New Jersey: Wage Garnishment Limits
The short answer
New Jersey caps an ordinary judgment creditor's wage execution at the LEAST of three numbers: 10% of gross weekly pay, 25% of disposable earnings, or the amount disposable earnings exceed $217.50/week (30 times the federal minimum wage) — and by law no more than 10% of gross pay can ever be taken. Because 10% of gross is almost always the smallest of the three, New Jersey is meaningfully more protective than the bare federal formula. A support order jumps to the front of the line ahead of any other wage execution, and only one execution can be satisfied at a time.
| Governing law | Wage execution authorization, priority, and cap: N.J.S.A. 2A:17-50 (authorization), 2A:17-52 (priority among multiple executions), 2A:17-54 (employer liability), 2A:17-56 (percentage cap); child support and alimony income withholding runs on a separate statute, the Support Enforcement Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.7 to 2A:17-56.15 (cap in § 56.9, anti-discharge protection in § 56.12) |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | The least of three figures, per N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56(a) and the New Jersey Courts' own wage-execution form (Appendix XI-J): (a) 10% of gross weekly pay; (b) 25% of disposable earnings; or (c) the amount disposable earnings exceed $217.50/week (30x the federal minimum hourly wage) — and in no event may more than 10% of gross salary be withheld, unless the debtor's income exceeds 250% of the federal poverty level for their family size, in which case a court may order a larger percentage |
| State rule vs. federal floor | More protective than the federal 25%/30x-minimum-wage floor in the ordinary case: New Jersey layers its own flat 10%-of-gross-pay ceiling (N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56(a)) on top of the two federal tests, and since the smallest of the three numbers controls, the 10%-of-gross figure is almost always the one that actually limits the garnishment |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage ($217.50/week) — the same multiplier and wage floor the federal formula itself uses; this test mainly matters for very low earners, since New Jersey's separate 10%-of-gross cap otherwise controls for most debtors |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Child support and alimony income withholding is capped at whatever the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act allows (15 U.S.C. § 1673(b)) — 50-65% of disposable earnings depending on arrears and whether the obligor supports another family — because N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.9 adopts that federal ceiling directly rather than setting its own lower number; a wage execution the State files for its own debts (taxes, agency debts) can reach up to 25% of gross earnings under N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56(b), well above the ordinary 10% cap, so long as the debtor's income stays above 250% of the poverty level; federal tax levies and federal student loan administrative wage garnishment (up to 15%) reach New Jersey wages independently of state law |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | No separate percentage add-on for dependents or head-of-household status; instead, N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56(a) works in the opposite direction from most states' exemptions — a court can order MORE than the ordinary 10% cap if the debtor's income exceeds 250% of the federal poverty level for their family size, rather than protecting additional income for family support |
| Multiple garnishments at once | Strict first-in-time priority under N.J.S.A. 2A:17-52(a): only one wage execution may be satisfied at a time, and multiple executions against the same debtor are paid in the order presented to the employer, regardless of which court issued them — except that a support execution presented on the same day as another execution is paid first. Since a 2005 amendment, a wage execution the State files for its own debts (N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56(b)) outranks any other wage execution filed on or after that amendment's effective date, but still yields to a support execution (§ 2A:17-52(b)) |
| Protection from being fired | For a child-support income-withholding obligor, New Jersey's own statute (N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.12, as referenced in § 56.11) bars an employer from discharging, refusing to employ, or disciplining the obligor because of the withholding, backed by a court-ordered fine and civil damages. No comparably specific New Jersey statute for an ORDINARY wage execution turned up in this research, though the state's own official wage-execution court form states as a matter of law that no employer may terminate an employee because of a garnishment; absent a distinct statute for that category, ordinary wage executions fall back on the federal floor, 15 U.S.C. § 1674, which bars discharge over garnishment of a single debt |
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The short answer
If an ordinary creditor — a credit card company, a hospital, a personal-loan
lender — wins a lawsuit against you in New Jersey and gets a money
judgment, it can seek a wage execution against your paycheck, but New
Jersey runs three different calculations and takes whichever produces the
smallest number: 10% of your gross weekly pay, 25% of your disposable
earnings, or the amount your disposable earnings exceed $217.50 a week (30
times the federal minimum wage). By law, no more than 10% of your gross
salary can ever be withheld. Because that flat 10%-of-gross figure is
almost always the smallest of the three, New Jersey protects meaningfully
more of a paycheck than the federal floor alone would. Child support and
alimony orders run on a separate, more aggressive track, and only one wage
execution can be paid at a time.
Requirements one by one
Governing law
New Jersey's wage execution scheme lives in N.J.S.A. 2A:17-50 through
2A:17-56: § 50 authorizes the execution, § 52 sets priority when more than
one execution applies, § 54 makes an employer liable for ignoring a valid
execution, and § 56 sets the percentage cap. Child support and alimony
withholding is a separate statute entirely — the Support Enforcement Act,
N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.7 through 2A:17-56.15 — with its own cap (§ 56.9) and its
own anti-discharge protection (§ 56.12).
Maximum that can be garnished
Under § 2A:17-56(a) and the New Jersey Courts' own official wage-execution
form, the amount withheld is the LEAST of three numbers: 10% of your gross
weekly pay, 25% of your disposable earnings, or the amount your disposable
earnings exceed $217.50 a week. The statute is explicit that the execution
"shall not exceed 10%" of wages in the ordinary case — a hard ceiling on
top of the two federal-style tests — unless your income exceeds 250% of
the federal poverty level for your family size, in which case a court can
order a bigger cut.
State rule vs. federal floor
Federal law alone would allow a judgment creditor to take up to 25% of
disposable earnings. New Jersey is more protective in practice: because
the smallest of its three calculated figures controls, and 10% of gross
pay is almost always smaller than 25% of disposable earnings, the flat
10%-of-gross ceiling is usually what actually limits the garnishment.
Minimum-wage protected floor
The multiplier is 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage — the same
$217.50/week figure the federal formula itself produces, with no separate
New Jersey multiplier. This test mostly matters for very low earners,
since New Jersey's own 10%-of-gross cap otherwise does the limiting for
most debtors.
Support, tax & student loan debts
Child support and alimony withholding isn't capped at New Jersey's ordinary
10% figure at all — § 2A:17-56.9 lets it reach whatever the federal
Consumer Credit Protection Act allows, 50% to 65% of disposable earnings
depending on arrears and whether the obligor supports another family. A
wage execution the State itself files for its own debts (unpaid taxes,
agency debts) can go up to 25% of gross earnings under § 2A:17-56(b) —
well above the ordinary 10% cap — as long as the debtor's income stays
above 250% of the poverty level afterward. Federal tax levies and
defaulted federal student loans reach New Jersey wages through their own
federal administrative processes regardless of any of this.
Head-of-household/family exemption
New Jersey doesn't add extra protection on top of its ordinary cap for
dependents or head-of-household status. Instead, § 2A:17-56(a) runs the
opposite direction: if a debtor's income exceeds 250% of the federal
poverty level for their family size, a court can order MORE than the
ordinary 10% — a higher-income debtor can face a bigger cut, not a
protected floor for supporting a family.
Multiple garnishments at once
Only one wage execution can be satisfied at a time (§ 2A:17-52(a)).
Multiple executions against the same debtor are paid strictly in the
order they're presented to the employer, no matter which court issued
them — except that a support execution presented the same day as another
one is paid first regardless. Since a 2005 amendment, a wage execution the
State files for its own debts jumps ahead of any other execution filed on
or after that amendment took effect, but even that State execution still
yields to a support execution.
Protection from being fired
For a child-support obligor, New Jersey's own Support Enforcement Act (§
2A:17-56.12) bars an employer from discharging, refusing to employ, or
disciplining the obligor because of the withholding, with a court-set fine
and civil damages on top. No comparably specific New Jersey statute for an
ordinary wage execution turned up in this research — the state's own
wage-execution court form recites that no employer may terminate an
employee over a garnishment, but without pointing to a distinct code
section for ordinary debt. Absent that, an ordinary wage execution falls
back on the federal floor: 15 U.S.C. § 1674 bars discharge over
garnishment of a single debt.
What trips people up
The math isn't "pick the biggest protection" — it's the LEAST of the three
figures that sets the actual cap, so a low-wage worker whose 10%-of-gross
number is smaller than the $217.50 threshold amount still only loses that
smaller 10% figure. And the 250%-of-poverty-level provision cuts against
higher earners, not for them: it's the one place New Jersey lets a court
go ABOVE the ordinary cap, not below it. Finally, remember the ordinary
10% cap and the child-support 50-65% range are governed by completely
different statutes — a debtor juggling both a credit-card judgment and a
support order is dealing with two unrelated caps, not one blended number.
Common questions
Can a creditor take 25% of my paycheck in New Jersey?
Only if 25% of your disposable earnings happens to be the smallest of the
three calculated numbers — in practice, the flat 10%-of-gross-pay ceiling
usually controls instead, so most ordinary garnishments end up capped
below 25%.
Does having kids protect more of my paycheck from an ordinary
creditor?
Not under New Jersey's wage execution law — there's no separate
head-of-household or dependent-based exemption on top of the ordinary cap.
The 250%-of-poverty-level provision only works in the other direction,
letting a court order MORE than 10% from a higher-income debtor.
If I owe both back child support and a credit card judgment, which one
gets paid first?
The support execution wins if it's presented the same day as the other
execution, and in general only one execution is paid at a time in the
order presented — so the two debts aren't blended into a single
percentage, they run under separate rules with support given priority
where they compete.
Statutes and sources
- N.J.S.A. 2A:17-50 — "a. When a judgment has been recovered in the
Superior Court, and where any wages, debts, earnings, salary, income
from trust funds, or profits are due and owing to the judgment debtor,
or thereafter become due and owing to him, to the amount of $48.00 or
more a week, the judgment creditor may ... apply to the court ... and
the court shall grant an order directing that an execution issue
against the wages, debts, earnings, salary, income from trust funds, or
profits of the judgment debtor." —
https://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/112/536
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.J.S.A. 2A:17-52 — "a. Only one execution against the wages, debts,
earnings, salary, income from trust funds or profits of such judgment
debtor shall be satisfied at one time, and where more than one execution
shall be issued ... against the same judgment debtor, they shall be
satisfied in the order of priority in which such executions are
presented ... provided, however, that where more than one such
execution shall be presented ... on the same day and one of such
executions derives from a court order for suitable support and
maintenance of a wife, child or children it shall be first satisfied
... b. ... any wage execution applications filed by the State after the
effective date of P.L.2005, c.124 ... shall have priority over any other
wage execution filed on or after the effective date of this act except
... the execution set forth in this subsection shall not have priority
over any execution that derives from a court order for suitable support
and maintenance of a wife, child or children." —
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2a/section-2a-17-52/
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56 — "a. In no case shall the amount specified in an
execution issued out of any court against the wages, debts, earnings,
salary, income from trust funds or profits due and owing ... exceed
10%, unless the income of such debtor shall exceed 250% of the poverty
level for an individual taking into account the size of the
individual's family, in which case the court out of which the
execution shall issue may order a larger percentage. b. ... for all
wage execution applications filed by the State ... the State may seek a
wage execution of up to 25% of the debtor's gross earnings, provided
that after the execution the debtor's income will not be less than 250%
of the poverty level ..." —
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2a/section-2a-17-56/
(accessed 2026-07-05) - New Jersey Courts Appendix XI-J (Order and Execution Against Earnings) —
"Unless the designated defendant is currently subject to withholding
under another wage execution, the employer is ordered to deduct ... the
lesser of the following: (a) 10% of the gross weekly pay; or (b) 25% of
disposable earnings for that week; or (c) the amount, if any, by which
the designated defendant's disposable weekly earnings exceed $217.50
per week ... In no event shall more than 10% of gross salary be
withheld and only one execution ... shall be satisfied at a time. ...
According to law, no employer may terminate an employee because of a
garnishment." —
https://www.njcourts.gov/sites/default/files/forms/11471_wage_exec_appndx_xi_j.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.9 — "The total amount of income to be withheld shall
not exceed the maximum amount permitted under section 303 (b) of the
federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. s. 1673 (b))." —
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2a/section-2a-17-56-9/
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.11 — "that, in accordance with section 6 of
P.L.1981, c.417 (C.2A:17-56.12), the payor is subject to a fine and
civil damages as determined by the court for discharging an obligor
from employment, refusing to employ, or taking disciplinary action
against an obligor subject to an income withholding because of the
withholding or any obligation which it imposes upon the payor." —
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2a/section-2a-17-56-11/
(accessed 2026-07-05) - 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 2026-07-05) - 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 2026-07-05)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.