California Paycheck & Income Tax Calculator

How California income tax works

California has nine income tax brackets, running from 1% to 12.3%, plus a further 1% on income above $1,000,000 that takes the top rate to 13.3%.

The rates sound gentle at the bottom and they are, but the bands are narrow. For a single filer the 1% band ends at $11,079 and the 8% band starts at $57,542 — so an ordinary salary passes through five brackets before it stops. Joint filers get exactly double every threshold, with one exception covered further down.

Two smaller numbers do most of the surprising work. The standard deduction is only $5,706, about a third of the federal amount, and the personal exemption is a $153 credit rather than a deduction.

A single filer on $75,000 is therefore taxed on $69,294, owes $2,927.57 across the bands, subtracts the $153 credit, and pays $2,774.57 in state income tax — an effective state rate of about 3.7%.

Then SDI takes another $975, and that is the part most calculators miss.

SDI is 1.3% of everything, with no cap

If a California take-home figure looks too good, this is almost always the reason.

State Disability Insurance is a mandatory deduction from every California payslip. It funds both disability benefits and Paid Family Leave, and unlike Social Security or most state payroll levies it has no wage ceiling at all. Senate Bill 951 removed the ceiling from January 1, 2024, so every dollar you earn is charged.

For 2026 the rate is 1.3%, up from 1.2% in 2025. What that means in practice:

Because it is uncapped, SDI keeps scaling where every other payroll deduction stops. Social Security stops contributing above its wage base; SDI never does. For a Californian earning $500,000, SDI alone takes $6,500 — more than the entire state income tax bill in several states.

The figures on this page include it. If you are comparing against a calculator that shows a higher California take-home, check whether it has an SDI line at all, and whether it caps it — a cap that has not existed for three years is a common stale assumption.

The deduction is a third of the federal one

California’s standard deduction is $5,706 for a single filer and $11,412 filing jointly for 2026. The federal amounts are $16,100 and $32,200.

So California shelters $10,394 less of a single filer’s income than the IRS does. At the 8% rate a $75,000 earner sits in, that gap alone is worth $831.52 a year in extra California tax. If California conformed to the federal deduction, the state bill on $75,000 would fall from $2,774.57 to $1,943.05.

This is the opposite of the pattern in most states. Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Missouri and New Mexico all take the federal figure straight through, which makes their headline rates look worse than their real burden. California does the reverse: comparatively modest rates on ordinary incomes, applied to a much larger share of them.

Both figures are indexed. They rose 3.0% for 2026, from $5,540 and $11,080 — the same adjustment that moved every bracket threshold.

The exemption is a credit, not a deduction

This is a small amount of money and a genuinely important distinction, and it works in your favor.

Most states give a personal exemption as a deduction — an amount subtracted from income before the rate is applied. A $153 deduction is worth $153 times your marginal rate: about $12 to someone in California’s 8% band, and more to someone in the 12.3% band.

California instead gives a credit, subtracted from the tax itself. $153 per filer for 2026, $306 for a couple, plus an amount for each dependent. It is worth $153 to everyone, regardless of rate.

That inverts the usual distribution. A deduction is worth most to the highest earners; a flat credit is worth the same in absolute terms to everyone, and therefore most as a proportion of tax to those who owe least. California withdraws the credit at high incomes, which pushes the same way again.

The calculator above applies the credit in full at every income and does not model the withdrawal, so figures for high earners are understated by at most the value of the credit itself.

Take-home pay at every salary in California

After federal tax, California state tax, FICA and SDI at 1.3% of every dollar. With no local income tax anywhere in the state, these figures hold in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno and Sacramento alike.

What lands in your account each payday

On $75,000 a year in California, filing single, split across the pay schedules employers actually use.

The 1% above a million

On top of the nine brackets, California charges an extra 1% on taxable income above $1,000,000. It was created by ballot proposition to fund mental health services and is now called the Behavioral Health Services Tax; older guidance calls it the Mental Health Services Tax. It takes the top marginal rate to 13.3%, the highest state income tax rate in the country.

There is a detail here that almost nothing mentions. California doubles every bracket threshold for married couples filing jointly — the 1% band ends at $11,079 single and $22,158 joint, and so on all the way up. The million-dollar threshold is not doubled. It is $1,000,000 for a single filer and $1,000,000 for a couple.

The consequence is a marriage penalty that exists nowhere else in the schedule. Two people each earning $600,000 pay no surtax while single. Married, their combined $1,200,000 puts $200,000 above the threshold and costs them an extra $2,000 a year that neither owed before.

It is also why the bracket table for joint filers has an extra row that the single one does not: the surtax cuts across the middle of the 11.3% band rather than lining up with a bracket edge.

Dates that matter for the 2026 tax year

California returns (Form 540) are due April 15, 2027, matching the federal deadline. California grants an automatic six-month extension to file, with no form to submit — but it covers filing only. Tax owed is still due in April, and interest runs from then.

Estimated payments, if required, follow an unusual schedule: California asks for 30% in April, 40% in June, nothing in September and 30% in January, rather than four equal installments.

The brackets and deduction on this page apply to income earned between January 1 and December 31 2026.

Questions people ask

What are the California income tax rates for 2026?

Nine brackets for a single filer: 1% to $11,079, 2% to $26,264, 4% to $41,452, 6% to $57,542, 8% to $72,724, 9.3% to $371,479, 10.3% to $445,771, 11.3% to $742,953 and 12.3% above. A further 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax applies above $1,000,000, making the top rate 13.3%. Joint filers get double every threshold except the million.

What is the California standard deduction for 2026?

$5,706 for a single filer or married/RDP filing separately, and $11,412 filing jointly, head of household or qualifying surviving spouse. Both figures are from the Franchise Tax Board's 2026 Form 540-ES instructions, and both rose 3.0% from 2025's $5,540 and $11,080.

What is California SDI and how much is it?

State Disability Insurance, which also funds Paid Family Leave. For 2026 it is 1.3% of wages, up from 1.2%, and there is no taxable wage ceiling — Senate Bill 951 removed it from January 1, 2024. On $75,000 that is $975 a year; on $200,000 it is $2,600.

Why is my California take-home lower than other calculators show?

Check whether the other figure includes SDI, and whether it still caps it at the old wage ceiling. SDI is a mandatory deduction from every California payslip at 1.3% of every dollar earned, so leaving it out overstates take-home by hundreds or thousands a year.

Is the California personal exemption a deduction?

No, it is a credit. For 2026 it is $153 per filer, $306 for a couple, and it comes off the tax itself rather than off the income. That makes it worth the same to everyone, instead of being worth more to people in higher brackets as a deduction would be.

Does any California city charge a local income tax?

No. No California city or county levies an income tax on wages, so where you live in the state does not change your income tax bill. San Francisco levies a payroll tax on employers, not on employees.

When is the California tax return due?

April 15, 2027, for the 2026 tax year. California grants an automatic six-month extension to file, with no form to submit, but that covers filing only — tax owed is still due in April.

Is my data sent anywhere?

No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. There is no account, and the salary you type is never sent to a server or stored. It never leaves your device.