How California takes tax from your paycheck
California taxes wages on a sliding scale. Its 2026 withholding schedules run from 1.1% to 14.63%, and the top rates only apply at very high incomes. Most of a typical salary falls in the middle rows, between 4.4% and 10.23%.
Your employer works out California withholding in four steps:
- Take your wages for the year, after pre-tax 401(k) and health insurance.
- Subtract the standard deduction: $5,706 for single filers, or $11,412 for heads of household and married filers with two or more allowances.
- Apply the tax rate table for your filing status.
- Subtract $168.30 for each allowance claimed on Form DE 4 (or your W-4 if you didn't file a DE 4).
This calculator assumes one allowance if you're single or head of household and two if you're married filing jointly. If you claim more allowances, less tax is withheld.
State Disability Insurance (SDI)
On top of income tax, California takes 1.3% of your wages for SDI in 2026. SDI pays for Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave benefits if you can't work because of illness, injury, pregnancy, or to care for a family member or bond with a new child.
Until 2023, SDI stopped once your wages reached a yearly limit. That limit was removed from January 1, 2024, so higher earners now pay SDI on every dollar.
Worked example
California tax rates by income
For a single filer, the 2026 withholding table applies these rates to taxable wages (after the standard deduction):
| Taxable wages (single) | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $11,079 | 1.1% |
| $11,079 to $26,264 | 2.2% |
| $26,264 to $41,452 | 4.4% |
| $41,452 to $57,542 | 6.6% |
| $57,542 to $72,724 | 8.8% |
| $72,724 to $371,479 | 10.23% |
| $371,479 to $445,771 | 11.33% |
| $445,771 to $742,953 | 12.43% |
| $742,953 to $1,000,000 | 13.53% |
| Over $1,000,000 | 14.63% |
Married filers and heads of household have wider brackets, so the same pay is taxed less. Each rate applies only to the wages inside that row.
Ways to keep more of your California paycheck
- Contribute to a pre-tax 401(k). It lowers both federal and California income tax. At California's 10.23% row plus a 22% federal bracket, each $100 you contribute costs about $68 of take-home pay.
- Use pre-tax health and dependent care accounts. Premiums paid through your employer's cafeteria plan usually reduce both income tax and FICA.
- Update Form DE 4. If you get a big refund or owe each year, adjusting your allowances brings withholding closer to what you'll owe.
The figures here are withholding estimates. Your final California tax is worked out on your Form 540 return, and you'll get any over-withholding back as a refund.