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Debt & collections · Your right

Wage garnishment in New York: how much of your paycheck a creditor can take

Updated By The editorial teamNot reviewed by an attorney — based on the official sources below

In short

A creditor can garnish your wages in New York only after it has a court judgment against you. Even then, an income execution can take no more than 10% of your gross income, never more than 25% of your disposable earnings, and nothing that would leave you with less than 30 times the state minimum hourly wage for the week. With the 2026 minimum wage, that protects the first $510 a week of disposable pay in New York City, Long Island and Westchester, and $480 elsewhere in the state. Garnishment for medical debt sued on by a hospital or licensed provider is not allowed.

Read on for the details, the exceptions and the sources.

In plain words

Income execution
New York's name for a wage garnishment: a court-enforcement paper that orders money withheld from your pay.
Gross income
Your pay before anything is taken out, including overtime and commissions.
Disposable earnings
Your pay after deductions the law requires, like taxes and Social Security — but not after voluntary deductions like union dues or insurance.
Judgment debtor
A person a court has ordered to pay money.

What is it?

An income execution lets a creditor that has a money judgment collect from money you receive, such as wages, in installments. It is delivered to the sheriff, who must first serve a copy on you within 20 days. You then have the chance to pay the installments yourself. If you don't pay for 20 days, or you can't be served within 20 days, the execution is served on your employer, who must withhold the installments and send them to the sheriff (CPLR § 5231(d)–(f)).

No judgment, no garnishment: a collector that hasn't sued you and won can't take your wages. A collector that threatens garnishment it can't lawfully carry out may be violating federal law (15 U.S.C. § 1692e(4)).

Who qualifies?

These limits protect anyone whose earnings are subject to an income execution on a money judgment in New York. 'Earnings' include wages, salary, commissions and bonuses, and periodic pension or retirement payments (CPLR § 5231(c)).

Separately, New York exempts 90% of the earnings you received for work in the 60 days before, and at any time after, an income execution is delivered to the sheriff (CPLR § 5205(d)(2)) — which is why the garnishment percentage is capped at 10%.

Exceptions

  • Medical debt: no income execution may be imposed on a judgment from a medical debt action brought by a hospital or a licensed health care professional (CPLR § 5231(b)(iv)).
  • Support orders: if child support, alimony or maintenance is already being deducted, the creditor's garnishment can only take the amount by which 25% of disposable earnings exceeds those support deductions (§ 5231(b)(iii)). Support orders themselves follow different rules.
  • If you quit or are fired, the garnishment on that job ends, unless you are rehired within 90 days (§ 5231(f)).

How much?

The amount withheld each week is the smallest of three numbers (CPLR § 5231(b)): 10% of your gross income; 25% of your disposable earnings; and the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the minimum hourly wage. The minimum wage used is the greater of the federal and the New York State minimum wage in effect when you are paid. If your weekly disposable earnings are 30 times the minimum wage or less, nothing can be taken.

New York's minimum wage for 2026 is $17.00 an hour in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, and $16.00 elsewhere (Labor Law § 652(1-a)), both above the federal rate. Thirty times those figures is $510 and $480 a week. The statute refers to the state minimum wage without saying which region's rate applies; if you are close to the line, ask the sheriff, the court clerk or a legal-services lawyer.

How is it calculated?

Example 1 (New York City): your weekly gross pay is $750 and your disposable earnings are $600. Ten percent of gross is $75; 25% of disposable is $150; disposable minus $510 is $90. The smallest is $75, so no more than $75 a week can be withheld.

Example 2: weekly gross pay $560, disposable $500. Disposable earnings are below $510, so in New York City nothing can be withheld under the income execution.

These examples are only illustrations. The income execution itself must include a notice explaining the limits (CPLR § 5231(g)); compare it with your pay stub.

What documents do you need?

  • The income execution and the notice that came with it
  • Recent pay stubs showing gross pay, required deductions and the amount withheld
  • Any support order and proof of support deductions
  • Information about the judgment: court, index number, date

How do you get it?

  1. Check the math against your pay stub

    Apply the three limits in § 5231(b). Payroll mistakes happen; point them out to your employer's payroll office in writing.

  2. Ask the court to change the garnishment

    At any time you can ask the court to modify an income execution (CPLR § 5231(i)) or to limit or regulate any enforcement procedure (CPLR § 5240). The notice on the income execution explains both options.

  3. Check whether the judgment itself is valid

    If you never knew about the lawsuit, or were not properly served, you may be able to ask the court to vacate the default judgment. If it is vacated, the garnishment ends with it.

What if they refuse?

If the creditor's lawyer won't correct an over-garnishment, make a motion in the court that issued the judgment; the clerk can explain how. Free legal services organizations often handle these motions. If a debt collector is collecting more than the law allows, you may also have a claim under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Deadlines

  • The sheriff must try to serve the income execution on you within 20 days after receiving it (CPLR § 5231(d)).
  • If you don't pay the installments for 20 days after you're served, the execution goes to your employer (§ 5231(e)).
  • A motion to modify can be made at any time (§ 5231(i)), but money already withheld is applied to the judgment, so act promptly.

Figures that change

  • Weekly disposable pay that can't be garnished — NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester (30 × $17.00): $510 (as of 2026-10-30; N.Y. Labor Law § 652 — minimum wage)
  • Weekly disposable pay that can't be garnished — rest of New York State (30 × $16.00): $480 (as of 2026-10-30; N.Y. Labor Law § 652 — minimum wage)

Frequently asked questions

What happens to the garnishment if I change jobs?

If your job ends by resignation or dismissal after the income execution was served on your employer, the levy on that job stops being effective and the execution is returned, unless you are rehired within 90 days (CPLR § 5231(f)). The creditor can then try to serve a new employer.

Can a creditor take my Social Security instead?

Social Security and many other benefits are exempt from collection on ordinary consumer debts, and are listed as exempt in the notice New York creditors must send (CPLR § 5222(e)). See the page on exempt income.

Is the 10% based on my gross pay or take-home pay?

Ten percent of gross income — but the amount can never be more than 25% of your disposable earnings, or leave you with less than 30 times the minimum wage for the week. The smallest number wins.

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Official sources

This page was written from the sources below. “Checked” is the date the source was last opened and read.

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This page is general information based on the official sources listed, current as of the update date. It is not legal advice and does not replace a review of your own situation; if a case is already in court, a deadline is close, the amount is large, or there are criminal, immigration or family-law consequences, talk to a lawyer or legal aid.