In Colorado, the most a creditor can take from your paycheck for an ordinary consumer debt is the lesser of 20% of your disposable earnings for the pay period or the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed 40 times the state minimum wage. With the 2026 Colorado minimum wage at $15.16 per hour, that protected weekly floor is $606.40, and anything at or below that is completely off-limits.1Colorado General Assembly. HB19-1189 Wage Garnishment Reform2Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. INFO 1: 2026 COMPS and PAYCALC Orders Colorado wage garnishment limits are meaningfully tighter than the federal baseline, which allows up to 25% of disposable earnings and protects only $217.50 per week.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
What Counts as Disposable Earnings
The percentage isn’t taken from your gross pay or your take-home pay. It’s taken from your disposable earnings, which is what remains after legally required deductions: federal, state, and local taxes, Social Security, Medicare, and state unemployment insurance.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
Voluntary deductions do not reduce the figure. Health insurance premiums, union dues, retirement contributions you elected, and charitable donations all stay in the calculation base. That means your disposable earnings will almost always be higher than the number on your direct deposit, and the garnishment is figured from the larger amount.
Running the Numbers
Colorado’s cap for consumer debts (credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, and similar judgments) is the lesser of these two figures:1Colorado General Assembly. HB19-1189 Wage Garnishment Reform
- 20% of your disposable earnings for the pay period, or
- The amount your weekly disposable earnings exceed 40 times the state minimum wage ($606.40 in 2026).
Say your disposable earnings are $750 for the week. Twenty percent of $750 is $150. Subtract the $606.40 floor from $750 and you get $143.60. The creditor collects the smaller of the two, so $143.60 comes out and $606.40 stays with you.
If your disposable earnings for the week are $606.40 or less, nothing can be garnished at all. A creditor with a valid judgment still holds it, but the writ produces no money until your earnings rise above the floor.
A continuing wage garnishment stays active for 182 days, or roughly six months. If the debt isn’t paid off by then, the creditor can serve a new writ and start another cycle.4Colorado Judicial Branch. Writ of Continuing Garnishment – Form 26
One threshold matter worth knowing: for a consumer debt, no garnishment can start until the creditor sues you, wins a judgment, and obtains a writ from the court.5Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 5 5-5-105 – No Garnishment Before Judgment If your paycheck is being reduced without that sequence having happened, something is wrong.
Child Support and Tax Debts Follow Different Rules
The 20% cap does not apply to child support or to tax debts, and both allow significantly larger amounts to come out of your pay.
For child support income withholding in Colorado, employers must deduct up to 50% of disposable income when arrears are less than 12 weeks old, and up to 55% when arrears exceed 12 weeks.6Colorado Child Support Services. Income Withholding Federal law caps support-related withholding at 50% for workers supporting another spouse or dependent child and 60% for those who are not, with an additional 5% permitted when payments are more than 12 weeks late.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
Tax garnishments by the Colorado Department of Revenue or the IRS also sit outside the standard formula. These agencies do not need to file a lawsuit to begin collection, and they calculate the protected portion of your wages using their own tables rather than the 20% or $606.40 rule.
Income That Can’t Be Garnished at All
Some income is fully shielded from creditors collecting on consumer debts. Under Colorado law, the following cannot be reached:7Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 13 13-54-104 – Property Exempt
- Social Security benefits
- Workers’ compensation payments
- Unemployment benefits
- Certain pension payments
These protections exist because the money is meant for basic living during retirement, disability, or job loss. There is one carve-out to be aware of: child support obligations and debts tied to theft or embezzlement of public property can reach income that would otherwise be exempt, including workers’ compensation and pension payments.8Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 13 13-54.5-101 – Definitions
When More Than One Creditor Is After You
Multiple garnishments do not stack past the applicable cap. The overall limit on what can leave your paycheck stays the same no matter how many judgments are outstanding, and priority rules decide who gets paid first.
Child support and alimony come ahead of commercial debts. Federal tax levies come ahead of consumer creditors too.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 3205 – Garnishment If a child support order is already pulling 50% of your disposable earnings, a credit card creditor holding a valid judgment may collect nothing at all in the meantime. That creditor’s writ doesn’t vanish; it waits in line until room opens up or the higher-priority obligation ends.
Your Employer Can’t Fire You Over It
Colorado prohibits firing an employee because a creditor has garnished or attempted to garnish wages, and this protection applies regardless of how many garnishment proceedings a single creditor brings on one debt.10Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 13 13-54.5-110 – No Discharge From Employment for Any Garnishment
If you’re fired in violation of the rule, you have 91 days to file a civil lawsuit. Available remedies include reinstatement, recovery of lost wages up to six weeks’ worth, costs, and attorney fees. The window is short, so acting quickly matters.
This is broader than the federal protection. Under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, an employer cannot fire you over garnishment for a single debt, but that protection thins out when multiple creditors are involved.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act Colorado’s statute covers any garnishment, first or not.
How to Challenge a Garnishment
You can contest a garnishment by filing a written objection or claim of exemption with the court.11Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 13 13-54.5-108 – Judgment Debtor to File Written Objection or Claim of Exemption Once you file, withheld funds go to the court and are held there while a judge resolves the dispute rather than being paid over to the creditor.12Colorado Judicial Branch. Garnishment of Wages
Common grounds include:
- The income being taken is exempt (Social Security, disability, unemployment, and similar sources).
- The amount withheld exceeds Colorado’s cap.
- The garnishment creates genuine financial hardship warranting a greater exemption.
A judge can reduce the amount taken or terminate the writ entirely. The deadline for objecting is short and appears on the garnishment paperwork you receive along with the instructions for filing. Missing it can waive your right to contest the withholding, so treat the documents as urgent from the day they arrive, even if you’re not yet sure whether you have a valid objection.