Guide · by the Garnishment Calc Editorial Team · updated
States that ban wage garnishment
Four states keep ordinary creditors away from paychecks: Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina. Each ban is worded differently, and none of them stops child support, federal student-loan garnishment or an IRS levy.
Texas — a constitutional ban
No current wages for personal service shall ever be subject to garnishment, except for the enforcement of court-ordered: (1) child support payments; or (2) spousal maintenance.
Because it is in the constitution, the Legislature cannot add exceptions by statute. Property Code § 42.001(b)(1) repeats it for current wages; money already paid into an account is judged under other exemption rules.
Pennsylvania — exempt, with a list of exceptions
The wages, salaries and commissions of individuals shall while in the hands of the employer be exempt from any attachment, execution or other process except upon an action or proceeding
The exceptions are divorce, support, board for four weeks or less, residential-lease judgments, Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency loans and criminal restitution or fines. The landlord exception is limited to 10% of net wages per pay period, and never enough to push net income below the federal poverty guideline. On a $2,400.00 two-week check with $430.00 of deductions and a household of three, a landlord can take at most $197.00.
North Carolina — protected when they support a family
the earnings of the debtor for his personal services, at any time within 60 days next preceding the order, cannot be so applied when it appears, by the debtor’s affidavit or otherwise, that these earnings are necessary for the use of a family supported wholly or partly by his labor.
The protection depends on the family-support showing, which most working debtors can make. A single person with no one relying on their pay falls back to the federal limit — the calculator has a checkbox for that case.
South Carolina — two separate bans
The judge may order any property of the judgment debtor … to be applied toward the satisfaction of the judgment, except that the earnings of the debtor for his personal services cannot be so applied.
The Consumer Protection Code adds a second bar for consumer credit sales, leases, loans and rental-purchase agreements, “regardless of where made” (§ 37-5-104) — so an out-of-state lender cannot avoid it.
What still reaches wages in all four
| Collection | Authority | Most per check |
|---|---|---|
| Child support (supporting another child) | 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b) | $985.00 |
| Federal student loan (AWG) | 20 U.S.C. § 1095a; 34 CFR 34.2(b) | $295.50 |
| IRS levy | IRS Publication 1494 | Take-home pay above the exempt amount |
| Credit card, medical bill, personal loan | State ban | $0.00 |
Near-bans elsewhere
Some states reach a similar result for particular households. In Florida, a head of family who has not signed a written waiver keeps all disposable earnings — on the same check, $0.00. Rhode Island exempts all wages for a year after public assistance ends, Vermont bars orders against people who received state assistance in the two months before the hearing, and Wisconsin exempts everyone whose household income is below the poverty line.