South Dakota Wage Garnishment Calculator

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South Dakota Wage Garnishment Calculator

Calculate wage garnishment limits under South Dakota law. SDCL 15-18-51, 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677. Estimates only.

Rules encoded (VERIFY): South Dakota follows federal CCPA limits: the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage ($217.50 weekly). Child support follows CCPA tiers 50/55/60/65% per SDCL 15-18-52. Federal student loan AWG uses 15%. Federal tax debts up to 25%. Post-judgment interest runs at the judgment rate specified by SDCL 15-18-53.

1. Mode, county and pay date

Stack uses the order boxes in section 3.
South Dakota uses federal $7.25 minimum wage for garnishment calculations.
Circuit Court venue.
Federal 30x test runs weekly; scaled by 52 / periods.
Select a county to see the venue note and federal floor figures.

2. Gross pay and legally required withholding

Includes bonuses and commissions.
South Dakota has NO state income tax.
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

South Dakota post-judgment interest: 4% per year (SDCL 15-18-53 – VERIFY).

How it works

  • Disposable = gross minus legally required withholding; voluntary shown separately.
  • Weekly conversion = 52 / periods (1, 2, 2.1667, 4.3333).
  • South Dakota follows federal CCPA limits: lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or excess over 30× $7.25 weekly.
  • Consumer debts = up to 25% of disposable earnings per CCPA.
  • Support = lesser of ordered and CCPA tier 50/55/60/65% of disposable earnings per SDCL 15-18-52.
  • Federal tax = up to 25% of disposable earnings per CCPA.
  • Student loan AWG = lesser of 15% disposable and above the federal 30x floor.
  • Chapter 13 = the confirmed plan payment, capped at disposable earnings.
  • Stack applies precedence in order.
  • Payoff amortizes at the entered rate and flags non-amortizing or zero-withholding cases.

Sources

  • SDCL 15-18-51 (wage garnishment limits following CCPA): sdlegislature.gov
  • SDCL 15-18-52 (support withholding): sdlegislature.gov
  • SDCL 15-18-53 (post-judgment interest: 4% per year): sdlegislature.gov
  • 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677 (Consumer Credit Protection Act): dol.gov
  • DOL Fact Sheet 30 (wage garnishment protections): dol.gov
  • South Dakota Department of Revenue (dor.sd.gov)
  • IRS Pub 1494 and Form 668-W: irs.gov
  • 20 U.S.C. 1095a, 34 CFR 34.19 (student loan AWG): studentaid.gov

Test cases

TC1 Minnehaha County, 2026, weekly, consumer debt. Gross $1,000.00; required $200.00; disposable $800.00. 25% cap = $200.00. Withheld $200.00, take-home $600.00.
TC2 Pennington County, 2026, weekly, consumer debt. Gross $300.00; required $50.00; disposable $250.00. Floor $217.50 leaves $32.50 reachable; 25% cap is $62.50. Withheld $32.50, take-home $217.50.
TC3 Lincoln County, 2026, biweekly, child support. Gross $2,400.00; required $560.00; disposable $1,840.00. With no second family and no arrears, the CCPA tier is 60% = $1,104.00. Withheld $1,104.00, take-home $736.00.
TC4 Brown County, 2026, semimonthly, federal student loan AWG. Gross $2,600.00; required $600.00; disposable $2,000.00. The 15% AWG cap is $300.00. Withheld $300.00, take-home $1,400.00.
TC5 Brookings County, 2026, monthly, medical debt. Gross $4,000.00; required $1,000.00; disposable $3,000.00. 25% cap = $750.00. Withheld $750.00, take-home $2,250.00.
Estimates only; not legal advice. All figures VERIFY, including the South Dakota wage garnishment limits under SDCL 15-18-51, the CCPA support tiers, the federal student loan 15% cap, and the 4% post-judgment interest rate. Not modeled: contested exemption hearings, automatic stays, self-employment income, bonuses, severance, pensions, unemployment or workers compensation. Consult a South Dakota attorney or South Dakota Legal Services. Deploy: replace the block, Update, purge cache, hard refresh; verify document.getElementById(“south-dakota-wage-garnishment-calculator”).getAttribute(“data-js-ready”) returns “true” with no SyntaxError.

What Is a South Dakota Wage Garnishment Calculator?

A South Dakota wage garnishment calculator estimates withholding for a pay period by calculating disposable earnings and applying the limit coded for the selected order type. Depending on the order, the tool may use a 25% disposable-earnings cap, a protected earnings floor, a support percentage, an estimated federal tax exemption, or a Chapter 13 payment amount.

The calculator displays the estimated amount withheld per pay period along with disposable earnings, weekly and annual withholding, take-home pay, applicable caps, and the percentage of disposable earnings withheld. Stacking mode adds a priority waterfall, while payoff calculations estimate the number of pay periods needed to satisfy a balance.

The tool marks its legal figures and assumptions for verification and describes its results as estimates. Actual withholding may depend on the governing order, agency calculations, exemptions, court procedures, and other facts not determined by this calculator. Its output is not legal advice or a legal determination.

How the South Dakota Wage Garnishment Calculation Works

The calculation begins with disposable earnings. The code adds federal income tax, South Dakota income tax entered in the form, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding. If these deductions exceed gross pay, required withholding is capped at gross pay.

D=G−min⁡(G,R)D=G-\min(G,R)

Here, D is disposable earnings, G is gross pay for the period, and R is total legally required withholding. Voluntary deductions are excluded from this calculation. They are used later when take-home pay is displayed.

The calculator converts each payroll period to a weekly basis. If p is the number of annual pay periods, the code uses 52 for weekly, 26 for biweekly, 24 for semimonthly, and 12 for monthly pay.

w=52pw=\frac{52}{p}

The coded weekly protected amount is 30 times $7.25, which equals $217.50. The amount of disposable earnings above that floor for the selected pay period is:

H=max⁡(0,D−217.50w)H=\max\left(0,D-217.50w\right)

Consumer and Medical Debt

Consumer and medical debt follow the same calculation. The code compares the earnings above the protected floor with the remaining portion of 25% of disposable earnings after Other garnishments are deducted.

C=min⁡(H,max⁡(0,0.25D−O))C=\min\left(H,\max(0,0.25D-O)\right)

Here, O is the Other garnishments entry. If Amount demanded per period is $0, the calculator applies the full calculated cap. If a positive demanded amount is below the cap, that smaller amount is withheld.

Child Support and Alimony

Child support and alimony use the same support calculation. The base ceiling is 50% of disposable earnings when the second-family box is checked and 60% when it is not. The arrears checkbox adds five percentage points.

Csupport=rDC_{support}=rD

The possible coded rates are 50%, 55%, 60%, and 65%. A positive demanded amount below the applicable support ceiling reduces withholding to the demanded amount.

Federal Student Loan AWG

For federal student loan AWG, the calculator uses the smaller of 15% of disposable earnings and the amount above the coded 30-times-minimum-wage floor.

Cstudent=min⁡(0.15D,H)C_{student}=\min(0.15D,H)

If a positive Amount demanded is lower than this result, the demanded amount becomes the withholding.

Federal Tax Debt

Federal tax debt follows a separate calculation. The tool estimates an exempt amount for the selected pay period and treats disposable earnings above that amount as available for the levy.

Ctax=max⁡(0,D−E)C_{tax}=\max(0,D-E)

A positive Override exempt amount is used directly as E. Otherwise, the calculator starts with its stored amount for the selected year and filing status, adds $5,300 for each dependent and $1,600 for each age-65-or-blind box, then divides by annual pay periods.

E=B+5300d+1600apE=\frac{B+5300d+1600a}{p}

In this formula, B is the stored base amount, d is the number of dependents, and a is the age-65-or-blind count. The calculator contains stored values for 2024, 2025, and 2026 and labels this federal tax method as an estimate that should be verified.

Chapter 13 Plan

The Chapter 13 branch converts the entered monthly plan payment to the chosen pay frequency and limits the result to disposable earnings.

CCh13=min⁡(D,12Mp)C_{Ch13}=\min\left(D,\frac{12M}{p}\right)

Here, M is the monthly plan payment. A positive Amount demanded below the converted plan payment further limits the withholding.

Payoff Timeline

For a payoff estimate, the withholding amount becomes the recurring payment. If the entered annual interest rate is above zero, the calculator converts it to a rate per pay period.

i=APR100pi=\frac{APR}{100p}

When the payment is greater than one period of accrued interest, the number of payments is calculated and rounded upward:

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

Here, B is the balance, P is the payment per period, and n is the number of pay periods. If the payment does not exceed one period of interest, the tool reports that the balance never amortizes. At 0% interest, it divides the balance by the payment and rounds the period count upward.

Worked Example

Suppose weekly gross pay is $300 and legally required withholding is $50. For a consumer-debt calculation with no other garnishments, disposable earnings equal $250.

D=300−50=250D=300-50=250

Twenty-five percent of disposable earnings is $62.50. The amount above the $217.50 weekly protected floor is only $32.50.

C=min⁡(62.50,32.50)=32.50C=\min(62.50,32.50)=32.50

The calculator therefore displays $32.50 withheld for the pay period. With no voluntary deductions in this example, take-home pay after required withholding and garnishment is $217.50.

How to Use the South Dakota Wage Garnishment Calculator

  1. Select Single order, Stacking, or Payoff timeline mode.
  2. Choose the year wages are payable, a South Dakota county, and the pay frequency.
  3. Enter gross pay and any federal tax, South Dakota income tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding amounts.
  4. Enter voluntary deductions separately. These affect displayed take-home pay but not disposable earnings.
  5. Select the order type and enter any Amount demanded, Support already withheld, and Other garnishments.
  6. Complete any extra fields shown for support, federal tax debt, Chapter 13, or stacking mode.
  7. For a payoff calculation, enter the balance owed and annual interest rate. The interest field defaults to 4%.
  8. Check the required acknowledgment and select Calculate.

The primary result is Withheld per pay period. The calculator also shows gross and disposable pay per week, the 25% amount, earnings above the protected floor, the order-specific cap, weekly and annual withholding, take-home pay, the share of disposable earnings withheld, and a description of the factor identified by the code as binding.

Understanding the Inputs and Results

Pay frequency can materially change the result because the protected earnings figure is calculated weekly and then scaled to one pay period. Pay frequency also affects annual withholding, the estimated federal tax exemption per period, Chapter 13 payment conversion, and the payoff timeline.

The county selection is required but does not change the numerical garnishment formula. The code uses it to display a Circuit Court venue note. The year selection affects the stored figures used by the federal tax exemption calculation.

The form includes a South Dakota income tax input and states that South Dakota has no state income tax. The calculation nevertheless subtracts any amount entered in that field as legally required withholding. Leaving the field at its default $0 avoids adding an amount that the interface itself says does not apply.

The displayed Room remaining figure is not identical to the consumer-debt cap calculation. Room remaining subtracts both Support already withheld and Other garnishments from 25% of disposable earnings. The actual consumer and medical cap in the code subtracts only Other garnishments before comparing the result with the protected-floor amount.

Stacking mode processes four entered categories in this order: support, federal tax, federal student loan AWG, and consumer debt. This is the implemented waterfall even though the mode label says “Stacking - five order types.” A $0 entry in a stack field means that category contributes no withholding.

Support in the waterfall is limited by its support percentage and the remaining disposable earnings. Federal tax is then limited by the amount remaining above the estimated exemption. The student-loan step uses its 15% and protected-floor cap based on the original disposable earnings. The code does not separately limit that step to the remaining balance before subtracting it. Consumer debt is processed last and is capped by the remaining amount.

Dollar outputs are formatted to two decimal places. The share of disposable earnings is shown to two decimal places as a percentage. Take-home pay is gross pay minus required withholding, voluntary deductions, and the calculated garnishment, with displayed take-home prevented from falling below $0.

Gross pay must be greater than $0. Most money fields allow values from $0 through $10,000,000. Balance owed allows up to $100,000,000, annual interest allows 0% through 40%, dependents allow 0 through 20, and the age-65-or-blind field allows 0 through 2. The acknowledgment checkbox is required before results are displayed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are disposable earnings in this calculator?

Disposable earnings are gross pay minus the legally required withholding entered in the form. The calculator includes federal income tax, the South Dakota income tax field, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding. Voluntary deductions such as health deductions, 401(k) contributions, and dues are kept separate.

What does $0 mean in the Amount demanded field?

For a single order, $0 tells the calculator to use the full calculated limit for that order type. A positive demand below the cap reduces withholding to that amount. This differs from stacking mode, where a $0 amount in a dedicated order field means that no withholding is requested for that category.

Does Support already withheld reduce the consumer-debt cap?

Not in the implemented consumer-debt formula. The code subtracts Other garnishments when calculating the remaining 25% consumer room. Support already withheld is included only in the separately displayed Room remaining calculation, so that output can be lower than the cap actually used for a consumer or medical order.

How does the federal tax calculation work?

The calculator subtracts an estimated exempt amount from disposable earnings. A positive override replaces the estimate. Otherwise, the exemption comes from the tool's stored year and filing-status amount plus its dependent and age-or-blind additions, divided by annual pay periods. The calculator labels this calculation for verification.

Why does pay frequency affect the garnishment estimate?

The tool starts with a $217.50 weekly protected figure and scales it to the selected pay period. A biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly paycheck represents more than one week. Pay frequency also changes annualized figures, federal tax exemption amounts per period, Chapter 13 conversions, and payoff calculations.

What happens if the payoff payment is too small to cover interest?

The calculator does not produce a normal payoff period count. If withholding per period is less than or equal to one period of accrued interest, it reports that the balance never amortizes. If the payment is $0, the tool also returns no payoff period count.

How does the calculator show payoff time?

After calculating the number of pay periods, the code converts that count to years and months using the selected number of annual pay periods. Months are rounded to the nearest whole month. If the result is less than one month, the calculator displays “under 1 mo” along with the number of periods.

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