Wage Garnishment Limits in Georgia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

The substantive cap and the anti-discharge rule are both in O.C.G.A. § 18-4-5, inside the general-provisions article of Georgia's garnishment chapter. Exempt property, including retirement funds, is covered separately in § 18-4-6. The garnishment periods themselves (1,095 days for a continuing wage garnishment) are set by § 18-4-4, and competing claims to the same garnished money are resolved by § 18-4-18. Support garnishment is a distinct procedural track under Article 3 of the same chapter.

Maximum that can be garnished

Section 18-4-5(a) caps an ordinary garnishment at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings for the week, or the amount by which those earnings exceed $217.50. If the underlying judgment arose from a private student loan specifically, the percentage prong drops to 15% instead of 25% — Georgia is one of the few states with a percentage carve-out just for that kind of debt.

State rule vs. federal floor

The shape of Georgia's rule matches the federal CCPA formula almost exactly rather than exceeding it. The one place Georgia adds protection beyond the federal floor is the private-student-loan carve-out, which lowers the percentage prong to 15% for that specific kind of debt — a protection federal law doesn't provide.

Minimum-wage protected floor

Georgia writes this floor as a flat dollar figure, $217.50 per week, rather than as thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage the way several neighboring states do. The statute itself explains where the number comes from — 30 hours a week at $7.25 an hour — but because it's fixed in the code as a dollar amount, it won't rise automatically if the federal minimum wage increases; that would take a further amendment to this specific statute.

Support, tax & student loan debts

Support obligations don't run through the ordinary 25%/$217.50 cap at all — they're handled by a separate continuing-garnishment-for-support track that Georgia caps at 50% of disposable earnings. Federal law would permit a 50%-65% range for support orders, depending on family-support and arrears circumstances, but Georgia's own continuing-garnishment provision uses a flat 50% ceiling. Retirement and pension funds are exempt from garnishment while still held in the plan, and even once distributed to the member or beneficiary, they're only exempt to the same extent as ordinary disposable earnings — not automatically fully protected. Federal tax levies and federal student loan administrative garnishment reach Georgia wages under their own federal authority, separate from this chapter.

Head-of-household/family exemption

Georgia has none. The ordinary cap in § 18-4-5 applies the same way no matter how many dependents a debtor supports — there's no separate dollar amount or percentage protected on top of it for a head of household.

Multiple garnishments at once

Two different rules can apply. Among ordinary garnishments, § 18-4-5(b) makes the 25%/$217.50 cap a combined ceiling — being served with more than one ordinary garnishment against the same employee doesn't multiply what can be taken. That combined-cap rule specifically doesn't extend to a support garnishment, which runs on its own track and its own, different cap. And where competing claims land on the same deposited money or property, § 18-4-18 resolves the fight not by who filed first but by whoever holds the OLDEST entered judgment.

Protection from being fired

Section 18-4-5(c) bars firing an employee because earnings were garnished "for any one obligation, even though more than one summons of garnishment may be served upon such employer with respect to the obligation." That closes a gap the plain federal rule doesn't address explicitly: a creditor can sometimes need to serve a new summons periodically to keep collecting the same debt, and Georgia's statute makes clear that repeated summonses for the SAME obligation still count as garnishment "for any one obligation" for purposes of the protection. It remains limited, like the federal rule, to a single underlying debt.

What trips people up

Because Georgia's protected floor is written as a fixed $217.50 rather than a self-updating multiple of the minimum wage, it's easy to assume the number moves with minimum-wage changes the way it does in states that spell out 30 times the current federal minimum hourly wage. It doesn't — in Georgia, that dollar figure only changes if the legislature amends the statute itself. People sometimes also assume garnishment priority goes to whichever creditor filed first; in Georgia, competing claims to the same garnished fund are instead resolved by whoever holds the oldest judgment.

Common questions

Does my minimum-wage protection go up if the federal minimum wage increases? Not automatically. Georgia's floor is written into the statute as a flat $217.50 per week, not as a multiple of the current federal minimum wage, so it would take a legislative amendment to raise it.

If two creditors both garnish my paycheck, do they each get 25%? No, for ordinary judgment debts the 25%/$217.50 cap is a combined ceiling regardless of how many garnishments are pending against you at once. A support garnishment is the exception — it runs on its own, separate track.

Is my student loan garnished at the same rate as a credit card debt? It depends on the lender. A judgment from a private student loan is capped at 15% of disposable earnings, lower than the 25% cap for most other ordinary debts; federally-guaranteed student loans are handled through federal administrative wage garnishment instead of this state process.

Statutes and sources

• O.C.G.A. § 18-4-5(a) — "(1) For purposes of this subsection, a \"private student loan\" shall be defined as an educational or student loan for postsecondary educational expenses but not a loan guaranteed under 20 U.S.C. Section 1070, et seq. (2) Subject to the limitations set forth in Code Sections 18-4-6 and 18-4-53, the maximum part of disposable earnings for any work week which is subject to garnishment shall not exceed the lesser of: (A) Twenty-five percent of the defendant's disposable earnings for that week or, if the judgment upon which the garnishment is based arose from a private student loan, then 15 percent of the defendant's disposable earnings for that week; or (B) The amount by which the defendant's disposable earnings for that week exceed $217.50. (3) In case of earnings for a period other than a week, the proportionate fraction or multiple of 30 hours per week at $7.25 per hour shall be used." — http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/194286.pdf (accessed 2026-08-16)
• O.C.G.A. § 18-4-5(b) — "The limitation on garnishment set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section shall apply although the garnishee may receive a summons of garnishment in more than one garnishment case naming the same defendant unless the garnishee has received a summons of continuing garnishment for support as provided in Article 3 of this chapter." — http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/194286.pdf (accessed 2026-08-16)
• O.C.G.A. § 18-4-5(c) — "No employer shall discharge an employee by reason of the fact that such employee's earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one obligation, even though more than one summons of garnishment may be served upon such employer with respect to the obligation." — http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/194286.pdf (accessed 2026-08-16)
• O.C.G.A. § 18-4-4(c) — "The garnishment period shall begin on the day of service of the summons of garnishment and, for: (1) A continuing garnishment, shall include the next 1,095 days; (2) Garnishments, other than a continuing garnishment or continuing garnishment for support, served on a financial institution, shall include the next five days; (3) A continuing garnishment for support, shall remain for so long as the defendant is employed by the garnishee and shall not terminate until the original arrearage is retired; and (4) All other garnishments, shall include the next 29 days." — http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/194286.pdf (accessed 2026-08-16)
• O.C.G.A. § 18-4-6(a)(2) — "Funds or benefits from an individual retirement account or from a pension or retirement program shall be exempt from the process of garnishment until paid or otherwise distributed to a member of such program or beneficiary thereof. Such funds or benefits, when paid or otherwise distributed to such member or beneficiary, shall be exempt from the process of garnishment only to the extent of the limitations provided in Code Section 18-4-5 for other disposable earnings, unless a greater exemption is otherwise provided by law." — http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/162341.pdf (accessed 2026-08-16)
• O.C.G.A. § 18-4-18 — "When money or other property in court is subject to a third-party claim or to more than one garnishment case, the party with the oldest entered judgment shall have priority to such money or other property and any interested party to any one of the garnishment cases may make a motion to the court where such money or other property has been deposited for the distribution of such money or other property." — http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/162341.pdf (accessed 2026-08-16)
• O.C.G.A. § 18-4-50 — "As used in this article, the term: (3) 'Periodic support' means money required to be paid regularly on a daily, weekly, monthly, or other similar specified frequency for the support of a minor child of the defendant or a spouse or former spouse of the defendant." — http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/162341.pdf (accessed 2026-08-16)
• O.C.G.A. § 18-4-53(b) — "Subject to the limitations set forth in Code Section 18-4-6, the maximum part of disposable earnings for any work week which shall be subject to continuing garnishment for support shall not exceed 50 percent of the defendant's disposable earnings for that week." — http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/162341.pdf (accessed 2026-08-16)
• 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/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673.htm (accessed 2026-08-16)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b)(2) — "The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subject to garnishment to enforce any order for the support of any person shall not exceed— (A) where such individual is supporting his spouse or dependent child (other than a spouse or child with respect to whose support such order is used), 50 per centum of such individual's disposable earnings for that week; and (B) where such individual is not supporting such a spouse or dependent child described in clause (A), 60 per centum of such individual's disposable earnings for that week; except that, with respect to the disposable earnings of any individual for any workweek, the 50 per centum specified in clause (A) shall be deemed to be 55 per centum and the 60 per centum specified in clause (B) shall be deemed to be 65 per centum, if and to the extent that such earnings are subject to garnishment to enforce a support order with respect to a period which is prior to the twelve-week period which ends with the beginning of such workweek." — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673.htm (accessed 2026-08-16)
• 20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a)(1) — "Notwithstanding any provision of State law, a guaranty agency, or the Secretary in the case of loans made, insured or guaranteed under this subchapter that are held by the Secretary, may garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed by the individual, if he or she is not currently making required repayment under a repayment agreement with the Secretary, or, in the case of a loan guaranteed under part B on which the guaranty agency received reimbursement from the Secretary under section 1078(c) of this title, with the guaranty agency holding the loan, as appropriate, provided that— (1) the amount deducted for any pay period may not exceed 15 percent of disposable pay, except that a greater percentage may be deducted with the written consent of the individual involved." — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title20/html/USCODE-2024-title20-chap28-subchapIV-partG-sec1095a.htm (accessed 2026-08-16)
• 26 U.S.C. § 6331(e) — "The effect of a levy on salary or wages payable to or received by a taxpayer shall be continuous from the date such levy is first made until such levy is released under section 6343." — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title26/html/USCODE-2024-title26-subtitleF-chap64-subchapD-partII-sec6331.htm (accessed 2026-08-16)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1674 — "No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness." — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1674.htm (accessed 2026-08-16)