Arizona Wage Garnishment Calculator

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Arizona Wage Garnishment Calculator

How much an Arizona paycheck can lose to a judgment, medical debt, support order, tax levy, student loan or Chapter 13 plan under Proposition 209. A.R.S. 33-1131, A.R.S. 12-1598, 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677. Estimates only.

Rules encoded (VERIFY): Proposition 209 (effective December 5, 2022) caps non-support wage garnishment at the lesser of 10% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 60 times the highest applicable federal, state or local minimum wage (A.R.S. 33-1131(B)); wages are barred entirely when weekly disposable earnings are 40 times the federal minimum wage ($290.00) or less. Arizona minimum wage: $14.35 (2024), $14.70 (2025), $15.15 (2026); Flagstaff and Tucson set higher local rates, entered via the override. Support orders take one-half of disposable earnings and skip the 10% cap (A.R.S. 33-1131(C)). The court may reduce the percentage on clear and convincing evidence of extreme economic hardship. Medical debt interest is capped at the lesser of 3% or the one-year treasury yield (A.R.S. 44-1201). ADOR wage levies run up to 25% of disposable earnings; IRS levies use Publication 1494; neither is subject to the 10% cap. No discharge for one garnishment (15 U.S.C. 1674).

1. Mode, county and pay date

Stack uses the order boxes in section 3.
Sets the 60x floor wage unless overridden.
Sets venue; local minimum wages via override.
Weekly caps scale by 52 / periods.
0 uses the statewide rate for the year. Enter the Flagstaff or Tucson local rate if it is higher (A.R.S. 33-1131 uses the highest applicable).
Select a county to see the venue note, the 60x floor and the 40x bar.

2. Gross pay and legally required withholding

Includes bonuses and commissions.
Voluntary 401(k) excluded.
Take-home only; not in the garnishment base.

3. Order type and amounts

0 applies the statutory maximum.
Reduces the 25% aggregate room.
Shares the 25% ceiling.

4. Balance and payoff

Post-judgment rate is the lesser of 10% or the contract rate (A.R.S. 44-1201 – VERIFY); medical debt interest caps at 3%.

How it works

  • Disposable = gross minus deductions required by state and federal law (A.R.S. 12-1598(3)); voluntary shown separately.
  • Weekly conversion = 52 / periods (1, 2, 2.1667, 4.3333).
  • Bar: weekly disposable at or below 40x federal minimum wage ($290.00) means no garnishment for non-support debts.
  • Consumer cap = lesser of 10% of disposable and weekly disposable above 60x the highest applicable minimum wage, then reduced by support and other garnishments within the 25% CCPA aggregate.
  • Support = lesser of ordered and 50% of disposable; the 10% and 60x rules do not apply.
  • Student loan = lesser of 15% disposable and above 30x federal minimum wage.
  • IRS = disposable above Pub 1494 exempt; ADOR = up to 25% of disposable; neither uses the 10% cap.
  • Stack applies ceilings in priority order and the 25% aggregate on non-support, non-tax orders.
  • Payoff amortizes at the entered rate and flags non-amortizing or zero-withholding cases.
  • Court may reduce the percentage further on clear and convincing evidence of extreme economic hardship.

Sources

  • A.R.S. 33-1131 (10% cap, 60x highest applicable minimum wage, 50% support rule) and A.R.S. 12-1598 definitions: azleg.gov
  • Arizona Supreme Court Proposition 209 information sheet (10% / 60x change, 40x bar, hardship reduction, medical debt 3% interest cap, increased property exemptions): azcourts.gov
  • 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677 and DOL Fact Sheet 30: dol.gov
  • Arizona DES child support employer rules (50% cap, priority): des.az.gov
  • ADOR tax levies and Publication 2 (continuous wage levy): azdor.gov
  • Industrial Commission of Arizona minimum wage ($14.35 / $14.70 / $15.15): azica.gov
  • IRS Pub 1494 and Form 668-W: irs.gov
  • 20 U.S.C. 1095a, 34 CFR 34.19: studentaid.gov
  • A.R.S. 44-1201 (post-judgment and medical debt interest): azleg.gov

Test cases

TC1 Maricopa, 2026, weekly. Gross $1,200.00; required $240.00; disposable $960.00. 10% cap $96.00; 60x floor room $960.00 minus $909.00 = $51.00. Withheld $51.00, take-home $909.00. $2,000 at 10% clears in 41 weeks, total $2,091.00, interest $91.00.
TC2 Pima, 2026, weekly. Gross $350.00; required $70.00; disposable $280.00, at or below the 40x federal bar of $290.00. Withheld $0.00. Even above the bar, disposable under $909.00 weekly leaves the 60x room at zero.
TC3 Pinal, 2026, biweekly. Gross $2,400.00; required $560.00; disposable $1,840.00. Child support ordered $1,000.00 against the one-half ceiling $920.00. Withheld $920.00, take-home $920.00; the 10% and 60x rules do not apply.
TC4 Coconino, 2026, biweekly, stack, statewide wage (no local override). Gross $2,400.00; required $560.00; disposable $1,840.00. Support $300.00; no IRS or ADOR order; consumer requested $200.00 but 60x room is $22.00 per period. Consumer $22.00, total $322.00, take-home $1,518.00.
TC5 Yavapai, 2026, semimonthly. Gross $2,600.00; required $600.00; disposable $2,000.00. Federal student loan AWG 15% = $300.00; 30x federal floor $471.25 per period leaves $1,528.75. Withheld $300.00, take-home $1,700.00. $9,000 at 0% clears in 30 periods, about 1.25 years.
Estimates only; not legal advice. All figures VERIFY, including the 10% and 60x Prop 209 caps, the 40x federal bar, the one-half support ceiling, local minimum wages in Flagstaff and Tucson, the ADOR 25% levy, hardship reduction practice, garnishee answer deadlines and the post-judgment and medical debt interest rates. Prop 209 applies to garnishment proceedings after December 5, 2022 regardless of judgment date; earlier withholdings are not refundable. Pub 1494 estimate uses 2026 standard deductions ($16,100 / $24,150 / $32,200) plus $5,300 per dependent plus $1,600 per age-65 or blind box. Not modeled: service-date priority, community property claims, automatic stays, self-employment income, bonuses, severance, pensions, unemployment or workers compensation. Consult an Arizona attorney or the court self-service center. Deploy: replace the block, Update, purge cache, hard refresh; verify document.getElementById(“arizona-wage-garnishment-calculator”).getAttribute(“data-js-ready”) returns “true” with no SyntaxError.

What Is an Arizona Wage Garnishment Calculator?

The Arizona wage garnishment calculator estimates withholding for one pay period by calculating disposable earnings and applying the limits programmed for the selected order type. For ordinary judgment debts, it compares a 10% disposable-earnings cap, a 60-times-minimum-wage floor, a 40-times-federal-minimum-wage bar, and remaining aggregate garnishment room.

Single Order mode calculates the selected debt or withholding type. Stacking mode processes five entered order categories in a programmed priority sequence. Payoff Timeline mode treats the calculated withholding as a recurring payment and estimates how long an entered balance would take to satisfy at the entered annual interest rate.

The calculator also requires one of Arizona's 15 counties. County selection controls the venue information displayed with the results. It does not directly change the monetary calculation. A separate minimum-wage override can replace the statewide wage used for the calculator's 60-times floor.

How the Arizona Wage Garnishment Calculation Works

The calculation starts with disposable earnings. The calculator adds federal income tax, Arizona income tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding. Required withholding cannot exceed gross pay in the calculation.

D=max⁡(G−min⁡(G,R),0)D=\max\left(G-\min(G,R),0\right)

Here, G is gross pay for the period, R is total legally required withholding, and D is disposable earnings. Voluntary deductions are kept separate and do not reduce this garnishment base.

The calculator converts each pay period to a weekly basis. It uses 52 annual periods for weekly pay, 26 for biweekly pay, 24 for semimonthly pay, and 12 for monthly pay.

w=52Nw=\frac{52}{N}

N is the number of pay periods per year, while w is the number of weeks represented by the current pay period. Weekly disposable earnings are therefore:

Dweekly=DwD_{weekly}=\frac{D}{w}

For consumer, medical debt, and private student loan judgments, the calculator first computes 10% of disposable earnings. It also calculates how much disposable income remains above 60 times the applicable hourly minimum wage.

C10=0.10DC_{10}=0.10D
C60=max⁡(Dweekly−60M,0)wC_{60}=\max\left(D_{weekly}-60M,0\right)w

M is the minimum wage used by the calculator. The encoded statewide values are $14.35 for 2024, $14.70 for 2025, and $15.15 for 2026. If a positive Minimum Wage Override is entered, the code uses that value instead. It does not independently check that the override is higher than the statewide figure.

The calculator separately applies a weekly bar based on 40 times its encoded federal minimum wage of $7.25. That produces a $290 weekly threshold. If weekly disposable earnings are at or below that amount, the consumer-style garnishment result is zero.

B40=40×7.25=290B_{40}=40\times7.25=290

Existing support and other garnishments also restrict consumer-style withholding through a 25% aggregate calculation.

Croom=max⁡(0,0.25D−S−O)C_{room}=\max\left(0,0.25D-S-O\right)

S is support already withheld and O is other garnishments. When the 40-times bar does not apply, the programmed consumer cap is:

Cconsumer=min⁡(C10,C60,Croom)C_{consumer}=\min\left(C_{10},C_{60},C_{room}\right)

A positive Amount Demanded that is below the calculated cap reduces the withholding to that amount. Entering zero causes the Single Order calculation to use its programmed maximum.

Other Order-Type Formulas

Child support and spousal maintenance use 50% of disposable earnings in the calculator. The consumer 10% limit and 60-times floor are not applied to these support branches.

Wsupport=0.50DW_{support}=0.50D

Federal student loan AWG uses the smaller of 15% of disposable earnings and disposable earnings above 30 times the encoded $7.25 federal minimum wage.

Wstudent=min⁡(0.15D,max⁡(Dweekly−30×7.25,0)w)W_{student}=\min\left(0.15D,\max\left(D_{weekly}-30\times7.25,0\right)w\right)

An Arizona Department of Revenue levy uses 25% of disposable earnings. An IRS levy uses disposable earnings above the calculator's estimated exempt amount. Chapter 13 converts the entered monthly plan payment to the selected pay frequency and caps that amount at disposable earnings.

WADOR=0.25DW_{ADOR}=0.25D
W13=min⁡(12PmN,D)W_{13}=\min\left(\frac{12P_m}{N},D\right)

For an IRS levy, a positive exemption override is used directly. Otherwise, the calculator estimates the exempt amount from its built-in standard-deduction value for the chosen year and filing status, plus $5,300 per dependent and $1,600 for each age-65-or-blind box.

EIRS=SD+5300d+1600bNE_{IRS}=\frac{SD+5300d+1600b}{N}
WIRS=max⁡(D−EIRS,0)W_{IRS}=\max(D-E_{IRS},0)

Worked Example

Suppose a worker is paid weekly in 2026, has $1,200 in gross pay, and has $200 in legally required withholding. Assume a consumer judgment, no existing garnishments, no voluntary deductions, no minimum-wage override, and an Amount Demanded of zero.

Disposable earnings equal $1,000. Ten percent is $100. The calculator's 2026 statewide minimum wage is $15.15, so the 60-times weekly floor is $909. Disposable earnings above that floor equal $91. The 25% aggregate room is $250.

min⁡(100,91,250)=91\min(100,91,250)=91

The calculator therefore displays $91.00 withheld for the pay period. With no voluntary deductions, calculated take-home pay is $909.00. The garnishment represents 9.10% of disposable earnings.

How to Use the Arizona Wage Garnishment Calculator

  1. Select Single Order, Stacking, or Payoff Timeline mode.
  2. Select the year wages are payable, an Arizona county, and the pay frequency.
  3. Enter a Minimum Wage Override only if you want that positive value to replace the calculator's statewide rate.
  4. Enter gross pay and the amounts for federal tax, Arizona tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding.
  5. Enter voluntary deductions separately. They affect take-home pay but not disposable earnings.
  6. Select an order type and enter the Amount Demanded when applicable. A zero value generally allows the Single Order calculation to use its programmed maximum.
  7. Enter existing support and other garnishments when modeling a consumer, medical debt, or private student loan judgment.
  8. Complete the IRS or Chapter 13 fields when those order types are selected. Stack mode also uses its five dedicated order-amount fields.
  9. For Payoff Timeline mode, enter the balance owed and annual interest rate.
  10. Check the required acknowledgment and select Calculate. Use Reset to restore the calculator's original field values and clear the result.

Gross pay must be greater than zero. Most monetary inputs accept values from $0 through $10,000,000. Balance Owed allows up to $100,000,000, the minimum-wage override allows up to $100 per hour, and the APR field accepts 0% through 40%. IRS dependents are limited to 0 through 20, while the age-65-or-blind field accepts 0 through 2.

The main result is Withheld per Pay Period. The calculator also displays weekly and annual withholding, disposable earnings, minimum-wage floors, remaining garnishment room, take-home pay, the percentage of disposable earnings withheld, and the factor identified as controlling the result. Currency values are formatted to two decimal places and percentages to two decimal places.

Important Assumptions and How to Read the Results

Consumer judgments, medical debt judgments, and private student loan judgments share the same garnishment calculation in the code. Selecting Medical Debt adds medical-debt information to the displayed result, but it does not change the wage-garnishment formula itself.

The calculator displays a medical-debt note stating that interest is capped at the lesser of 3% or the one-year Treasury yield. However, the payoff calculation does not automatically reduce the APR entered in the Interest per Year field. Payoff mode uses the entered APR directly, even when Medical Debt is selected.

Existing Support and Other Garnishments affect the Single Order consumer-style calculation. They do not directly reduce the Single Order formulas for support, federal student loans, IRS levies, ADOR levies, or Chapter 13 plans.

Stacking mode uses its own order fields and processes support, IRS levy, ADOR levy, federal student loan AWG, and consumer judgment in that order. The separate Existing Support and Other Garnishments fields are not used by the stacking formula.

In stack mode, support is capped at 50% of original disposable earnings and then by remaining disposable earnings. The IRS step uses the remaining earnings above its estimated exemption. ADOR is capped at 25% of original disposable earnings and by the remaining amount.

The stacked federal student loan step is calculated from the original disposable earnings and federal floor. In the supplied code, that student-loan amount is not separately capped to the amount remaining after the earlier support, IRS, and ADOR steps before it is subtracted. This means the programmed stack result can differ from a simple remaining-balance waterfall in some input combinations.

The final stacked consumer judgment uses the 10% cap, the 60-times floor, the 40-times bar, remaining earnings, and a 25% aggregate room that subtracts the stacked student-loan amount. That specific stack-room calculation does not subtract the earlier support, IRS, or ADOR amounts from the 25% figure.

Take-home pay is calculated after required withholding, voluntary deductions, and the selected garnishment or stacked total. The displayed take-home amount cannot fall below zero.

T=max⁡(G−R−V−W,0)T=\max(G-R-V-W,0)

V represents voluntary deductions and W represents calculated withholding.

How the Payoff Timeline Works

Payoff mode uses the withholding amount as a recurring payment. The annual percentage rate is divided by 100 and by the number of annual pay periods to create a periodic rate.

i=APR100Ni=\frac{APR}{100N}

If the periodic payment is greater than one period of interest on the balance, the calculator uses an amortization formula and rounds the number of required pay periods upward.

n=⌈−ln⁡(1−BiP)ln⁡(1+i)⌉n=\left\lceil\frac{-\ln\left(1-\frac{Bi}{P}\right)}{\ln(1+i)}\right\rceil

B is the balance, P is withholding per period, and n is the number of periods. If the payment does not cover one period's interest, the calculator reports that the balance never amortizes. At 0% APR, it divides the balance by the payment and rounds the required number of periods up.

The payoff panel displays pay periods to satisfy the balance, approximate calendar time, total paid, and interest paid. A zero balance or zero withholding does not produce a normal payoff timeline.

The calculator also displays code-supplied notes about venue, the writ process, hardship or exemption claims, employment protection, and related exemptions. Those notes and all legal figures are presented by the tool with verification warnings. Actual legal outcomes can depend on facts, orders, procedures, and rules outside the calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are disposable earnings in this calculator?

Disposable earnings are gross pay minus the deductions the calculator treats as legally required. Those inputs are federal income tax, Arizona income tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding. Voluntary deductions such as health costs, a voluntary 401(k), or dues are excluded from this calculation.

How does the 60-times-minimum-wage floor work?

The calculator multiplies its applicable hourly minimum wage by 60 and compares that weekly amount with weekly disposable earnings. For consumer-style judgments, only the amount above this floor can be available under that part of the calculation. The tool then compares this amount with its 10% cap and aggregate garnishment room.

What is the 40-times federal minimum wage bar?

The code multiplies $7.25 by 40, producing a $290 weekly bar. When weekly disposable earnings are $290 or less, the calculator sets withholding for consumer, medical debt, and private student loan judgments to zero. This bar is not applied by the code to support, tax, Chapter 13, or federal student loan branches.

Does the county change the garnishment amount?

No. County selection is required, but the monetary formulas do not vary by county. The calculator uses the selected county for its venue text. A local minimum wage must be entered through the separate Minimum Wage Override field if the user wants it reflected in the 60-times calculation.

What happens if Amount Demanded is zero?

In Single Order mode, zero generally causes the calculator to use the maximum produced by the programmed rules for that order type. A positive demanded amount only reduces the result when it is below that calculated amount. In Stack mode, zero in an individual stack-order field means no requested withholding for that category.

Does selecting medical debt automatically use a 3% payoff APR?

No. The calculator displays a medical-debt interest-cap note, but its payoff formula uses the APR entered by the user. The code does not automatically replace a higher entered APR with 3% or compare it with a Treasury yield. Users should therefore distinguish the displayed legal note from the actual payoff calculation.

How does the calculator estimate an IRS levy?

The calculator subtracts an estimated exempt amount from disposable earnings. A positive override is used directly. Otherwise, the tool combines its built-in standard-deduction figure for the selected year and filing status with $5,300 per dependent and $1,600 per age-65-or-blind box, then divides the total by annual pay periods.

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