New Jersey Wage Garnishment Calculator

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New Jersey Wage Garnishment Calculator

How much a New Jersey paycheck can lose to a wage execution, support withholding, tax levy, student loan or Chapter 13 plan. N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56, 2A:17-56.8, 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677. Estimates only.

Rules encoded (VERIFY): private creditors taking a wage execution are limited to 10% of gross income per pay period, and in no case may the garnishment leave the debtor with less than 250% of the federal poverty level for the household size (N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56); the federal CCPA ceilings (25% of disposable or the excess over 30 times $7.25) still apply as outer limits, so the calculator takes the least of the 10% gross cap, the CCPA cap, the 250% FPL floor room and the 25% aggregate room. The State of New Jersey itself may seek up to 25% of gross earnings under 2A:17-56(b), still subject to the 250% FPL floor. Support withholding under 2A:17-56.8 follows the CCPA tiers 50 / 55 / 60 / 65% and is not limited by the 10% cap. IRS levies use Publication 1494 and federal student loan AWG uses 15% with the federal floor; both sit outside the state caps. Multiple executions are enforced first-come, first-served. No discharge for one garnishment (15 U.S.C. 1674).

1. Mode, county, household and pay date

Stack uses the order boxes in section 3.
Context only; the CCPA floor uses federal $7.25.
Special Civil Part or Law Division venue.
FPL and CCPA tests run weekly; scaled by 52 / periods.
Uses HHS guidelines (2025 table; VERIFY current year).
0 uses the household-size table (1 person = $752.40 weekly).
Select a county to see the venue note, the 10% gross cap and the 250% FPL floor.

2. Gross pay and legally required withholding

The 10% and 25% caps run on GROSS income in New Jersey.
Voluntary 401(k) excluded.
Take-home only; not in the garnishment base.

3. Order type and amounts

0 applies the statutory maximum.
Informational; support sits outside the aggregate.
Executions enforce first-come, first-served; senior amounts reduce the room.

4. Balance and payoff

New Jersey post-judgment interest is 8% (R. 4:42-11 – VERIFY).

How it works

  • Private cap = 10% of gross per period; state debts = 25% of gross under 2A:17-56(b).
  • FPL floor = 250% of the federal poverty guideline for the household size, weekly; garnishment cannot cut income below it.
  • CCPA outer caps = lesser of 25% of disposable and the excess over 30x $7.25 weekly; the 25% aggregate limits stacked non-support orders.
  • Final private cap = least of the gross cap, the FPL room, the CCPA cap and the aggregate room.
  • Support = lesser of ordered and the CCPA tier 50 / 55 / 60 / 65% of disposable; no 10% cap and no FPL floor.
  • Student loan = lesser of 15% disposable and above the federal 30x floor.
  • IRS = disposable above Pub 1494 exempt; state debts use the 25% gross cap with the FPL floor.
  • Stack applies precedence in order; executions queue first-come, first-served.
  • Payoff amortizes at the entered rate and flags non-amortizing or zero-withholding cases.

Sources

  • N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56 (10% of gross cap, 250% federal poverty level floor, 25% of gross for state debts under subsection (b)): law.justia.com and NJ State Bar Notice to the Bar
  • N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.8 and NJ child support employer FAQs (CCPA tiers, automatic withholding): njchildsupport.gov
  • NJ Department of Labor minimum wage ($15.13 / $15.49 / $15.92): nj.gov/labor
  • 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677 and DOL Fact Sheet 30: dol.gov
  • HHS federal poverty guidelines (250% multipliers): asahhs.gov (VERIFY current year table)
  • R. 4:42-11 (8% post-judgment interest): njcourts.gov
  • IRS Pub 1494 and Form 668-W: irs.gov
  • 20 U.S.C. 1095a, 34 CFR 34.19: studentaid.gov

Test cases

TC1 Essex County, 2026, weekly, household of 1. Gross $1,000.00; required $200.00; disposable $800.00. The 10% gross cap is $100.00 and the CCPA cap $200.00, but the 250% FPL floor of $752.40 weekly leaves only $47.60 reachable. Withheld $47.60, take-home exactly $752.40.
TC2 Hudson County, 2026, weekly, household of 1. Gross $600.00; required $120.00; disposable $480.00 weekly, below the $752.40 FPL floor. Withheld $0.00; the poverty-level shield bars the execution entirely.
TC3 Monmouth County, 2026, weekly, household of 1, high earner. Gross $2,000.00; required $400.00; disposable $1,600.00. FPL room $847.60 and CCPA cap $400.00 both exceed the 10% gross cap of $200.00. Withheld $200.00, take-home $1,400.00. $4,000 at 8% clears in 21 weeks, total $4,200.00, interest $200.00.
TC4 Camden County, 2026, biweekly. Gross $2,400.00; required $560.00; disposable $1,840.00. Child support, no second family, arrears 12 weeks or older: 65% tier $1,196.00; ordered $1,200.00. Withheld $1,196.00, take-home $644.00; support ignores the 10% cap and the FPL floor.
TC5 Union County, 2026, biweekly, stack, household of 1. Gross $2,400.00; required $560.00; disposable $1,840.00. Support $300.00; no IRS or state debt; private judgment requested $400.00 but the 10% gross cap gives $240.00 against FPL room $335.20 and aggregate room $460.00. Judgment $240.00, total $540.00, take-home $1,300.00.
Estimates only; not legal advice. All figures VERIFY, including the 10% gross cap and 250% FPL floor of N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56, which poverty guideline year applies to your household size, the 25% state-debt cap under subsection (b), the CCPA support tiers under 2A:17-56.8, first-come first-served execution priority, Special Civil Part jurisdiction limits and the R. 4:42-11 8% rate. 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: contested objections, automatic stays, self-employment income, bonuses, severance, pensions, unemployment or workers compensation. Consult a New Jersey attorney or Legal Services of New Jersey. Deploy: replace the block, Update, purge cache, hard refresh; verify document.getElementById(“new-jersey-wage-garnishment-calculator”).getAttribute(“data-js-ready”) returns “true” with no SyntaxError.

What Is a New Jersey Wage Garnishment Calculator?

A New Jersey wage garnishment calculator estimates the amount that may be withheld from earnings based on gross pay, legally required deductions, household size, pay frequency, order type, and other entered amounts. For a private judgment, this calculator compares the 10% gross-pay cap with its 250% poverty-level floor, federal CCPA limit, and remaining aggregate room.

The calculator has three modes. Single order estimates one selected withholding type. Stacking mode processes five entered order categories in a fixed sequence. Payoff mode uses the calculated withholding, an entered balance, and an annual interest rate to estimate how many pay periods may be needed to satisfy the balance.

The county selection provides venue and procedure information but does not change the numerical formulas. The selected wage year provides context and selects the calculator's stored IRS exemption figures. The household-size selection affects the hard-coded 250% federal poverty level floor used for private judgments and New Jersey state debts.

How the New Jersey Wage Garnishment Calculation Works

The calculator begins with disposable earnings. It adds federal income tax, New Jersey income tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding. If the total required withholding exceeds gross pay, the code caps it at gross pay. Voluntary deductions are not part of this calculation.

Disposable earnings=Gross pay−min⁡(Gross pay,Required withholding)\text{Disposable earnings}=\text{Gross pay}-\min\left(\text{Gross pay},\text{Required withholding}\right)

Pay-period earnings are also converted to weekly amounts. The calculator uses 52 periods for weekly pay, 26 for biweekly pay, 24 for semimonthly pay, and 12 for monthly pay.

Dw=D×P52D_w=D\times\frac{P}{52}

Here, D is disposable earnings for the pay period, Dw is weekly disposable earnings, and P is the number of pay periods per year.

Private Judgment Formula

For a private judgment or private student loan judgment, the calculator compares four limits. These are 10% of gross pay, room above the household's 250% poverty-level floor, the federal CCPA cap, and remaining 25% aggregate room after senior wage executions.

CCCPA=min⁡(0.25D, max⁡(0,Dw−217.50)×52P)C_{CCPA}=\min\left(0.25D,\ \max(0,D_w-217.50)\times\frac{52}{P}\right)
RFPL=max⁡(0,Dw−F)×52PR_{FPL}=\max(0,D_w-F)\times\frac{52}{P}
R25=max⁡(0,0.25D−S)R_{25}=\max\left(0,0.25D-S\right)
Cprivate=min⁡(0.10G, RFPL, CCCPA, R25)C_{private}=\min\left(0.10G,\ R_{FPL},\ C_{CCPA},\ R_{25}\right)

In these formulas, G is gross pay, F is the weekly 250% poverty-level amount, and S is the entered amount of senior wage executions. The CCPA floor uses 30 times the calculator's $7.25 federal minimum wage figure, or $217.50 per week.

If the amount demanded per period is positive and lower than the private cap, the calculator uses the demanded amount. Entering zero applies the calculated maximum.

Worked Private Judgment Example

One built-in test case uses weekly gross pay of $1,000, $200 of required withholding, and a one-person household. Disposable earnings are $800. The calculator's one-person 250% poverty-level floor is about $752.40 per week. That leaves about $47.60 above the floor.

The 10% gross cap is $100. The 25% disposable limit is $200, and the federal 30-times wage floor also leaves more than $200 available under the CCPA calculation. Because the $47.60 poverty-level room is the smallest applicable limit, the displayed withholding is $47.60. With no voluntary deductions, take-home pay is displayed as $752.40.

New Jersey State Debt

For the New Jersey state-debt option, the code starts with 25% of gross earnings. It then limits that amount to the room above the household poverty-level floor and to disposable earnings.

Cstate=min⁡(0.25G, RFPL, D)C_{state}=\min\left(0.25G,\ R_{FPL},\ D\right)

A positive demanded amount below that calculated limit reduces the withholding further. The single-order state-debt calculation does not subtract the entered senior wage executions from this cap.

Child and Spousal Support

Child support and alimony use a separate percentage ceiling based on disposable earnings. The calculator uses 50% when the second-family box is checked and 60% otherwise. If arrears are marked as 12 weeks or older, five percentage points are added, producing a 55% or 65% ceiling.

Csupport=sDC_{support}=sD

The calculator uses the lower of this support ceiling and a positive demanded amount. The private 10% gross cap and poverty-level floor are not applied to the support calculation in the code.

Federal Student Loan Garnishment

For federal student loan administrative wage garnishment, the calculator compares 15% of disposable earnings with the amount above the same $217.50 weekly federal floor.

Cstudent=min⁡(0.15D, max⁡(0,Dw−217.50)×52P)C_{student}=\min\left(0.15D,\ \max(0,D_w-217.50)\times\frac{52}{P}\right)

A positive demanded amount below this cap becomes the withholding amount. In the single-order calculation, the entered senior wage execution amount is not subtracted from the federal student loan cap.

IRS Levy Estimate

For an IRS levy, a positive exempt-amount override is used directly. Otherwise, the calculator builds an annual exemption estimate from its stored standard-deduction amount for the selected year and filing status, plus $5,300 per dependent and $1,600 per entered age-65-or-blind box. It divides that total by the number of pay periods.

E=B+5300N+1600APE=\frac{B+5300N+1600A}{P}
IRS withholding=max⁡(0,D−E)\text{IRS withholding}=\max(0,D-E)

Here, B is the calculator's stored filing-status amount, N is the number of dependents, and A is the age-65-or-blind count. The interface labels this IRS calculation as an estimate that should be verified.

Chapter 13 and Payoff Calculations

For Chapter 13, the monthly plan amount is converted to the selected pay frequency and capped at disposable earnings. A smaller positive demanded amount can reduce the result.

Cplan=min⁡(D,12MP)C_{plan}=\min\left(D,\frac{12M}{P}\right)

Payoff mode uses the calculated withholding as the periodic payment. For a positive annual interest rate, the code first converts the APR to an interest rate per pay period.

i=APR/100Pi=\frac{\text{APR}/100}{P}
n=⌈−ln⁡(1−BiQ)ln⁡(1+i)⌉n=\left\lceil\frac{-\ln\left(1-\frac{Bi}{Q}\right)}{\ln(1+i)}\right\rceil

In this formula, B is the balance and Q is the withholding per period. If the periodic payment does not exceed one period's interest, the calculator reports that the balance does not amortize. With 0% interest, it divides the balance by the payment and rounds up to a whole pay period.

For positive interest rates, displayed total paid equals the rounded-up number of periods multiplied by the full periodic payment. The code therefore treats the final period as a full payment when calculating total paid and interest paid.

How to Use the New Jersey Wage Garnishment Calculator

  1. Choose Single order, Stacking - five order types, or Payoff timeline.
  2. Select the wage year, one of the 21 New Jersey counties, and your pay frequency.
  3. Select a household size from one through six. Enter a weekly 250% FPL override if you want the calculator to use that figure instead of its stored household-size amount.
  4. Enter gross pay for the period and the applicable federal tax, New Jersey tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding.
  5. Enter voluntary deductions if you want them reflected in the displayed take-home amount.
  6. Select the order type and enter the amount demanded per period when applicable. In single-order mode, zero applies the calculator's maximum for that order type.
  7. Enter existing support and senior wage executions when applicable. Senior executions affect the private-judgment aggregate-room calculation.
  8. Complete any additional support, IRS, or Chapter 13 fields that appear for the selected order type.
  9. In stacking mode, enter amounts for support, IRS levy, New Jersey state debt, federal student loan AWG, and private judgment. A zero in a stacking order box means no amount is requested for that category.
  10. For payoff mode, enter the balance owed and annual interest percentage, check the required acknowledgment, and select Calculate.

The primary result is the estimated withholding per pay period. The results also display weekly and annual withholding, gross and disposable earnings, the poverty-level and federal wage floors, individual caps, remaining room, take-home pay, the percentage of disposable earnings withheld, and the factor identified by the calculator as binding. Dollar amounts are formatted to two decimal places.

Understanding the Inputs and Limits

The household-size input matters because the calculator has a fixed annual 250% poverty-level table for household sizes one through six. The table is divided by 52 to produce the weekly floor. The interface describes it as a 2025 table that should be verified for the applicable year. Selecting a different wage year does not change this stored poverty table.

A positive FPL override replaces the stored weekly household amount. The override accepts values from $0 through $10,000. This allows the calculator's private and state-debt formulas to use an entered weekly floor instead of the built-in household table.

Required and voluntary deductions have different effects. Required deductions reduce disposable earnings. Voluntary deductions, described by the interface as health, 401(k), and dues, do not reduce the garnishment base. They are subtracted later when take-home pay is displayed.

The "Support already withheld" field is displayed in the results but does not reduce the private-judgment cap in the single-order code. The "Senior wage executions" field does reduce the private 25% aggregate room. This distinction is important when interpreting the result.

Stacking mode follows the calculator's fixed sequence: support, IRS levy, New Jersey state debt, federal student loan AWG, and private judgment. Support, IRS, and state debt are limited by remaining disposable earnings as the waterfall progresses. The federal student loan step is calculated from the original disposable earnings and federal floor before its amount is subtracted from the remaining balance. The private judgment is calculated last.

Most money fields accept values from $0 to $10,000,000. The FPL override is capped at $10,000. Debt balance allows up to $100,000,000. The interest rate accepts 0% through 40%. IRS dependents are limited to 0 through 20, and the age-65-or-blind count is limited to 0 through 2. Gross pay must be greater than zero before the calculator will produce results.

The annual interest field is prefilled with 8%. The interface itself marks that rate, the poverty figures, legal caps, priority rules, and other legal details for verification. Actual withholding can depend on the controlling order, current law, exemptions, court procedure, and facts that this calculator does not model. The output is an estimate, not legal advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the calculator allow for a private New Jersey wage execution?

The calculator uses the smallest of four amounts: 10% of gross pay, room above the household's stored or overridden 250% poverty-level floor, the federal CCPA cap, and remaining 25% aggregate room after entered senior wage executions. A smaller positive demanded amount can reduce the final withholding further.

How does household size affect the result?

Household size selects one of six stored annual poverty-level amounts. The calculator divides that amount by 52 to create a weekly floor. A larger stored floor leaves less income available for a private judgment or New Jersey state-debt calculation. A positive weekly FPL override replaces the household table value.

Does a voluntary 401(k) contribution reduce disposable earnings?

No. The calculator keeps voluntary deductions outside its disposable-earnings formula. The voluntary field affects the displayed take-home amount after withholding. Mandatory retirement is different because it has its own required-withholding field and is subtracted before disposable earnings are calculated.

What does zero in the amount demanded field mean?

In a single-order calculation, zero means the calculator applies the maximum allowed by its formula for the selected order type. If you enter a positive demanded amount below the calculated ceiling, that smaller amount is used. In stacking mode, zero in an individual order box means no amount is requested for that category.

How is a New Jersey state debt calculated?

The calculator starts with 25% of gross pay for the state-debt option. It then compares that amount with the available room above the 250% poverty-level floor and with disposable earnings. The smallest becomes the state-debt cap before a lower positive demanded amount is considered.

How does the calculator estimate an IRS levy?

The calculator either uses the positive exempt-amount override you enter or builds an estimate from its stored filing-status amount for 2024, 2025, or 2026, plus its dependent and age-or-blind additions. It divides that annual amount by the selected pay frequency and treats disposable earnings above the result as available for the levy.

Can this calculator estimate how long a garnishment will take to pay off?

Yes. Payoff mode uses the calculated withholding as the periodic payment against the entered balance. It displays the number of pay periods, approximate calendar time, total paid, and interest paid. It also identifies cases where withholding is zero or the periodic payment does not exceed the interest accruing during one period.

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