Wage Garnishment Limits in Maryland

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Md. Code, Com. Law § 15-601.1 supplies the wage exemption, § 15-603 ranks attachments, and § 15-606 protects an employee from discharge for one indebtedness in a calendar year. Section 15-601 defines “wages” as monetary pay for employment, including nonresident employees.

Maximum garnishment amount

For $600 in disposable wages earned in one week, 75% is $450 and 30 times the current State hourly minimum is also $450. The amount above either protection is $150. Section 15-601.1(b) also exempts a medical-insurance payment deducted by the employer, and subsection (c) directs calculation per pay period.

Federal floor comparison

Maryland's percentage branch corresponds to 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a), but its wage-floor branch uses the State rate under Lab. & Empl. § 3-413(c)(1)(ii): $15 per hour. The federal wage in 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1)(C) is $7.25. Maryland's $450 weekly floor is therefore above the federal $217.50 floor.

Priority debt exceptions

Family Law § 10-122(c) tells the Administration to prioritize current support when several support withholding orders exist, within federal Consumer Credit Protection Act limits. Those support limits appear in 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b). A Maryland Comptroller wage lien uses the amount exempt under Com. Law § 15-601.1, by express cross-reference in Tax-Gen. § 13-811(e). Federal student-loan administrative garnishment has a separate 15% rule in 20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a)(1).

Head-of-household exemption

Com. Law § 15-601.1 bases the ordinary exemption on disposable wages, the State hourly wage, the weeks earned, and medical-insurance deductions. The general property exemption in Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 11-504(b)(6) includes a $6,000 election, but subsection (e) expressly says those property exemptions do not apply to wage attachments.

Multiple garnishments priority

Com. Law § 15-603(b) says attachments against the same debtor are satisfied in the order served on the employer. It adds that each prior attachment must be satisfied before a later one has effect.

Employee termination protection

Com. Law § 15-606(a) bars discharge because wages were attached for one indebtedness within a calendar year. Subsection (b) makes a willful violation a misdemeanor with a potential $1,000 fine or one year of imprisonment; the federal single-debt prohibition appears in 15 U.S.C. § 1674(a).

What trips people up

Medical-insurance deductions are separately exempt. Section 15-601.1(b)(2) adds an employer-deducted medical-insurance payment to the greater-of calculation; the 75% and 30-times figures alone do not describe the entire exemption.

Common questions

Does a two-week paycheck simply use one week's $450 floor? No. Section 15-601.1(b)(1)(ii) multiplies 30 times the State hourly wage by the number of weeks in which the wages were earned.

Does the employer rank attachments by judgment date? Section 15-603(b) uses the order in which the employer was served.

Does a State tax wage lien take more than an ordinary attachment? Tax-Gen. § 13-811(e)(2) expressly incorporates the amount exempt under Com. Law § 15-601.1.

Statutes and sources

• Md. Code, Com. Law § 15-601.1 — “(a) In this section, "disposable wages" means the part of wages that remain after deduction of any amount required to be withheld by law. (b) The following are exempt from attachment: (1) The greater of: (i) 75 percent of the disposable wages due; or (ii) 30 times the State minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the wages are due, multiplied by the number of weeks during which the wages due were earned; and (2) Any medical insurance payment deducted from an employee's wages by the employer. (c) The amount subject to attachment shall be calculated per pay period.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcl&section=15-601.1 (accessed 2026-10-06).

• Md. Code, Com. Law § 15-601 — “(b) "Employee" includes an employee whether he is a resident or nonresident of the State. (c) "Wages" means all monetary remuneration paid to any employee for his employment.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcl&section=15-601 (accessed 2026-10-06).

• Md. Code, Com. Law § 15-603 — “(b) If the employer/garnishee is served with more than one attachment against the same judgment debtor, then the attachments shall be satisfied in the order in which they were served, and each prior attachment must be satisfied before any effect can be given to a subsequent attachment.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcl&section=15-603 (accessed 2026-10-06).

• Md. Code, Com. Law § 15-606 — “(a) An employer may not discharge his employee because the employee's wages are subjected to attachment for any one indebtedness within a calendar year. (b) Any employer who willfully violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one year or both.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcl&section=15-606 (accessed 2026-10-06).

• Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 11-504(e) — “The exemptions in this section do not apply to wage attachments.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=11-504 (accessed 2026-10-06).

• Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 11-504(b)(6) — “Cash or property of any kind equivalent in value to $6,000 is exempt, if within 30 days from the date of the attachment or the levy by the sheriff, the debtor elects to exempt cash or selected items of property in an amount not to exceed a cumulative value of $6,000.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=11-504 (accessed 2026-10-06).

• Md. Code, Tax-Gen. § 13-811(e) — “(1) From salary, wages, or other compensation for personal services that is due or becomes payable on or after the date on which a notice of wage lien is served to the date on which a notice of satisfaction or release of the wage lien is received, an employer or paymaster promptly shall pay to the Comptroller any salary, wages, or other compensation due to the delinquent taxpayer, excluding only those amounts specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection. (2) The amount excluded under paragraph (1) of this subsection from amounts paid to the delinquent taxpayer is the amount exempt from attachment provided in § 15-601.1 of the Commercial Law Article.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtg&section=13-811 (accessed 2026-10-06).

• Md. Code, Family Law § 10-122(c) — “If there is more than one earnings withholding order or earnings withholding notice against a single obligor, the Administration shall allocate amounts available for withholding, giving priority to current support, up to the limits imposed by the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gfl&section=10-122 (accessed 2026-10-06).

• Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 3-413(c)(1) — “Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the State minimum wage rate is: (i) for the 12-month period beginning January 1, 2023, $13.25 per hour; and (ii) beginning January 1, 2024, $15.00 per hour.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gle&section=3-413 (accessed 2026-10-06).

• 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a) — “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. In the case of earnings for any pay period other than a week, the Secretary of Labor shall by regulation prescribe a multiple of the Federal minimum hourly wage equivalent in effect to that set forth in paragraph (2).” Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673.htm (accessed 2026-10-06).

• 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b) — “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.” Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673.htm (accessed 2026-10-06).

• 20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a)(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” Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title20/html/USCODE-2024-title20-chap28-subchapIV-partG-sec1095a.htm (accessed 2026-10-06).

• 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.” Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1674.htm (accessed 2026-10-06).

• 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1)(C) — “$7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day;” Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title29/html/USCODE-2024-title29-chap8-sec206.htm (accessed 2026-10-06).