Virginia Wage Garnishment: Formula, Limits, and Exemptions

Virginia wage garnishment limits cap what an ordinary creditor can take from your paycheck at the lesser of two amounts: 25% of your disposable earnings, or the amount by which those earnings exceed 40 times the applicable minimum hourly wage.¹ The “applicable” minimum wage is the higher of the $7.25 federal rate or Virginia’s own minimum wage, which is adjusted for inflation each year and now sits well above the federal floor. That distinction pushes the protected income level up and shields more low earners entirely. Child support, tax debts, and defaulted student loans follow different rules, covered further down.

What Counts as Disposable Earnings

The formula runs on disposable earnings, not gross pay and not take-home pay. Virginia Code § 34-29 defines disposable earnings as what’s left after amounts “required by law to be withheld.”¹ In practice, that means gross pay minus federal income tax, state income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and any state unemployment withholding. Nothing else.

Voluntary payroll deductions do not reduce disposable earnings. Health insurance premiums, 401(k) contributions, union dues, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, and charitable donations all get added back into the number the garnishment formula runs on. If your gross pay is $1,000 a week, mandatory withholdings total $250, and you put $100 into a 401(k), your disposable earnings are $750, not $650. The retirement contribution was your choice, so it stays in the calculation.

The Two-Part Formula for Ordinary Debts

For consumer debts like credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans, your employer runs both calculations and withholds whichever produces the smaller number:

25% of your disposable earnings for the pay period.
Your disposable earnings minus 40 times the applicable minimum hourly wage.

Virginia’s minimum wage is set each year by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry no later than October 1 for the following calendar year, adjusted by the Consumer Price Index.² Because § 34-29 uses whichever rate is higher, the weekly protected floor in Virginia now runs well above the $290 figure ($7.25 × 40) you’ll see in older references. If Virginia’s minimum wage is $12.75 an hour, the floor is $510 a week, and a worker with disposable earnings at or below that number is fully shielded from ordinary-debt garnishment.

For pay periods other than weekly, the Department of Labor and Industry supplies multipliers:³

Biweekly: weekly floor × 2.
Semimonthly: weekly floor × 2.16665.
Monthly: weekly floor × 4.33330.

Worked Examples

These use a hypothetical weekly floor of $510 (40 × $12.75). Confirm the current Virginia minimum wage before running your own numbers, because the floor moves every January.

Weekly disposable earnings of $800. The 25% figure is $200. The floor figure is $290 ($800 − $510). The creditor gets $200, the smaller of the two.

Weekly disposable earnings of $550. The 25% figure is $137.50. The floor figure is $40 ($550 − $510). The creditor gets $40 that week.

Weekly disposable earnings of $500. Below the $510 floor, so nothing is garnished. The entire paycheck is protected.

The floor calculation dominates at lower incomes; the 25% cap dominates at higher incomes. As Virginia’s minimum wage rises, more earnings fall below the floor.

Higher Limits for Child Support and Alimony

Support orders bypass the 25% cap entirely. Virginia Code § 34-29(b1) tracks the federal ceilings under 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b):¹⁴

50% of disposable earnings if you are supporting another spouse or dependent child not covered by the order.
60% if you are not supporting another spouse or child.
An additional 5% if you are more than 12 weeks in arrears, raising the ceiling to 55% or 65%.

Support orders also take priority over consumer garnishments. When both are on file, the support obligation is satisfied first, and a consumer creditor collects only if the total withholding still fits within the applicable cap.

Student Loans and Tax Debts Follow Their Own Rules

For defaulted federal student loans, the Department of Education (or its collection agency) can administratively garnish up to 15% of disposable pay without a court judgment, and the garnishment cannot reduce weekly disposable earnings below 30 times the federal minimum wage ($217.50 at $7.25). You should receive written notice and can request a hearing to dispute the debt or the terms.

IRS levies are more aggressive. Rather than a percentage cap, the IRS uses Publication 1494 tables to calculate an exempt amount based on your filing status and dependents; everything above that amount goes to the government.⁵ The exempt amount is updated annually and varies widely by situation. Virginia state tax debts are also excluded from the 25% cap under § 34-29(b), though the collection procedures differ.

Income That’s Fully Exempt Regardless of the Formula

Certain income sources are off-limits to consumer creditors entirely. Virginia Code § 8.01-512.4 lists them and requires courts to notify debtors:⁶

Social Security and SSI, protected under 42 U.S.C. § 407.
Veterans’ benefits, protected under 38 U.S.C. § 5301.
Workers’ compensation under Virginia Code § 65.2-531.
Unemployment compensation under Virginia Code § 60.2-600.
Public assistance under Virginia Code § 63.2-506.
Federal civil service retirement benefits.
Black lung benefits.
Crime victim benefits.
Group life insurance proceeds and certain retirement benefits.

Several of these exemptions, including Social Security, veterans’ benefits, and unemployment, do not apply in child support and alimony cases. For consumer creditors, exempt income remains protected even after it lands in your bank account, as long as the funds are traceable to the exempt source.

The Householder’s and Poor Debtor’s Exemptions

Two additional shields protect cash and personal property from seizure. The Householder’s Exemption under Virginia Code § 34-4 lets any Virginia resident (renters included) protect:⁷

$5,000 in personal property or cash, doubled to $10,000 if you are 65 or older.
$500 per dependent you support.
Up to $50,000 of equity in your principal residence.
An additional $10,000 for disabled veterans under § 34-4.1.

Virginia Code § 34-5 blocks the Householder’s Exemption against certain debts, including spousal and child support.

The Poor Debtor’s Exemption under § 34-26 protects specific items on top of the householder allowance: wedding and engagement rings, family heirlooms up to $5,000, household furnishings up to $5,000, clothing up to $1,000, tools of the trade up to $10,000, motor vehicles up to $10,000 in value, medically prescribed health aids, pets, and tax refund amounts attributable to the Earned Income Credit or Child Tax Credit.⁸

For bank accounts, federal law offers automatic protection for direct-deposited federal benefits. Under 31 C.F.R. Part 212, when a bank receives a garnishment order it must look back two months, identify electronic deposits from Social Security, VA, OPM, or the Railroad Retirement Board, and protect the lesser of those benefit deposits or your current balance without any action on your part.⁹ For mixed funds, you have to claim the Householder’s Exemption through the court.

Multiple Garnishments and Job Protection

Your employer cannot withhold more than the highest applicable cap regardless of how many creditors are in line. Child support orders take first priority. After that, remaining garnishments are honored by the date the writ of fieri facias was delivered to the sheriff, first in line first paid.¹⁰ If a support order already consumes 50% or 60% of disposable earnings, a consumer creditor waiting behind it may collect nothing that pay period.

Your employer also takes a $10 processing fee per garnishment summons, deducted from the amount otherwise payable to the creditor rather than added on top.

Federal law bars your employer from firing you over a single garnishment. 15 U.S.C. § 1674 makes it a criminal offense, punishable by a fine up to $1,000, up to one year of imprisonment, or both.¹¹ The protection covers “any one indebtedness.” If a second creditor obtains a garnishment for a separate debt, the federal shield no longer applies.

How to Challenge a Garnishment

If the withholding looks wrong or your income should be exempt, file a Request for Hearing (Form DC-454) with the court that issued the summons.¹² Once you submit it to the clerk, you’re entitled to a hearing within seven business days.

Bring proof. Bank statements showing direct deposits of Social Security or veterans’ benefits, pay stubs showing your disposable earnings, and records confirming dependents all matter at the hearing. If you don’t show up, you can lose the exemption rights you claimed.

Speed matters. The DC-454 form doesn’t set a hard filing deadline, but every pay period that passes without a challenge is another paycheck reduced. If your employer is withholding more than the formula permits, or garnishing income that’s fully exempt, filing sooner is what recovers more of it.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 34-29 – Maximum Portion of Disposable Earnings Subject to Garnishment
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 40.1-28.10 – Minimum Wages
3
Virginia Code Commission. 16VAC15-21-30 – Calculation of Maximum Garnishment Amounts for an Ordinary Debt
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
5
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1494 – Tables for Figuring Amount Exempt from Levy
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 8.01-512.4 – Notice of Exemptions from Garnishment and Lien
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 34-4 – Exemption Created
8
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 34-26 – Poor Debtors Exemption
9
eCFR. 31 CFR Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments
10
Virginia Judicial System. Garnishee Information Sheet
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1674 – Restriction on Discharge from Employment by Reason of Garnishment
12
Virginia Judicial System. Notice to Judgment Debtor – How to Claim Exemptions from Garnishment and Lien