Wage Garnishment Limits in Pennsylvania
At a glance
| Governing law | 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(a) exempts wages in the employer’s hands and lists the permitted proceedings; subsections (b), (c), (e), and (f) address priority, lease attachments, retaliation, and an abuse-related lease exception. |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | Zero for an ordinary private judgment creditor outside § 8127(a)’s named exceptions. A final residential-lease judgment has a separate cap of the lesser of 10% of net pay or the amount above federal poverty guidelines (§ 8127(a)(3.1)). |
| State rule vs. federal floor | The ordinary wage-attachment bar protects more than the federal 25%/30× cap (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(a); 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a)). |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | No ordinary wage-multiple calculation: § 8127(a) exempts the entire paycheck outside named exceptions. The residential-lease exception uses a 10%-of-net-pay and poverty-guideline limit. |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Support attachments rank first, criminal restitution/costs/fines/bail second (§ 8127(b)); divorce, short-term board, lease, and PHEAA proceedings are named exceptions. Federal student-loan garnishment and tax levy use 20 U.S.C. § 1095a and 26 U.S.C. § 6331. |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | No separate family-status test is needed for the ordinary wage bar; § 8127(a) exempts wages without asking about dependents. |
| Multiple garnishments at once | Support first, criminal restitution/costs/fines/bail second (§ 8127(b)); multiple residential-lease attachments are satisfied one at a time in service order (§ 8127(c)(1)). |
| Protection from being fired | § 8127(e) bars any adverse employer action solely because wages have been attached, without the federal one-debt wording of 15 U.S.C. § 1674. |
Requirements one by one
Maximum that can be garnished
Section 8127(a) exempts “the wages, salaries and commissions of individuals” while they are in the employer's hands, except in its listed proceedings. An ordinary credit-card, medical, personal-loan, or tort judgment is outside that list. The residential-lease exception requires a final judgment and limits attachment to the lesser of 10% of statutory net wages or an amount that leaves net income at least at the federal poverty guideline.
Support and other exceptions
The list in § 8127(a) includes divorce proceedings, support, board for four weeks or less, qualifying residential-lease judgments, proceedings under the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency Act, and criminal restitution, costs, fines, or bail judgments. Federal student-loan garnishment rests on 20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a), which expressly applies notwithstanding state law. Federal tax collection has a separate levy power in 26 U.S.C. § 6331(a).
Multiple garnishments at once
Section 8127(b) gives support attachments first priority and criminal restitution, costs, fines, or bail orders second priority over other wage process. If several residential-lease attachments reach the same employer, § 8127(c)(1) requires full satisfaction of the earlier served attachment before a later one takes effect.
Protection from employer retaliation
Section 8127(e) prohibits any adverse action solely because wages were attached. The federal rule in 15 U.S.C. § 1674 bars discharge over garnishment for one indebtedness; the state provision has broader wording.
What trips people up
For a residential-lease judgment, § 8127(a)(3.1) requires credit for certain forfeited security deposits before calculating the attachment. Subsection (f) also bars a wage attachment for physical lease damage against a qualifying abuse victim when the court determines the damage was caused by the family or household member named in that provision.
Common questions
Can a credit-card creditor attach my wages after winning a judgment? Section 8127(a) does not list an ordinary credit-card judgment among the wage-attachment exceptions.
Does a landlord get the entire paycheck after a lease judgment? No. Section 8127(a)(3.1) sets the 10%-of-net-pay and poverty-guideline limits, and requires the judgment to be final.
Statutes and sources
- 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(a) — https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/42/00.081.027.000..HTM (accessed 2026-10-07)
- 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(b) — https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/42/00.081.027.000..HTM (accessed 2026-10-07)
- 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(c) — https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/42/00.081.027.000..HTM (accessed 2026-10-07)
- 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(e) — https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/42/00.081.027.000..HTM (accessed 2026-10-07)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1673 — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673.htm (accessed 2026-10-07)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1674 — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1674.htm (accessed 2026-10-07)
- 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(f) — https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/42/00.081.027.000..HTM (accessed 2026-10-07)
- 20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a) — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title20/html/USCODE-2024-title20-chap28-subchapIV-partG-sec1095a.htm (accessed 2026-10-07)
- 26 U.S.C. § 6331(a) — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title26/html/USCODE-2024-title26-subtitleF-chap64-subchapD-partII-sec6331.htm (accessed 2026-10-07)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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