Iowa: Wage Garnishment Limits
The short answer
For most debts, Iowa follows the federal test — the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount over 30 times the federal minimum wage — but for consumer debt (credit cards, medical bills, personal loans) Iowa raises the protected floor to 40 times the federal minimum wage. On top of either weekly test, Iowa adds something no other state in this survey has: a hard dollar cap on how much any single creditor can take from one debtor in an entire calendar year, tiered by the debtor's expected annual earnings, from $250 a year up to 10% of earnings for high earners. Only one execution can exist against a debtor at a time, so a second ordinary creditor cannot even get a garnishment issued until the first is resolved; support withholding is a separate mechanism that isn't capped by any of this and gets paid first out of whatever is garnished.
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This is the general rule in Iowa. Ezel applies current Iowa law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Iowa Code § 642.21 (weekly exemption, annual per-creditor cap, anti-discharge); § 537.5105 (Consumer Credit Code, consumer-debt weekly floor); § 626.3 (one execution at a time); § 642.24 (support payment priority) |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | For non-consumer debt: lesser of 25% of weekly disposable earnings or the amount over 30x the federal minimum wage (§ 642.21(1)). For consumer debt: lesser of 25% or the amount over 40x the federal minimum wage (§ 537.5105(2)(a)). Either way, ALSO capped at a per-creditor ANNUAL dollar limit tied to the debtor's expected yearly earnings: $250/year under $12,000; $400 at $12,000-$15,999; $800 at $16,000-$23,999; $1,500 at $24,000-$34,999; $2,000 at $35,000-$49,999; 10% of expected earnings at $50,000+ (§ 642.21(1)) |
| State rule vs. federal floor | Matches the federal weekly formula for non-consumer debt, but is meaningfully more protective for consumer debt (40x vs. 30x minimum wage) and, uniquely in this survey, adds a hard annual dollar ceiling per creditor that can cut a high earner's effective garnishment far below 25% of a full year's disposable pay |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage ($217.50/week at $7.25/hour) for ordinary debt (§ 642.21(1)(b)); 40 times the federal minimum hourly wage ($290/week) for consumer-credit-transaction debt specifically (§ 537.5105(2)(a)) |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Support obligations under Iowa Code ch. 252D are entirely outside § 642.21's annual dollar cap and instead can reach the higher federal support percentages (up to 50-65% of disposable earnings under 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b)); within any garnished funds, an amount owed for support must be paid first, before other garnishments, regardless of when each was filed (§ 642.24). State/federal tax debt and federal student loans follow their own separate administrative processes outside this ordinary-creditor cap |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | No automatic head-of-household or family-support add-on to the ordinary cap. Instead, a debtor in a CONSUMER debt case may file a verified application asking the court for a bigger, individualized exemption, showing the additional amount is necessary for the maintenance of the consumer or a family the consumer supports; the court holds a hearing and grants or denies it case by case rather than applying a fixed statutory percentage or dollar add-on (§ 537.5105(4)) |
| Multiple garnishments at once | Only one execution may be in existence against a debtor at the same time (§ 626.3) — a second ordinary judgment creditor cannot even obtain a garnishment until the first execution is resolved, a stricter mechanism than a simple first-in-time priority rule. Support withholding operates outside this one-execution limit and is paid first from whatever is garnished (§ 642.24) |
| Protection from being fired | An employer may not discharge an employee because the employee's earnings were subjected to garnishment for indebtedness (§ 642.21(2)(c)) — Iowa's text does not repeat the federal law's limit to a single indebtedness, so it reads as protection against discharge for garnishment generally, not just a first garnishment |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Iowa splits this rule across four sections. The general weekly exemption, the
annual per-creditor dollar cap, and the anti-discharge rule all live in Iowa
Code § 642.21. A separate, more protective weekly test for consumer debt is in
the Iowa Consumer Credit Code, § 537.5105. The rule limiting a debtor to one
execution at a time is in § 626.3, and the rule giving support payments first
call on garnished funds is in § 642.24.
Maximum garnishment amount
For non-consumer debt, the weekly cap is the lesser of 25% of disposable
earnings or the amount by which earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum
wage (§ 642.21(1)) — the plain federal formula. For consumer debt, the weekly
cap uses a 40x multiplier instead of 30x (§ 537.5105(2)(a)), leaving more of a
consumer debtor's paycheck untouched. Both are also capped, per creditor, by
an ANNUAL dollar ceiling tied to the debtor's expected yearly earnings: $250 a
year for debtors expected to earn under $12,000, rising in steps to $2,000 for
those expected to earn $35,000-$49,999, and 10% of expected earnings for
anyone expected to earn $50,000 or more (§ 642.21(1)(a)-(e)). Whichever number
is smaller — the weekly test or what's left of the annual cap — controls.
Federal floor comparison
For ordinary, non-consumer debt, Iowa's weekly test is identical to the
federal CCPA formula — no extra state protection there. For consumer debt,
Iowa is more protective on the weekly test (40x instead of 30x minimum wage).
But the feature that sets Iowa apart from every other state in this survey is
the annual dollar cap: even if the weekly math would allow a bigger deduction,
a single creditor's total take for the whole year is hard-capped, which can
leave a high earner effectively paying far less than 25% of a year's
disposable earnings to any one judgment creditor.
Minimum wage protection floor
30 times the federal minimum hourly wage ($217.50/week at $7.25/hour) for
ordinary debt (§ 642.21(1)(b)). For a judgment on a consumer credit
transaction specifically, the floor rises to 40 times the federal minimum
wage ($290/week) under § 537.5105(2)(a).
Priority debt exceptions
Support obligations enforced under Iowa Code chapter 252D are carved out of
§ 642.21's annual dollar cap entirely and instead follow the higher federal
support percentages (up to 50-65% of disposable earnings under 15 U.S.C.
§ 1673(b)). Whenever funds are garnished at all, any amount for support must
be paid out first, ahead of any other garnishment purpose, regardless of
which order was filed first (§ 642.24). State and federal tax debt and
federal student loans are collected through their own separate administrative
processes, outside this ordinary-creditor scheme.
Head-of-household exemption
Iowa doesn't give an automatic extra cut or dollar add-on for supporting a
family, the way some states do. Instead, for consumer debt only, a debtor can
file a verified application asking the court to exempt a larger share of
earnings, showing that the extra amount is necessary to maintain the debtor
or a family the debtor supports; the court holds a hearing and decides case
by case rather than applying a fixed rule (§ 537.5105(4)).
Multiple garnishments priority
Iowa's mechanism is stricter than a simple time-of-service rule: only one
execution can be in existence against a debtor at the same time (§ 626.3), so
a second ordinary creditor cannot even get a garnishment issued until the
first one is resolved. Support withholding runs outside this one-execution
limit and, whenever garnished funds exist, gets paid first (§ 642.24).
Employee termination protection
An employer cannot discharge an employee because the employee's earnings
were garnished for indebtedness (§ 642.21(2)(c)). Unlike the federal
anti-discharge rule, which only protects against a first garnishment for one
debt, Iowa's text doesn't repeat that one-indebtedness limit — it bars
discharge for having been garnished, without singling out a first-time-only
qualifier.
What trips people up
Don't assume the weekly percentage is the whole story: Iowa's annual dollar
cap can be the real, binding limit, especially for higher earners, where 10%
of expected annual earnings works out to far less than a full year of 25%
weekly deductions would. And don't assume you can face two ordinary
garnishments side by side — Iowa lets only one execution exist at a time, so
a second judgment creditor has to wait its turn rather than splitting the
paycheck with the first.
Common questions
Does the consumer-debt 40x floor apply automatically?
No — it applies specifically to debt from a "consumer credit transaction"
(personal, family, or household purposes). A business debt or other
non-consumer judgment uses the plain 30x federal floor instead.
Can two creditors garnish my wages at the same time in Iowa?
Generally no for ordinary judgment creditors — only one execution can exist
at a time under § 626.3. A second creditor has to wait until the first
execution is resolved. Support withholding is a separate mechanism and isn't
blocked by this rule.
I earn $60,000 a year — does the 25% weekly test or the annual cap control?
The annual cap controls once it's reached: at $50,000+ in expected earnings,
a single creditor's yearly take from you is limited to 10% of your expected
earnings, even if the weekly 25%/30x-minimum-wage math would allow more.
Statutes and sources
- Iowa Code § 642.21 — https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/642.21.pdf (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Iowa Code § 537.5105 — https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/537.5105.pdf (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Iowa Code § 626.3 — https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/626.3.pdf (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Iowa Code § 642.24 — https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/642.24.pdf (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1673 — https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title15/USCODE-2011-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673 (accessed 2026-07-05)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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