California vs Massachusetts taxes

Two very different taxes that meet in the middle

Neither state has a local income tax, so the comparison is two income taxes and two payroll premiums, built in opposite ways.

Massachusetts is flat: 5% on almost everything, after a personal exemption of $4,400. California is steeply graduated: nine brackets from 1% to 12.3%, after a $5,706 standard deduction and a small exemption credit. Its rate stays below 5% on the first $41,452 of taxable income, then climbs past it.

The payroll premiums pull the other way. California’s SDI takes 1.3% of every dollar of wages, without limit. Massachusetts’s PFML premium takes 0.46%, and only up to the Social Security wage base.

On $75,000 the pieces nearly cancel. California charges $2,775 in income tax and $975 in SDI; Massachusetts charges $3,530 and $345. A single filer keeps just $125 more in California.

Where Massachusetts pulls ahead

California keeps more on lower salaries: $861 more on $40,000, where its low brackets do the work. Above about $78,500 a single filer keeps more in Massachusetts, and the gap widens quickly: $1,115 on $100,000, $3,685 on $150,000 and $9,126 on $250,000.

Two things drive it. California’s rate reaches 9.3% at $72,724 of taxable income, nearly twice Massachusetts’s 5%, and keeps rising. And SDI never stops, while PFML stops at the wage base. On income tax alone, California is cheaper for a single filer up to about $94,000; SDI moves the switch lower.

On $500,000 Massachusetts keeps $24,840 more. Both states add a surcharge on incomes above about a million dollars, 1% in California and 4% in Massachusetts, but even with it the Massachusetts rate, 9%, stays below California’s 13.3%.

Couples: California’s brackets double, Massachusetts has none to double

California’s joint brackets are twice as wide as its single ones, so a couple’s income stays in the low bands twice as long. Massachusetts has only a flat rate and an exemption. So California’s advantage lasts much further up the scale for couples: a couple filing jointly keeps $1,641 more in California on $100,000, and Massachusetts pulls ahead only at about $157,000. On $300,000 filing jointly, Massachusetts keeps $7,901 more.

What the take-home figure does not count

California’s exemption credit is withdrawn at high incomes, which these figures do not apply, so they slightly understate California’s tax for the highest earners. Housing costs, property tax and sales tax differ between the two states and within each, and none of that is in these figures.

Questions people ask

Do you take home more in California or Massachusetts on $75,000?

California, by $125 a year, or $10 a month, for a single filer in 2026. That counts federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax and every state payroll deduction.

Is the difference the same at every salary?

No. The side that keeps more changes with the salary: $30,000: California by $806; $50,000: California by $820; $75,000: California by $125; $100,000: Massachusetts by $1,115; $150,000: Massachusetts by $3,685; $250,000: Massachusetts by $9,126.

Does Massachusetts have a millionaire's tax, and does California?

Both have one. Massachusetts adds a 4% surtax on taxable income above an indexed threshold of a little over one million dollars. California adds 1% above one million dollars of taxable income, the Behavioral Health Services Tax, on top of its 12.3% top rate. Neither affects an ordinary salary.

What are SDI and PFML?

Payroll premiums for state disability and paid leave programs. California's SDI takes 1.3% of every dollar of wages with no cap. Massachusetts's Paid Family and Medical Leave premium takes 0.46% from employees, and only on wages up to the Social Security wage base.

Does either state have a city income tax?

No. No city or county in California levies an income tax, and no Massachusetts municipality does either, Boston included. The figures here hold across both states.

What this comparison covers

Income tax and payroll deductions on wages: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax, every state payroll deduction. It does not compare sales tax, property tax, housing or the cost of living, which can outweigh the difference in take-home pay. Figures assume the standard deduction, no dependents and no pre-tax retirement contributions. See how we calculate.