California Take-Home Pay Calculator

California take-home pay starts with gross wages, then deducts five things in order: federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to the 2026 wage base), Medicare (1.45%, plus Additional Medicare Tax above the federal threshold), California state income tax, and California SDI (1.3% on all wages in 2026, no cap).

The big difference between California and most states is the absence of a wage cap on SDI. In 2024, Senate Bill 951 removed the SDI taxable wage limit, so a California worker earning $200,000 pays SDI on the full $200,000, about $2,600 a year. A worker in most other states with disability programs would have stopped contributing once their pay crossed a much lower cap. The 2026 SDI rate is 1.3%, up from 1.2% in 2025.

California's state income tax is bracket-based, ranging from 1% on the first $11,079 of taxable income (single filer, 2025 California FTB tax rate schedule) up to 12.3% above roughly $700,000, plus a 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax on taxable income above $1 million (the well-known 13.3% top marginal rate). Most California workers fall in the 6% to 9.3% range. This calculator uses simplified bracket estimates. City-level taxes, local district taxes, deductions, credits, and full tax filing details can still change your actual result.

Federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%, capped at the federal wage base of $184,500 in 2026), and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages over $200,000 in this simplified single-threshold estimate) apply in California exactly the same way they do in every other state.

What's added on top in California: state income tax based on nine progressive brackets, and SDI at 1.3% on every dollar of wages. California does not have a separate employee-paid unemployment tax. State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) and the Employment Training Tax (ETT) are both paid by employers, not deducted from your paycheck. So the only California-specific deduction you'll see on a paystub is SDI plus state income tax.

Actual paychecks can differ because payroll systems consider filing status, W-4 elections, pre-tax benefits, retirement contributions, bonuses, employer-specific deductions, payroll timing, and any unusual local payroll rules that may apply.

Beyond the basic tax math, California has wage and hour rules that affect what you actually take home, especially if you work overtime, in certain cities, or in certain industries.

Daily overtime, not just weekly. California requires 1.5x pay for any hours over 8 in a single workday, not just over 40 in a workweek. This is one of the few daily-overtime states in the country. Above 12 hours in a single day, the rate jumps to 2x (double time). On a seventh consecutive workday in the same workweek, the first 8 hours are paid at 1.5x and anything beyond 8 is paid at 2x.

State minimum wage is $16.90/hour in 2026 (effective January 1, 2026), up from $16.50 in 2025. Fast food workers at chains with 60+ U.S. locations earn a minimum of $20.00/hour under AB 1228. Most California healthcare workers earn a minimum between $18.63 and $24.00/hour depending on facility type, under SB 525.

City minimums are often higher than state. San Francisco's minimum wage is $18.67/hour as of July 2025, scheduled to rise to about $19.18 on July 1, 2026. Cities including Los Angeles, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, West Hollywood, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale all set local minimums above the state rate. Employers must pay the higher of the two when work is performed in a covered city.

Paid sick leave is mandatory statewide. Under SB 616 (effective 2024), California employers must provide at least 40 hours (or 5 days) of paid sick leave per year, accrued at a rate of 1 hour per 30 hours worked. Some cities require more.

SDI provides up to $1,765/week in 2026 in disability or paid family leave benefits, up from $1,681 in 2025. This is what the 1.3% deduction funds.