Wage Garnishment Limits in Washington

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Washington's wage garnishment rules live in the Garnishment chapter, RCW 6.27. The actual dollar-and-percentage formula is set out in RCW 6.27.150; key terms like "disposable earnings" are defined in RCW 6.27.010.

Maximum that can be garnished

RCW 6.27.150 works by stating how much is EXEMPT (protected) rather than how much can be taken, but the effect is the same math other states use. For consumer debt — the category that covers most ordinary judgment-creditor claims — subsection (4) protects the greater of 35 times the state minimum wage or 80% of disposable earnings, which means at most 20% can be garnished, or less if the wage-floor protection is bigger. For any other debt that isn't consumer debt, private student loan debt, or a support order — think a business-to-business debt or certain tort judgments — subsection (1) instead protects the greater of 35 times the FEDERAL minimum wage or 75% of disposable earnings, meaning up to 25% can be garnished.

State rule vs. federal floor

Federal law (15 U.S.C. § 1673) caps ordinary garnishment at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings, or the amount earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. Washington beats that floor in every category: the consumer- debt track cuts the percentage to 20% and multiplies by Washington's own, much higher minimum wage instead of the federal rate; even the residual "other debt" track, which keeps the 25% figure, still uses 35 times instead of 30 times the (federal) minimum wage.

Minimum-wage protected floor

Which minimum wage applies depends on which debt category you're in. For consumer debt, the floor is 35 times Washington's own state minimum hourly wage — $17.13 an hour as of January 1, 2026 — working out to $599.55 of weekly disposable earnings that's fully protected. For the residual "other debt" category, the floor instead uses 35 times the federal minimum hourly wage ($7.25), or $253.75 a week — a much smaller cushion, because it's tied to the lower federal rate rather than Washington's own minimum wage.

Support, tax & student loan debts

Support debt works differently depending on which kind it is. Child support can't be garnished under this chapter at all — Washington's own statutory Notice of Garnishment says so directly. Instead, child support is collected through a separate mandatory wage assignment / income-withholding process under chapters 26.18 and 74.20A. Spousal maintenance pursued as an ordinary garnishment (rather than through that same mandatory wage-assignment route) gets its own, more generous cap: up to 50% of disposable earnings. Private student loan debt, somewhat counterintuitively, gets a NARROWER cap than ordinary consumer debt — at most 15% of disposable earnings, protected by whichever is greater: 85% of disposable earnings, or 50 times the highest minimum wage in effect anywhere in the state (which can mean a Seattle- or King County-level local minimum wage, not just the statewide rate). Federal tax levies and federal student loan administrative wage garnishment proceed independently of this chapter.

Head-of-household/family exemption

Washington doesn't add a separate dollar or percentage protection tied to supporting a family on top of the consumer-debt or spousal-maintenance categories above. A general personal-property exemption schedule exists elsewhere (RCW 6.15.010), but it protects a separate pool of property and bank-account funds a debtor claims independently — it isn't part of how the wage-garnishment percentage itself is calculated, and it's outside this survey's scope.

Multiple garnishments at once

Washington generally runs on first-in-time priority: a continuing wage- garnishment lien has priority over any later garnishment lien or wage assignment. But that priority yields to certain other claims regardless of timing — a child-support payroll-deduction notice or wage assignment, and certain criminal legal-financial-obligation assignments, always come ahead of an ordinary garnishment lien. Only what's left over after those amounts are withheld is available to satisfy an earlier-filed ordinary garnishment.

Protection from being fired

RCW 6.27.170 goes further than the federal anti-retaliation floor (15 U.S.C. § 1674), which protects an employee against discharge for only a single garnishment. Washington bars discharge over a garnishment entirely, and only loses that protection once THREE OR MORE separate debts have each triggered a garnishment served on the same employer within any 12 consecutive months.

What trips people up

Don't assume every ordinary debt is "consumer debt" for purposes of § 6.27.150 — the more protective 20%/35x-state-minimum-wage formula only applies to debt "for personal, family, or household purposes." A business debt or certain other non-consumer judgments fall into the residual, less protective 25%/35x- federal-minimum-wage category instead. And a family member trying to collect child support through this chapter will find it doesn't work at all — Chapter 6.27 garnishment simply isn't the tool for that; the separate wage-assignment process under chapter 26.18 or 74.20A is.

Common questions

My employer says I owe on a personal loan — is that consumer debt or "other" debt? A personal loan used for personal, family, or household purposes is consumer debt, which gets the more protective 20% cap; the residual "other debt" category is meant for business and certain non-consumer debts.

Can a private student loan take more than an ordinary credit card debt? No — the opposite. Washington actually protects MORE of your paycheck for private student loan debt (at most 15% garnishable) than for ordinary consumer debt (at most 20%).

Can I be fired for a garnishment? Not for the first or second one within a rolling 12-month period. Only once a third separate debt triggers a garnishment within that same 12 months does the anti-discharge protection stop applying.

Statutes and sources

• RCW 6.27.150(1) — "(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, if the garnishee is an employer owing the defendant earnings, then for each week of such earnings, an amount shall be exempt from garnishment which is the greatest of the following: (a) Thirty-five times the federal minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable; or (b) Seventy-five percent of the disposable earnings of the defendant." — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=6.27.150 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• RCW 6.27.150(2) — "(2) In the case of a garnishment based on a court order for spousal maintenance, other than a mandatory wage assignment order pursuant to chapter 26.18 RCW, or a mandatory assignment of retirement benefits pursuant to chapter 41.50 RCW, the exemption shall be fifty percent of the disposable earnings of the defendant." — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=6.27.150 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• RCW 6.27.150(3) — "(3) In the case of a garnishment based on a judgment or other order for the collection of private student loan debt, for each week of such earnings, an amount shall be exempt from garnishment which is the greater of the following: (a) Fifty times the minimum hourly wage of the highest minimum wage law in the state at the time the earnings are payable; or (b) Eighty-five percent of the disposable earnings of the defendant." — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=6.27.150 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• RCW 6.27.150(4) — "(4) In the case of a garnishment based on a judgment or other order for the collection of consumer debt, for each week of such earnings, an amount shall be exempt from garnishment which is the greater of the following: (a) Thirty-five times the state minimum hourly wage; or (b) Eighty percent of the disposable earnings of the defendant." — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=6.27.150 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• RCW 6.27.140 — "WAGES. If the garnishee is your employer who owes wages or other personal earnings to you, your employer is required to pay amounts to you that are exempt under state and federal laws, as explained in the writ of garnishment. You should receive a copy of your employer's answer, which will show how the exempt amount was calculated. A garnishment against wages or other earnings for child support may not be issued under chapter 6.27 RCW." — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=6.27.140 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• RCW 6.27.170 — "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 a writ of garnishment directed to the employer: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That this provision shall not apply if garnishments on three or more separate indebtednesses are served upon the employer within any period of twelve consecutive months." — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=6.27.170 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• RCW 6.27.360 — "(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, a lien obtained under RCW 6.27.350 shall have priority over any subsequent garnishment lien or wage assignment except that service of a writ shall not be effective to create a continuing lien with such priority if a writ in the same case is pending at the time of the service of the new writ. (2) A lien obtained under RCW 6.27.350 shall have priority over any prior wage assignment, except an assignment for child support as provided in subsection (3) of this section and an assignment for legal financial obligations as provided under RCW 9.94A.760, 9.94A.7702, and 72.09.111. (3) A lien obtained under RCW 6.27.350 shall not have priority over a notice of payroll deduction issued under RCW 26.23.060 or a wage assignment or other garnishment for child support issued under chapters 26.18 and 74.20A RCW. Should nonexempt wages remain after deduction of all amounts owing under a notice of payroll deduction, wage assignment, or garnishment for child support, the garnishee shall withhold the remaining nonexempt wages under the lien obtained under RCW 6.27.350." — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=6.27.360 (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)