North Dakota: Wage Garnishment Limits
The short answer
North Dakota beats the federal floor: an ordinary judgment creditor can take the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above 40 times the federal minimum wage, and that second figure drops by $20 a week for every dependent family member living with the debtor. A creditor can lock in a continuing 270-day lien on wages. North Dakota also has a real anti-discharge statute with teeth: an employer who fires an employee over a garnishment can be sued for double back wages and reinstatement.
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This is the general rule in North Dakota. Ezel applies current North Dakota law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | N.D.C.C. § 32-09.1-03 (the ordinary garnishment cap, per-dependent reduction, and support/bankruptcy/tax exceptions); § 32-09.1-18 (anti-discharge, with a private right of action); § 32-09.1-21 (continuing lien on wages); § 32-09.1-01 (definitions) |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | The lesser of: (1) 25% of disposable earnings for the week, or (2) the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 40 times the federal minimum hourly wage (or an equivalent multiple for a longer pay period), reduced by $20 per week for each dependent family member residing with the debtor (§ 32-09.1-03(1)-(2)). A plaintiff may instead obtain a continuing 270-day lien on wages (§ 32-09.1-21), under which the garnishee keeps withholding the nonexempt portion of earnings as they accrue rather than a one-time attachment. Any wage assignment or debt to the garnishee that the debtor incurs within 10 days before the first garnishment notice is void, closing an obvious evasion route |
| State rule vs. federal floor | More protective than the federal floor on the minimum-wage-multiplier prong (40x instead of 30x) and adds a genuine extra feature the federal test lacks: a $20-per-week reduction for each dependent living with the debtor. The base percentage (25%) matches the federal rate exactly rather than cutting it further. North Dakota is not a bar state; a creditor can still reach 25% of earnings above the protected floor |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 40 times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1) (or the Secretary of Labor's equivalent multiple for a pay period other than a week) — a bigger multiplier than the federal 30x, though tied only to the federal minimum wage, not to North Dakota's own state minimum wage |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Support orders, bankruptcy court orders, and any debt for state or federal tax are all excluded from the ordinary § 32-09.1-03(1) cap (§ 32-09.1-03(3)) — North Dakota's exception list explicitly names tax debt, unlike some neighboring states' versions of this same statute. Support garnishment instead follows its own ceiling (§ 32-09.1-03(4)): 50% of disposable earnings if the debtor is supporting another spouse or child, 60% if not, rising to 55%/65% for older arrears — matching the federal CCPA support percentages exactly. Federal student loan administrative wage garnishment runs through its own separate channel |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | North Dakota builds a per-dependent dollar reduction directly into the ordinary cap's minimum-wage-floor prong rather than using a separate head-of-household statute: § 32-09.1-03(2) reduces the maximum garnishable amount by $20 per week for each dependent family member residing with the debtor, once the debtor files a sworn list of dependents with the employer within 10 days of the garnishee summons. Failure to timely provide the list is treated as a conclusive claim of no dependents, though the debtor can still submit the list later for garnishments going forward |
| Multiple garnishments at once | No statute in this chapter sets a first-in-time or combined-cap rule for multiple ordinary garnishments running at the same time; the chapter's only related anti-evasion rule voids any wage assignment or debt the debtor incurs to the garnishee within 10 days before the first garnishment notice (§ 32-09.1-07(1)(f)). A plaintiff may secure a continuing 270-day lien (§ 32-09.1-21), but the statute doesn't address how a second creditor's garnishment interacts with an existing continuing lien |
| Protection from being fired | North Dakota has its own explicit anti-discharge statute with a real remedy, broader than the federal floor: 'No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that earnings have been subjected to garnishment or execution' (§ 32-09.1-18), with no stated limit to a single garnishment. An employee fired in violation may sue within 90 days of discharge to recover TWICE the wages lost and for an order requiring reinstatement — one of the more concrete anti-discharge remedies found in this topic, going beyond simply barring the discharge |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Governing law
The ordinary cap, its per-dependent reduction, and the support/bankruptcy/
tax exceptions are all in N.D.C.C. § 32-09.1-03. The anti-discharge rule
and its remedy are in § 32-09.1-18. A creditor's option to obtain a
continuing lien on wages is in § 32-09.1-21.
Maximum garnishment amount
Under § 32-09.1-03(1)-(2), the most an ordinary creditor can reach in any
workweek is the lesser of two figures: 25% of disposable earnings, or the
amount by which disposable earnings exceed 40 times the federal minimum
hourly wage, reduced by $20 per week for each dependent family member
living with the debtor. A creditor can also ask for a continuing 270-day
lien under § 32-09.1-21, which keeps pulling the nonexempt portion of wages
as they're earned instead of a one-time attachment. Any wage assignment the
debtor makes, or debt the debtor incurs to the garnishee, within 10 days
before the first garnishment notice is void — a rule aimed squarely at
last-minute attempts to dodge a garnishment.
Federal floor comparison
More protective than federal law on the minimum-wage-multiplier prong (40x
instead of 30x) and adds a real feature the plain federal test doesn't
have: a $20-per-dependent weekly reduction. The base percentage matches the
federal 25% exactly rather than cutting it further. North Dakota isn't a
bar state — a creditor can still reach 25% of earnings above the protected
floor.
Minimum wage protection floor
40 times the federal minimum hourly wage, or an equivalent multiple set by
the U.S. Secretary of Labor for a pay period other than a week. Unlike some
neighboring states, this floor is tied only to the federal minimum wage,
not to North Dakota's own state minimum wage.
Priority debt exceptions
Support orders, federal bankruptcy court orders, and any debt for state or
federal tax are all excluded from the ordinary cap (§ 32-09.1-03(3)) —
North Dakota's version of this exception explicitly names tax debt, a
detail some neighboring states' statutes leave out. Support garnishment
instead follows its own formula (§ 32-09.1-03(4)): 50% of disposable
earnings if the debtor is supporting another spouse or child, 60% if not,
rising to 55%/65% for older arrears — the same numbers as the federal CCPA
support ceiling. Federal student loan wage garnishment runs through its own
separate channel.
Head-of-household exemption
North Dakota doesn't use a separate head-of-household provision; instead it
builds a $20-per-week-per-dependent reduction directly into the
minimum-wage-floor half of the ordinary cap. To get the reduction, the
debtor must give the employer a sworn list of dependent family members
residing with them within 10 days of receiving the garnishee summons;
missing that window is treated as a conclusive claim of no dependents for
that garnishment, though a later list still helps going forward.
Multiple garnishments priority
No statute in this chapter sets a first-in-time or combined-cap rule for
multiple ordinary garnishments running at once. The chapter's one related
safeguard voids any wage assignment or debt the debtor takes on with the
garnishee in the 10 days before the first garnishment notice. A plaintiff
can lock in a continuing 270-day lien, but the statute doesn't say how a
second creditor's garnishment is handled while that lien is running.
Employee termination protection
North Dakota's anti-discharge statute goes further than most: "No employer
may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that earnings have been
subjected to garnishment or execution" (§ 32-09.1-18), with no limit to a
single garnishment. An employee fired over it can sue within 90 days for
double the lost wages and an order for reinstatement — a concrete remedy,
not just a bare prohibition.
What trips people up
Don't assume the 25% figure is fixed — the second, minimum-wage-based test
combined with the $20-per-dependent reduction can protect more of a lower
earner's paycheck, but only if the debtor actually files the sworn
dependent list with the employer within the 10-day window. Also don't
assume a garnishment is a one-time event: a creditor who marks a
"continuing lien" on the summons keeps pulling from the paycheck for up to
270 days.
Common questions
Does having dependents lower how much can be garnished from my
paycheck?
Yes, but only if you act fast: North Dakota cuts the minimum-wage-floor
part of the formula by $20 per week per dependent, but you have to give
your employer a sworn list of your dependents within 10 days of the
garnishee summons to get it applied.
Can my employer fire me for being garnished?
No, and North Dakota backs that up with a real remedy: if you're fired over
a garnishment, you can sue within 90 days for double your lost wages and
get your job back.
Can a creditor keep garnishing me automatically instead of filing over
and over?
Yes. A creditor can request a continuing 270-day lien, which keeps
withholding the nonexempt part of your earnings as you're paid until the
debt is satisfied, 270 days pass, or your employment ends.
Statutes and sources
- N.D.C.C. § 32-09.1-03 — https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t32c09-1.pdf (accessed 2026-07-05)
- N.D.C.C. § 32-09.1-18 — https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t32c09-1.pdf (accessed 2026-07-05)
- N.D.C.C. § 32-09.1-21 — https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t32c09-1.pdf (accessed 2026-07-05)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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