In Wyoming, a creditor with a money judgment can garnish the lesser of 25% of your weekly disposable earnings or the amount by which those disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. Because Wyoming's garnishment statute (Wyo. Stat. § 1-15-408 for ordinary writs and § 1-15-511 for continuing writs) ties directly to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, the protected floor works out to $217.50 per week as of 2026. If your disposable earnings for a week are $217.50 or less, none of your wages can be taken. Wyoming does not adopt a more generous state cap and does not ban wage garnishment for ordinary debts, so the practical ceiling is the same 25% used under the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA). That is the key number to remember: a judgment creditor in Wyoming can never reach more than a quarter of your disposable pay, and often less.
How Wyoming's Garnishment Limit Actually Works
"Disposable earnings" means what is left after legally required deductions such as federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and state taxes. It is not your gross pay, and it is not your take-home after voluntary deductions like a 401(k) contribution or health insurance you elected. The garnishment calculation runs on this disposable figure.
Each pay period, the law compares two amounts and lets the creditor take whichever is smaller:
- 25% of disposable earnings for that week, or
- The amount that disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage ($7.25 x 30 = $217.50 per week).
For pay periods longer than a week, the floor scales up. As a rough guide, the protected amount is about $435 for a two-week period, roughly $471.25 semi-monthly, and about $942.50 monthly, in each case calculated against the federal minimum wage in effect. Because the federal minimum wage can change, confirm the current figure with the official source before relying on an exact dollar amount.
A quick example: if your disposable earnings are $400 in a week, 25% is $100, and the amount over $217.50 is $182.50. The creditor takes the lesser figure, $100. If your disposable earnings are only $250, then 25% is $62.50 while the amount over $217.50 is $32.50, so the creditor can take only $32.50 that week. The closer your pay is to the $217.50 floor, the more the second prong protects you.
Wyoming's 90-Day Continuing Writ
Wyoming uses a "continuing" writ of garnishment, codified at Wyo. Stat. §§ 1-15-501 through 1-15-511. Instead of capturing a single paycheck and expiring, a continuing writ acts as a lien on your earnings for up to 90 days from the date it is served on your employer, or until the judgment is paid, the writ is dismissed, or your employment ends, whichever comes first. During that 90-day window, the employer withholds the allowed portion from each paycheck and forwards it to the court or creditor. After the writ expires, a creditor who has not been paid in full must obtain and serve a new writ to continue garnishing.
When more than one garnishment is served, Wyoming follows a priority rule: the writ served first generally has priority, and the second creditor waits in line. There is one major exception. An income-withholding order for child support takes priority over an ordinary garnishment, even one served earlier.
What Income Is Exempt in Wyoming
Several categories of income are protected beyond the 25% wage cap, and some cannot be garnished at all by ordinary creditors:
- Social Security, SSI, and most federal benefits are protected under federal law, and banks must automatically shield recently deposited Social Security in your account.
- Veterans' benefits, unemployment compensation, and workers' compensation are generally exempt.
- Most pensions and retirement accounts receive protection under Wyoming exemption statutes (see Wyo. Stat. § 1-20-110 and related provisions).
- Public assistance and certain insurance proceeds are exempt.
These protections do not disappear simply because the money lands in a checking account, but commingling exempt funds with other money can make them harder to trace. Keeping exempt income such as Social Security in a separate account makes it far easier to prove the funds are protected if a bank account is levied.
Higher Limits for Some Debts and No Limit for Others
The 25% cap is the rule for ordinary consumer and commercial debts, including credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, and most judgments from debt buyers. Some obligations follow different and often harsher rules: