South Carolina: Wage Garnishment Limits
The short answer
In South Carolina, an ordinary private judgment creditor cannot garnish wages at all. State law exempts a debtor's earnings for personal services from execution outright, and a separate statute independently bars garnishment for consumer credit debt specifically, so there's no percentage cap or minimum-wage floor to calculate the way there is in most states -- the earnings are simply off-limits. The real exceptions are narrow and don't run through an ordinary lawsuit: court-ordered child or spousal support, government debt collected by the state Department of Revenue, and federal administrative wage garnishment for defaulted federal student loans. An out-of-state creditor fares no better; South Carolina requires a creditor to win its own South Carolina judgment on the same debt before wages can be touched, and even then the personal-services-earnings bar still applies.
| Governing law | S.C. Code § 15-39-410 (execution generally exempts personal-service earnings); § 37-5-104 (separate, specific bar for consumer credit debt); § 15-39-420(2) (bar extends to out-of-state debt) |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | Barred entirely for ordinary private judgment creditors -- personal-service earnings cannot be applied to satisfy any judgment through execution (§ 15-39-410), reinforced for consumer-credit debt specifically by § 37-5-104. Reserved exceptions: court-ordered support, SCDOR/GEAR government-debt collection, and federal student-loan administrative garnishment |
| State rule vs. federal floor | More protective than the federal CCPA by definition -- South Carolina bars ordinary wage garnishment outright rather than capping a percentage, so the federal 25%/30x-minimum-wage formula never comes into play for a private judgment creditor's attempt to garnish South Carolina wages |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | Not applicable to the ordinary case -- South Carolina doesn't use a percentage-or-wage-multiple formula for private judgment creditors at all; personal-service earnings are 100% protected from that kind of garnishment. The exception categories (support, tax, student loans) each carry their own separate federal formula instead |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Child/spousal support: court-ordered income withholding under Title 63, Ch. 17, capped at the federal CCPA's 50-65% tiers (§ 63-17-1460(B)(2), (D)). Government debt: SCDOR may use wage garnishment as a collection tool for debts owed to public entities under the GEAR program (§ 12-4-580), and can levy for unpaid state taxes outside the court-judgment process. Federal student loans: Department of Education administrative wage garnishment, capped at 15% of disposable pay (20 U.S.C. § 1095a), also bypasses South Carolina courts entirely |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | Not applicable -- since ordinary wage garnishment is already barred entirely for private judgment creditors, there's no separate head-of-household layer to add on top of a percentage cap the way other states use one; the earnings are already fully protected regardless of dependents |
| Multiple garnishments at once | For the support-withholding lane -- the main context in which South Carolina wages ARE actually withheld -- § 63-17-1460(H) gives support withholding priority over any other legal process against the same wages, and § 63-17-1460(D) directs that when more than one support withholding notice applies, priority goes to current support obligations, with the combined total capped by the federal CCPA limit |
| Protection from being fired | Two independent state protections layer on top of the federal one-debt rule (15 U.S.C. § 1674): § 37-5-106 bars firing an employee merely because a creditor 'subjected or attempted to subject' wages to garnishment for a consumer-credit debt -- a broader trigger than actual withholding -- and § 63-17-1460(I) separately bars discharging, refusing to hire, or otherwise penalizing an employee because of the duty to withhold child support, with no numeric limit on the number of orders |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
The short answer
South Carolina is one of a small handful of states that doesn't let an ordinary private creditor -- a credit card company, a hospital, a personal-loan lender -- garnish wages at all, even after winning a lawsuit and getting a money judgment. State law exempts a debtor's earnings for personal services from execution outright, so there's no percentage-of-paycheck cap to calculate the way there is almost everywhere else: the earnings are simply not reachable through that process. The real exceptions run through separate legal channels entirely: a family court can order income withholding for child or spousal support, the state Department of Revenue can garnish wages to collect government debt, and the U.S. Department of Education can administratively garnish wages for a defaulted federal student loan. An out-of-state judgment doesn't open a back door either -- the creditor has to win its own South Carolina judgment on the same debt first, and even then personal-service earnings stay off-limits.
Requirements one by one
Governing law
The core rule sits in the general execution statute, not a dedicated garnishment chapter: § 15-39-410 lets a judge apply a debtor's non-exempt property toward a judgment "except that the earnings of the debtor for his personal services cannot be so applied." A second, narrower statute layers on top of that for consumer debt specifically: § 37-5-104 separately bars a creditor from attaching unpaid earnings "by garnishment or like proceedings" for any debt arising from a consumer credit sale, lease, loan, or rental-purchase agreement, "regardless of where made." A third section, § 15-39-420, extends the same personal-service-earnings bar to debts and judgments that originated in another state.
Maximum that can be garnished
For an ordinary private judgment creditor, the honest answer is zero -- South Carolina bars this collection method entirely rather than capping it at a percentage. Section 15-39-410's execution exemption for personal-service earnings applies regardless of what kind of debt is behind the judgment, and § 37-5-104 independently confirms the same result for the most common category of ordinary-creditor debt (credit cards, personal loans, retail installment contracts, rent-to-own agreements). The categories that actually reach a paycheck run outside this framework: court-ordered child or spousal support, government debt collected by the Department of Revenue, and federal administrative wage garnishment for a defaulted federal student loan.
State rule vs. federal floor
South Carolina is more protective than federal law by definition, not just by degree. The federal Consumer Credit Protection Act caps an ordinary garnishment at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage -- but that formula never gets applied here, because South Carolina doesn't allow an ordinary judgment creditor to garnish wages in the first place. There's no percentage to compare; the whole category of collection is off the table.
Minimum-wage protected floor
There isn't a wage-multiple floor for the ordinary case, because there's no percentage-based formula to set a floor under. Personal-service earnings are fully protected from a private judgment creditor's garnishment, full stop. The exception categories each import their own separate formula instead: support withholding uses the federal CCPA's own percentage tiers, and federal student-loan collection uses its own 15%-of-disposable-pay cap.
Support, tax & student loan debts
Child and spousal support is the main context where South Carolina wages actually get withheld. Family court income-withholding orders run through Title 63, Chapter 17, and § 63-17-1460(B)(2) expressly caps the amount withheld at "the limits set forth by the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1673(b))" -- the familiar 50-65% tiers depending on whether the obligor supports another spouse or child and whether the arrears exceed twelve weeks. Government debt runs on a different track altogether: under the GEAR program (§ 12-4-580), the Department of Revenue can use "all the rights and powers of collection" it has for tax collection -- which the department's own guidance confirms includes wage garnishment and bank levies -- to collect debts owed to other public entities, and unpaid state or federal taxes can be collected by administrative levy without ever going through a court judgment. Federal student loans follow their own separate federal statute, capped at 15% of disposable pay under 20 U.S.C. § 1095a, entirely independent of South Carolina's court system.
Head-of-household/family exemption
There's nothing to add here, because there's nothing to add it on top of. States that DO allow ordinary wage garnishment sometimes give an extra break to a debtor supporting a family -- a bigger exemption or a lower percentage. South Carolina's protection for personal-service earnings is already total for an ordinary judgment creditor, so a head-of-household exemption would be redundant.
Multiple garnishments at once
The scenario where this actually comes up in South Carolina is multiple support-withholding orders against the same paycheck, not competing ordinary creditors. Section 63-17-1460(H) gives income withholding for support "priority over any other legal process under state law against the same wages," and subsection (D) directs that when more than one withholding notice applies to the same person, "priority must be given to current support obligations," with the combined amount still capped by the federal CCPA limit.
Protection from being fired
Two separate South Carolina statutes add state-level protection on top of the federal rule that bars firing someone over a single garnishment (15 U.S.C. § 1674). Section 37-5-106 bars discharging an employee because a creditor "subjected or attempted to subject" wages to garnishment for a consumer-credit debt -- reaching even an unsuccessful attempt, not just an actual withholding. Separately, § 63-17-1460(I) bars discharging, refusing to hire, or otherwise penalizing an employee "because of the duty to withhold income" for child support, with no cap tied to the number of orders the way the federal rule is limited to a single debt.
What trips people up
It's easy to assume "South Carolina bars wage garnishment" means only consumer debt is protected, since the statute most commonly cited (§ 37-5-104) is written specifically for consumer credit transactions. The broader and more fundamental bar is actually § 15-39-410, sitting in the general execution statute, which exempts personal-service earnings from any judgment's execution -- not just consumer-debt judgments. A creditor with a judgment for, say, an unpaid business invoice or a tort verdict runs into the same wall. Also worth knowing: a 2025 bill, S.0277, would have replaced § 15-39-410's complete exemption with a 25%-reachable rule capped at federal CCPA limits, which would have brought South Carolina in line with most other states -- but it never made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it died when the 126th General Assembly's two-year session ended in May 2026. It isn't current law, but it signals this could change if reintroduced in a future session.
Common questions
If a hospital sues me and wins a judgment for an unpaid medical bill, can it garnish my paycheck?
No -- South Carolina's execution statute exempts personal-service earnings from any ordinary judgment, medical debt included, whether or not it counts as "consumer" debt under the narrower § 37-5-104.
I have an old judgment against me from another state and I just moved to South Carolina. Can that creditor garnish my South Carolina paycheck?
Not directly. The creditor first has to win its own South Carolina judgment on the same debt, and even then South Carolina's personal-service-earnings bar still applies to that judgment.
Can the IRS or South Carolina's Department of Revenue still take money from my paycheck?
Yes -- unpaid state or federal tax debt is collected through administrative levy, a separate process from the ordinary court-judgment-and-garnishment route this page covers, and it isn't blocked by South Carolina's personal-service-earnings exemption.
Statutes and sources
- S.C. Code § 15-39-410 — "The judge may order any property of the judgment debtor, not exempt from execution... to be applied toward the satisfaction of the judgment, except that the earnings of the debtor for his personal services cannot be so applied." — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c039.php (accessed 2026-07-05)
- S.C. Code § 37-5-104 — "With respect to a debt arising from a consumer credit sale, a consumer lease, a consumer loan, or a consumer rental-purchase agreement, regardless of where made, the creditor may not attach unpaid earnings of the debtor by garnishment or like proceedings." — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t37c005.php (accessed 2026-07-05)
- S.C. Code § 37-5-106 — "No employer shall discharge an employee for the reason that a creditor of the employee has subjected or attempted to subject unpaid earnings of the employee to garnishment or like proceedings... for the purpose of paying a judgment arising from a consumer credit sale, consumer lease, consumer loan, or a consumer rental-purchase agreement." — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t37c005.php (accessed 2026-07-05)
- S.C. Code § 15-39-420 — "(2) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any debt incurred outside the State of South Carolina by such employee nor shall there be any garnishment of earnings for personal services rendered by the employee regardless of where the debt was incurred." — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c039.php (accessed 2026-07-05)
- S.C. Code § 63-17-1460 — "(D)... Priority must be given to current support obligations. ... (H) Withholding of income from an obligor under this article has priority over any other legal process under state law against the same wages. (I) No payor may discharge, refuse to hire, or otherwise penalize any obligor because of the duty to withhold income." — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t63c017.php (accessed 2026-07-05)
- S.C. Code § 12-4-580 — "The department and another governmental entity may contract to allow the department to collect an outstanding liability owed the governmental entity... the department has all the rights and powers of collection provided pursuant to this title for the collection of taxes." — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t12c004.php (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.