Missouri: Wage Garnishment Limits
The short answer
Missouri matches the federal formula -- the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage -- for most debtors. But if you're the head of a family and a Missouri resident, the cap drops to just 10% of disposable earnings for an ordinary (non-support) debt, one of the most protective head-of-family rules in the country. That reduction isn't automatic; you have to file an affidavit with the court and your employer. Multiple garnishments are paid strictly in the order the writs were served on the employer.
| Governing law | RSMo § 525.030 (the cap itself, the head-of-family reduction, the support/tax/bankruptcy carve-out, and the anti-discharge rule) and § 525.040 (priority among multiple writs by date of service). The head-of-family reduction cross-references the personal-property exemption statute, § 513.440 |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | Under § 525.030.2(1), the lesser of: (a) 25% of aggregate earnings after required withholding; (b) the amount by which earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage; or (c) if the employee is the head of a family and a Missouri resident, 10% of disposable earnings -- whichever of the three is least. For a head-of-family debtor this effectively becomes a straight 10% cap, since 10% is always less than 25% |
| State rule vs. federal floor | For a non-head-of-family debtor, Missouri's cap is identical to the federal CCPA formula -- 25% and 30x the federal minimum wage, no independent state change. But for a head-of-family Missouri resident, the state cuts the ordinary-debt cap to 10% of disposable earnings, dramatically more protective than the federal floor and one of the lowest ordinary-garnishment percentages found in this survey so far |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 30 times the FEDERAL minimum hourly wage ($7.25) = $217.50 of weekly earnings protected -- the statute ties this multiplier specifically to the federal rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act, not to Missouri's own (currently higher, voter-approved) state minimum wage, so the $217.50 floor doesn't move even though Missouri workers must legally be paid more per hour |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Support orders, bankruptcy-court orders under Chapter XIII, and any debt for state or federal tax are excluded from these caps entirely: 'The restrictions on the maximum earnings subjected to garnishment do not apply' to any of the three (§ 525.030.2(2)). Missouri's statute doesn't set its own separate percentage for support garnishment, so federal law's own support tiers (up to 50-65% of disposable earnings, 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b)(2)) control by default. Federal student loan default collection proceeds independently at 15% of disposable pay without a court order (20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a)(1)) |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | The defining feature of Missouri's rule: a debtor who is the head of a family (contributing substantial support to a spouse, a dependent child under 21, or a disabled dependent) and a Missouri resident can cut the ordinary-debt cap to just 10% of disposable earnings (§ 525.030.2(1)(c)) -- but only for debts that are NOT for the support of another person, and only after filing a sworn affidavit with the court and serving it on the employer; it is not automatic. A separate, general property exemption in § 513.440 (currently $1,250 plus $350 per qualifying dependent) explicitly excludes wages already covered by the 10% wage rule, to avoid stacking both exemptions on the same earnings |
| Multiple garnishments at once | Strict first-in-time by date of SERVICE on the employer, not date of filing or judgment: 'Writs of garnishment which would otherwise have equal priority shall have priority according to the date of service on the garnishee' (§ 525.040.2). If more than one writ has attached the same wages, the employer must tell each later ('inferior') garnisher about the existence and case number of every earlier ('senior') garnishment |
| Protection from being fired | Matches the federal floor exactly, then adds a criminal penalty on top: 'No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment or sequestration for any one indebtedness' (§ 525.030.5) -- the same single-indebtedness limit as federal law (15 U.S.C. § 1674) -- but Missouri separately makes a willful violation a criminal misdemeanor (§ 525.030.6), a real enforcement mechanism federal law doesn't provide on its own |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
The short answer
If an ordinary creditor — a credit card company, a hospital, a personal-loan lender — already has a money judgment against you in Missouri, the basic cap matches federal law: the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings, or the amount your earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. But Missouri adds something dramatic for a specific group of debtors: if you're the head of a family (supporting a spouse, a dependent child under 21, or a disabled dependent) and a Missouri resident, the cap for an ordinary debt drops to just 10% of your disposable earnings — one of the lowest ordinary-garnishment percentages in the country. You have to claim that reduction yourself by filing an affidavit; it isn't automatic, and it doesn't apply to support debts. If more than one creditor garnishes you at once, whichever writ was served on your employer first gets paid first.
Requirements one by one
Governing law
The cap, the head-of-family reduction, the carve-outs for support/tax/bankruptcy debt, and the anti-discharge rule are all in one section, RSMo § 525.030. How multiple garnishments rank against each other is in the next section, § 525.040. The head-of-family reduction also connects to Missouri's general personal-property exemption statute, § 513.440.
Maximum that can be garnished
Section 525.030.2(1) sets the cap as the LEAST of three numbers: 25% of your aggregate earnings after required withholding, the amount your earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, or — if you're the head of a family and a Missouri resident — 10% of your disposable earnings. Because 10% is always smaller than 25%, a qualifying head-of-family debtor effectively gets a flat 10% cap on an ordinary debt instead of the 25% figure everyone else faces.
State rule vs. federal floor
For most debtors, Missouri's formula is word-for-word the federal one: 25% and 30 times the federal minimum wage, no independent change. The real divergence is the head-of-family rule: cutting the cap to 10% for a qualifying debtor is far more protective than anything federal law requires, and it's one of the more aggressive versions of a family exemption found in this survey.
Minimum-wage protected floor
The 30-times multiplier is tied specifically to the federal minimum hourly wage — currently $7.25 — which works out to $217.50 of weekly earnings protected. That figure doesn't move even though Missouri's own state minimum wage (set by statewide ballot measure) is currently well above the federal rate; the statute's text specifically references "the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act," not Missouri's own minimum wage law.
Support, tax & student loan debts
Support orders, bankruptcy-court orders under Chapter XIII, and any state or federal tax debt are excluded from these percentage caps entirely — the statute says the restrictions "do not apply" to any of the three. Missouri doesn't set its own separate percentage for support garnishment, so federal law's own support tiers control: up to 50% of disposable earnings if you're supporting another spouse or child, 60% if not, rising higher if you're behind. Federal student loan default collection is handled separately and administratively, capped at 15% of disposable pay with no court order needed.
Head-of-household/family exemption
This is Missouri's signature feature. A debtor who is the head of a family — contributing substantial support to a spouse, a dependent child under 21, or a dependent determined disabled by the Social Security Administration — and who is a Missouri resident can cut the ordinary-debt garnishment cap all the way down to 10% of disposable earnings. It only applies to debts that aren't for supporting another person, and you have to actively claim it: file a sworn affidavit with the court handling the garnishment and serve a copy on your employer. A separate, general property exemption (currently $1,250 plus $350 per qualifying dependent) specifically excludes wages already covered by the 10% rule, so the two exemptions don't stack on the same paycheck.
Multiple garnishments at once
Missouri runs on strict first-in-time priority based on when the writ was actually served on the employer, not when it was filed or when judgment was entered: writs that would otherwise rank equally "have priority according to the date of service on the garnishee." If more than one garnishment attaches the same wages, the employer is required to tell each later-served ("inferior") creditor about every earlier ("senior") garnishment already in place, including its case number.
Protection from being fired
Missouri matches the federal rule exactly — no discharge for garnishment tied to a single indebtedness — but backs it with a real criminal penalty: willfully violating the anti-discharge rule is a misdemeanor. That's a meaningfully different enforcement mechanism than the federal law's civil-only remedy, even though the underlying protection (one garnishment, not two) is the same.
What trips people up
The 10% head-of-family cap is easy to miss because it isn't automatic — a debtor who qualifies but doesn't file the affidavit and serve the employer will still be garnished at the ordinary 25% rate. Also, the 30x-minimum-wage floor uses the federal $7.25 rate specifically, not Missouri's own higher state minimum wage, so the protected dollar floor is lower than someone might assume from knowing the state's actual minimum wage. Finally, priority among multiple garnishments in Missouri runs from the date of SERVICE on the employer, not the date the case was filed or judgment entered — the practical filing-to-service gap can matter for who ends up "first in line."
Common questions
Do I automatically get the 10% head-of-family rate?
No — you must file a sworn affidavit with the court and serve it on your employer; without it, the ordinary 25%/30x formula applies even if you'd otherwise qualify.
Does the head-of-family reduction help with a child support garnishment?
No — it applies only to debts that aren't for the support of another person; support garnishment follows the federal support tiers instead.
What happens if two creditors garnish me at the same time?
Whichever writ was served on your employer first gets priority; the employer has to tell the later creditor about the earlier one, including its case number.
Statutes and sources
- RSMo § 525.030.2(1) — "The maximum part of the aggregate earnings of any individual for any workweek... may not exceed (a) twenty-five percentum, or, (b) the amount by which his aggregate earnings for that week... exceed thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage... or, (c) if the employee is the head of a family and a resident of this state, ten percentum, whichever is less." — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=525.030 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- RSMo § 525.030.2(2) — "The restrictions on the maximum earnings subjected to garnishment do not apply in the case of any order of any court for the support of any person, any order of any court of bankruptcy under chapter XIII of the Bankruptcy Act or any debt due for any state or federal tax." — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=525.030 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- RSMo § 525.030.5-6 — "No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment or sequestration for any one indebtedness. Whoever willfully violates the provisions of subsection 5 of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor." — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=525.030 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- RSMo § 525.040.2 — "Writs of garnishment which would otherwise have equal priority shall have priority according to the date of service on the garnishee. If the employee's wages have been attached by more than one writ of garnishment, the employer shall inform the inferior garnisher of the existence and case number of all senior garnishments." — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=525.040 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- RSMo § 513.440 — "Each head of a family may select and hold, exempt from execution, any other property... not exceeding in value the amount of one thousand two hundred fifty dollars plus three hundred fifty dollars for each of such person's unmarried dependent children under the age of twenty-one years or dependent... determined to be disabled... except ten percent of any debt, income, salary or wages due such head of a family." — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=513.440 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a) — "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... whichever is less." — https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title15/USCODE-2011-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 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)... 50 per centum... and (B)... 60 per centum." — https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title15/USCODE-2011-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 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." — https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title20-section1095a&num=0&edition=prelim (accessed 2026-07-05)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.