Minnesota: Wage Garnishment Limits
The short answer
Minnesota is one of the only states in this survey with a GRADUATED garnishment scale rather than one flat percentage: earnings at or below 40 times the minimum hourly wage are fully protected, and the reachable share then rises in steps as income climbs, 10% between 40x and 60x, 15% between 60x and 80x, and 25% only above 80x, always capped by the amount actually over that wage-based floor. The floor uses whichever of Minnesota's own (currently higher) minimum wage or the federal rate protects more. A debtor currently or recently on need-based public assistance, or recently released from a correctional institution, gets a full exemption for six months. Multiple garnishments are paid strictly in the order they were served.
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This is the general rule in Minnesota. Ezel applies current Minnesota law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Minn. Stat. §§ 571.921 to 571.927 (definitions, the graduated exemption formula, priority among multiple garnishments, notice requirements, and the anti-retaliation rule), together with § 550.37, subd. 13-14 (the general execution-exemption statute, which separately confirms the earnings exemption and adds the need-based-assistance/former-inmate total exemption) |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | Minn. Stat. § 571.922(a) sets a GRADUATED scale rather than one flat percentage. Unless the judgment is for child support, the reachable amount is the LESSER of the applicable tier and the amount by which disposable earnings exceed the wage floor in paragraph (b): (1) 25% of disposable earnings, but only once weekly income exceeds 80 times the wage floor; (2) 15%, if weekly income is over 60 times but at or under 80 times the floor; or (3) 10%, if weekly income is over 40 times but at or under 60 times the floor. Earnings at or below 40 times the floor aren't reached by any tier at all. This step-up structure, protection shrinking in stages as income rises, rather than one percentage for everyone above the floor, is distinctive; most states in this survey use a single flat rate |
| State rule vs. federal floor | More protective than the federal 25%/30x formula at every income level except the very top: Minnesota's reachable percentage is 0% at or below the wage floor, 10% in the next bracket, 15% above that, and only reaches the federal-equivalent 25% once weekly income exceeds 80 times the wage floor. The floor itself is also bigger, 40 times the applicable minimum wage rather than the federal 30x, and that minimum wage is whichever of the state's own rate or the federal rate protects more, which in Minnesota's case is its own higher rate |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 40 times the GREATER of Minnesota's own minimum hourly wage (Minn. Stat. § 177.24, subd. 1(a)) or the federal minimum hourly wage (29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1)). Minnesota's own statewide minimum wage is currently $11.41/hour (adjusted annually for inflation), well above the $7.25 federal rate, so the state rate controls: 40 x $11.41 = $456.40 of weekly disposable earnings protected outright. The statute cross-references only the STATEWIDE rate in § 177.24, not the higher local minimum wages set by Minneapolis ($16.37/hour) or St. Paul: those city ordinances don't raise the wage-garnishment floor |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Child support is excluded from the graduated ordinary-debt scale entirely; § 571.922(c) instead writes the federal CCPA's own support percentages directly into Minnesota's text: 50% of disposable income if supporting a spouse or dependent child and the judgment is 12 weeks old or less, 55% if over 12 weeks old; 60% if not supporting a spouse or dependent child and 12 weeks old or less, 65% if older. A child-support garnishment where the creditor is a county continues until the judgment is satisfied, rather than the usual 90-day limit on other garnishments. Federal student loan collection (15% of disposable pay, administratively, 20 U.S.C. § 1095a) and unpaid-tax debt (collected under separate state and federal administrative authority) proceed independently of this ordinary-creditor scale |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | Not a per-dependent dollar figure, but a means-based total exemption: Minn. Stat. § 550.37, subd. 14 exempts all earnings of a debtor who currently receives, has received in the past six months, or is otherwise an eligible recipient of need-based government assistance (a lengthy enumerated list, Minnesota Family Investment Program, SNAP, SSI, Medical Assistance, energy assistance, and several others, plus federal/state low-income tax credits), or who has been an inmate of a correctional institution within the preceding six months. The exemption lasts for six months after the debtor's return to private employment, once all qualifying assistance has ended. This exemption is not automatic, the debtor must file a signed exemption statement after receiving the required notice |
| Multiple garnishments at once | Strict first-in-time priority by date of service. Minn. Stat. § 571.923: multiple earnings garnishments are paid in the order the garnishment summonses were served on the employer; if two are served the same day, the one issued on the earlier-entered judgment wins; if both the service date and judgment date tie, the EMPLOYER chooses the order. Section 550.37, subd. 13 confirms the mechanics: a later garnishment only reaches disposable earnings not already claimed by an earlier one, and in no case can more than the total nonexempt disposable earnings for that pay period be taken across all garnishments combined. Child support withholding runs on its own separate priority track under chapter 518A rather than through this ordinary-creditor queue |
| Protection from being fired | Broader than the federal one-debt rule: Minn. Stat. § 571.927 bars an employer from discharging OR otherwise disciplining an employee (or independent contractor) because of an earnings garnishment authorized by this chapter, with no limit to a first or single garnishment. A violation lets the aggrieved worker sue within 90 days for reinstatement and other relief, and if an employment relationship existed before the violation, DOUBLE the earnings lost as a result: a more generous multiplier than the simple lost-wages remedy most other states in this survey provide |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
The formula itself lives in Minn. Stat. § 571.922, with definitions, notice requirements, multiple-garnishment priority, and the anti-retaliation rule spread across the rest of §§ 571.921 to 571.927. A separate, general execution-exemption statute, § 550.37, subdivisions 13 and 14, confirms the earnings exemption and layers on the need-based-assistance/former-inmate total exemption.
Maximum that can be garnished
Unless you're being garnished for child support, § 571.922(a) sets up three income brackets rather than one flat cut. Below 40 times the applicable wage floor, none of the brackets apply at all — that income isn't reached. Between 40x and 60x, the cap is 10% of disposable earnings. Between 60x and 80x, it rises to 15%. Only above 80x does it reach 25%, matching the federal rate. Whichever bracket applies, the actual amount taken is still capped by the amount your earnings exceed the wage floor — so the percentage is a ceiling, not a guarantee that a creditor gets that much.
State rule vs. federal floor
Minnesota beats the federal 25%/30x formula at every income level except the very top bracket. Someone earning just above the wage floor faces only a 10% cut where federal law would allow 25%; someone in the middle bracket faces 15%. And the floor itself is bigger to begin with — 40 times the wage rather than the federal 30x — using whichever of the state's own minimum wage or the federal rate is higher, which in Minnesota means its own, higher rate controls.
Minimum-wage protected floor
The floor is 40 times the GREATER of Minnesota's own statewide minimum wage or the federal minimum wage. Minnesota's own rate is currently $11.41 an hour (it adjusts every January 1 for inflation), well above the federal $7.25, so the state rate sets the real number: 40 x $11.41 = $456.40 of weekly disposable earnings protected outright, before any percentage even applies. That cross-reference reaches only the statewide rate — Minneapolis and St. Paul both require a higher local minimum wage, but neither of those city ordinances raises the wage-garnishment floor.
Support, tax & student loan debts
Child support runs on its own track, written directly into § 571.922(c) rather than left as a cross-reference: 50% of disposable income if you're supporting another spouse or child and the judgment is 12 weeks old or newer, rising to 55% once it's older; 60% if you're not supporting anyone else, rising to 65% once past 12 weeks. If the creditor is a county, that garnishment simply continues until the debt is paid rather than expiring after the usual 90 days. Federal student loan collection (15% of disposable pay, handled administratively) and unpaid tax debt run under their own separate authority, independent of this ordinary-creditor scale.
Head-of-household/family exemption
Minnesota doesn't add a per-dependent dollar figure on top of the graduated scale. Instead, § 550.37, subdivision 14 gives a much broader total exemption to anyone currently receiving, or who received within the last six months, need-based government assistance — a long enumerated list that includes the Minnesota Family Investment Program, SNAP, SSI, Medical Assistance, energy assistance, and several tax credits — or anyone who's been an inmate of a correctional institution in the last six months. That exemption lasts six months after returning to private employment, once all qualifying assistance has ended. It isn't automatic — you have to file a signed exemption statement after getting the required notice.
Multiple garnishments at once
Minnesota runs on strict first-in-time priority: garnishment summonses are paid off in the order they were served on the employer. If two land on the employer the same day, the one tied to the earlier-entered judgment wins; if even the judgments were entered the same day, the employer itself picks the order. A later garnishment can only reach whatever disposable earnings the earlier one hasn't already claimed, and the combined total across every garnishment in a pay period still can't exceed what's actually nonexempt. Child support withholding runs on its own separate priority track outside this ordinary-creditor queue.
Protection from being fired
Minnesota's rule reaches further than the federal one-debt limit: an employer can't discharge OR discipline an employee (or independent contractor) over any earnings garnishment authorized by this chapter, with no limit to a first or single one. A worker fired or disciplined in violation has 90 days to sue for reinstatement, and if there was an existing employment relationship, recovers DOUBLE the wages lost — a stronger remedy than the simple lost-wages recovery most other states in this survey provide.
What trips people up
Several sources still describe Minnesota's rule as a flat 25% above a single fixed-dollar threshold (some cite "$380 a week," others "$290") — that reflects the law before a 2020 amendment replaced the single-tier structure with the current three-bracket, step-up scale, and the dollar figures themselves are stale (they match a much older, lower minimum wage). Don't assume one flat percentage applies once you're above the wage floor; where your income actually lands within the 40x/60x/80x brackets changes the number. It's also easy to miss that Minneapolis's and St. Paul's higher local minimum wages don't affect this calculation at all — the statute only cross-references the statewide rate.
Common questions
Is Minnesota's wage garnishment cap always 25%, like federal law?
No — 25% only applies once your weekly income exceeds 80 times the wage floor. Below that, the cap drops to 15% or 10%, and below 40 times the floor nothing can be taken at all.
Do I automatically get an exemption if I'm on public assistance?
No — you must file a signed exemption statement after receiving the creditor's notice; the protection isn't automatic even though you qualify for it.
If two creditors both garnish my paycheck, who gets paid first?
Whoever served their garnishment summons on your employer first, unless both were served the same day, in which case the one tied to the earlier judgment wins.
Statutes and sources
- Minn. Stat. § 571.922(a)-(b) — "the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings...may not exceed the lesser of: (1) 25 percent...if the debtor's weekly income exceeds 80 times...; (2) 15 percent...exceeds 60 times, but is less than or equal to 80 times...; or (3) ten percent...exceeds 40 times, but is less than or equal to 60 times..." — https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/571.922 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Minn. Stat. § 571.922(c) — "If the judgment is for child support, the garnishment may not exceed: (1) 50 percent...; (2) 55 percent...; (3) 60 percent...; or (4) 65 percent..." — https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/571.922 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Minn. Stat. § 571.921 — "'Disposable earnings' means that part of the earnings of an individual remaining after the deduction from those earnings of amounts required by law to be withheld." — https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/571.921 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Minn. Stat. § 571.923 — "the priority of multiple earnings garnishments shall be determined by the order in which the garnishment summonses were served on the employer...the garnishment summons issued pursuant to the first judgment entered has priority...the employer shall select the priority." — https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/571.923 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Minn. Stat. § 571.927 — "An employer shall not discharge or otherwise discipline an employee or independent contractor as a result of an earnings garnishment authorized by this chapter...the employee or independent contractor shall recover twice the earnings lost as a result of this violation." — https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/571.927 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Minn. Stat. § 550.37, subd. 14 — "All government assistance based on need, and the earnings or salary of a person who is a recipient of government assistance based on need, shall be exempt from all claims of creditors...be exempt from attachment, garnishment, or levy of execution for a period of six months after the debtor's return to employment." — https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/550.37 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Minn. Stat. § 550.37, subd. 13 — "All earnings not subject to garnishment by the provisions of section 571.922...in no instance shall more than an individual's total nonexempt disposable earnings in that pay period be subject to attachment, garnishment, or levy of execution." — https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/550.37 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Minn. Stat. § 177.24, subdivision 1 — "every employer must pay each employee wages at a rate of at least...(4) the rate established under paragraph (c) beginning January 1, 2018." — https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/177.24 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a) — "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...whichever is less." — 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.
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