharge for a single garnishment, D.C.'s statute carries no such limit in its own text.

What trips people up

The 40x floor in § 16-572 is a hard bar, not a starting point for a percentage calculation on your whole check — if your disposable wages don't clear it, nothing can be withheld that week at all, per § 16-573(d). Also, an attachment doesn't survive a job change automatically: § 16-576 says that if you resign or are fired while an attachment is unpaid, it lapses, and the creditor has to start over unless you're reinstated or rehired within 90 days. Finally, the § 16-572.01 hardship exemption isn't automatic just because you're struggling financially outside the listed public-assistance categories — you still have to file the motion and make your case at a hearing.

Common questions

Does D.C. use the federal 25%/30x formula? No. It replaced that formula in 2018 with its own: 25% of the amount above a 40x-minimum-wage floor, rather than the lesser of 25% of earnings or the amount above a 30x floor.

Can I stop a garnishment just by proving I need the money? Not automatically — you have to file a motion under § 16-572.01 and get a hearing, though the process is easier if you already receive qualifying public assistance.

What happens if two creditors both try to garnish my wages at once? Only one attachment gets paid at a time; the one delivered to the marshal first is satisfied before any later one, unless the later order is a support judgment, which a court can move to the front of the line.

Effective medical-debt law has delayed applicability

D.C. Law 26-172 became effective August 20, 2026. Its new § 28-3814(dd)(5)(B) bars a health care provider or debt collector from garnishing a patient's wages to collect medical debt when annual household income is below 500% of the federal poverty level. Section 6, however, says the act applies only six months after the Chief Financial Officer certifies that its fiscal effect was included in an approved budget and financial plan.

As of September 10, following § 28-3814(cc), current § 28-3814(dd) is labeled "Not Funded," and the section's applicability note says the amendment has not been implemented. This cell therefore does not yet treat the medical-debt exception as an applicable garnishment protection; the law's effective date does not eliminate its separate budget-certification delay.

Statutes and sources

• D.C. Code § 16-572 — "Notwithstanding any other provision of subchapter II of this chapter: (1)(A) Where an attachment is levied upon wages due a judgment debtor from an employer-garnishee, the attachment shall become a lien and a continuing levy upon the gross wages due or to become due to the judgment debtor for the amount specified in the attachment to the extent of 25% of the amount by which the judgment debtor's disposable wages for that week exceed 40 times the minimum hourly wage, as prescribed in § 32-1003 ("minimum hourly wage"), in effect at the time the wages are payable. ... (3) Only one attachment upon the wages of a judgment debtor may be satisfied at one time. (4) Where more than one attachment is issued upon the wages of the same judgment debtor and served upon the same employer-garnishee, the attachment first delivered to the marshal shall have priority, and all subsequent attachments shall be satisfied in the order of priority set forth in § 16-507." — https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/16-572 (accessed 2026-07-06)
• D.C. Code § 16-572.01 — "(a) Notwithstanding § 16-572, a judgment debtor may seek to exempt additional wages from attachment under § 16-572 by making a claim of undue financial hardship by filing a motion with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ("court"). ... (d)(1) At the hearing on a motion filed pursuant to this section, the court shall determine whether the amount required to be paid to the judgment creditor as calculated pursuant to § 16-572 creates an undue financial hardship for the judgment debtor; provided, that, for a movant who indicates that he or she receives public assistance from any of the sources listed in subsection (c)(1) of this section, there shall be a presumption that the amount required to be paid to the judgment creditor as calculated pursuant to § 16-572 creates an undue financial hardship." — https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/[16-572.01] (accessed 2026-07-06)
• D.C. Code § 16-573 — "(d) Under this section, except as provided in § 16-577, the employer-garnishee shall not withhold from the judgment debtor or pay to the judgment creditor any portion of the gross wages payable to the judgment debtor for any week in which the judgment debtor's disposable wages do not exceed 40 times the minimum hourly wage, as prescribed in § 32-1003, in effect at the time the wages are payable." — https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/16-573 (accessed 2026-07-06)
• D.C. Code § 16-577 — "The per centum limitations prescribed by section 16-572 do not apply in the case of execution upon a judgment, order, or decree of any court of the District of Columbia for the payment of any sum for the support or maintenance of a person's spouse or former spouse, domestic partner or former domestic partner, or children, and any such execution, judgment, order, or decree shall, in the discretion of the court, have priority over any other execution which is subject to the provisions of this subchapter. In the case of execution upon such a judgment, order, or decree for the payment of such sum for support or maintenance, the limitation shall be 50 per centum of the gross wages due or to become due to any such person for the pay period or periods ending in any calendar month, except that a notice or order to withhold issued pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 2 of Title 46 shall have priority over any other legal process and shall be subject to the limitations stated in section 303(b) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, approved May 29, 1968 (82 Stat. 163; 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b))." — https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/16-577 (accessed 2026-07-06)
• D.C. Code § 16-507 — "(b) An attachment shall be a lien on the property attached from the date of its delivery to the marshal. When different persons obtain attachments against the same defendant the priorities of the liens of the attachments shall be according to the dates when they were so delivered to the marshal." — https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/16-507 (accessed 2026-07-06)
• D.C. Code § 16-576 — "If a judgment debtor resigns or is dismissed from his employment while an attachment upon his wages is wholly or partly unsatisfied, the attachment shall lapse and no further deduction may be made thereon unless the judgment debtor is reinstated or reemployed within 90 days after the resignation or dismissal." — https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/16-576 (accessed 2026-07-06)
• D.C. Code § 16-584 — "No employer shall discharge an employee for the reason that a creditor of the employee has subjected or attempted to subject unpaid earnings of the employee to garnishment or like proceedings directed to the employer for the purpose of paying a judgment." — https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/16-584 (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1673 — "Except as provided in subsection (b) and in section 1675 of this title, the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subjected to garnishment may not exceed (1) 25 per centum of his disposable earnings for that week, or (2) the amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty times the Federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 206(a)(1) of title 29 in effect at the time the earnings are payable, whichever is less." — https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title15/USCODE-2011-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673 (accessed 2026-07-06)
• D.C. Law 26-172 (Act 26-365) — medical-debt restrictions, including § 28-3814(dd)(5)(B), the August 20 effective date, and the delayed-applicability clause — https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/acts/26-365 (accessed 2026-09-03)
• D.C. Code § 28-3814 — current subsection (dd) is labeled "Not Funded," and the applicability note says the amendment has not been implemented — https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/28-3814 (accessed 2026-09-03)