Wage garnishment in Minnesota

Most a card or medical judgment can take

10%, 15% or 25% of take-home pay, by income levelsource

Pay you always keep

$456.40 a week (40 x the $11.41 state minimum wage)source

Warning before your employer is served

10-day Notice of Intent to Garnish Earningssource

Bank accounts

Frozen 14 days; send the exemption form with 60 days of statementssource

How much can be garnished from a paycheck in Minnesota?

Minnesota uses a sliding scale written into Minnesota Statutes section 571.922. Every step is a multiple of the state minimum wage, which the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry lists at $11.41 an hour for 2026. The scale works on disposable earnings, meaning your pay once taxes and other legally required withholding come out.

• $456.40 a week or less: nothing can be taken.
• Above $456.40, up to $684.60: 10%.
• Above $684.60, up to $912.80: 15%.
• Above $912.80: 25%.

The creditor also never gets more than the part above $456.40. So $600 of weekly take-home pay can lose $60 and $1,000 can lose $250. The state rate rises to $11.87 on January 1, 2027, which lifts every line of this scale.

The 10-day notice and the public assistance exemption

Before a creditor serves your employer, you get a Garnishment Exemption Notice and Notice of Intent to Garnish Earnings. The wording is fixed by section 571.925 and it warns that the garnishment can begin 10 days or more after you receive it, with no further court action.

Your earnings cannot be taken if you get need-based government help now, got it within the last 6 months or were an inmate of a correctional institution in that time. The list covers MFIP, SNAP, General Assistance, Medical Assistance, MinnesotaCare, SSI, energy assistance and the earned income credit. The protection only works if you complete the attached Debtor’s Exemption Claim Notice and return it to the creditor or its lawyer.

How long a Minnesota wage garnishment lasts

One summons does not run forever here. Section 571.923 says an earnings garnishment stays in effect no longer than 90 days from the day it was served on your employer. Child support collected by a county is the main exception.

When two creditors serve the same employer, the one that served first is paid first. Even then, all of them together cannot take more than the non-exempt part of that paycheck. Calling us gets a garnishment specialist on the line to read your notice, count the 10 days and work out what each creditor can still reach.

Can a creditor freeze my bank account in Minnesota?

Yes. You will get a notice headed Money in Your Account Has Been Frozen showing your balance and the amount held. Under section 571.912, that money stays frozen for 14 days. To get protected money back sooner, sign both exemption forms, add copies of your bank statements for the 60 days before the garnishment and mail one set to the creditor and one to the bank on the same day.

If the creditor does not object, the bank should release the money 6 business days after it gets your form. Exempt wages also stay exempt for 20 days after they are deposited and need-based benefits are protected under section 550.37.