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California Paycheck Calculator

Reviewed Sep 29, 2026 IRS Pub 15-T 2026, California EDD How we verify

Not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. General information; laws vary by state. Terms of use

California paycheck calculator for tax year 2026: take-home pay and what the employer pays, per paycheck and per year. California withholds state income tax from each paycheck with the EDD Method B tables, which use the filing status and allowances on Form DE 4, not the federal withholding form, and also takes State Disability Insurance at 1.3% of every dollar of wages, with no yearly cap (California Employer's Guide 2026 (DE 44 Rev. 52)). Figures checked on September 29, 2026; the result is an estimate, not tax advice.

Take-home pay and employer cost

How the pay is set
USD per paycheck

Federal Form W-4

Step 2: two jobs or a working spouse
Other Form W-4 entries and pre-tax deductions (optional)Defaults used: every amount 0
USD per year
USD per year
USD per year
USD per paycheck
USD per paycheck
USD per paycheck
California Form DE 4 entries (optional)Defaults used: Single or Married (with two or more incomes); no allowances
The box checked on the California certificate, which can differ from the federal Form W-4.
allowances
Each regular allowance lowers the yearly tax by the exemption allowance credit. With no certificate on file the employer uses zero.
allowances
These allowances reduce the wages subject to withholding instead of giving a tax credit.
USD per paycheck
An extra flat amount the employee asked the employer to withhold.

Example: $2,000.00 gross pay per paycheck, paid every two weeks (26 paychecks a year), single, with the default DE 4 entries below

Take-home pay

$1,609.32 per paycheck

$41,842.32 per year

Employee lines
LinePer paycheckPer year
Gross pay$2,000.00$52,000.00
Federal income tax withholding$156.15$4,059.90
Social Security$124.00$3,224.00
Medicare$29.00$754.00
California income tax withholding$55.53$1,443.78
California SDI (disability and paid family leave)$26.00$676.00
Take-home pay$1,609.32$41,842.32

What the employer pays

$2,235.00 per paycheck

$56,265.00 per year

Employer lines
LinePer paycheckPer year
Gross pay$2,000.00$52,000.00
Social Security (employer match)$124.00$3,224.00
Medicare (employer match)$29.00$754.00
Federal unemployment (FUTA)$12.00$42.00
State unemployment (new-employer rate)$68.00$238.00
California Employment Training Tax$2.00$7.00
Total employer cost$2,235.00$56,265.00

Sources: IRS Pub 15-T 2026 and California EDD, checked September 29, 2026. Estimate for tax year 2026. Not tax advice.

What you type stays in this browser: the numbers are computed on this page, and we never receive or store them. A result link holds only the numbers and choices of the form.

How California taxes a paycheck

The calculator applies the IRS Publication 15-T percentage method and, for California, the Method B, Exact Calculation Method (California Withholding Schedules for 2026), annual payroll period prorated to the pay period of the California Employment Development Department, in effect for wages paid from January 1, 2026. Social Security takes 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 a year and Medicare 1.45% of all wages (plus 0.9% on wages above $200,000 a year), and the employer pays Social Security and Medicare again at the same rates (Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide). The oldest California document behind these figures was checked on September 29, 2026.

California employers figure state income tax withholding from the California Withholding Schedules published by the Employment Development Department. This calculator uses Method B, the exact calculation, on a yearly basis: the pay is annualized, the tax comes from the yearly tables, and the result is divided back over the pay periods. The schedules allow this annual version, and it matches the printed monthly and weekly tables to within a few cents.

The inputs come from Form DE 4. Its filing status boxes do not mirror the federal ones: a married employee whose spouse also works checks the same box as a single filer and is taxed on the single table, while the married table is reserved for households with one income. Regular allowances each subtract a fixed credit of $168.30 a year from the computed tax. Estimated deduction allowances work differently, removing $1,000 a year from the wages before the tax is figured (California Withholding Schedules for 2026, Method B (Exact Calculation Method), Table 4).

Before any tax is computed, the schedules apply a low income exemption: when yearly wages are at or below the threshold for the filing status, nothing is withheld at all. Above it, a standard deduction comes off, and the remaining income runs through graduated brackets whose top withholding rate already includes the extra mental health services tax on the highest incomes. Withholding rates in the schedules sit a little above the return rates, so most workers land close to their final bill.

State Disability Insurance is the other line on a California pay stub. It funds both disability benefits and Paid Family Leave, and since a law change there is no taxable wage limit, so a high earner pays the 1.3% rate on every paycheck through December. Contributions to a traditional retirement plan are still SDI wages even though they escape income tax, while health premiums paid through a cafeteria plan are excluded from both (California Employer's Guide 2026 (DE 44 Rev. 52)).

The calculator adds no city or county line for California: the state lines above are income tax withholding and SDI. Employees who live in California and work across a state line follow the credit rules of their own return instead.

The employer's side in California

On the employer side, California charges unemployment insurance on the first $7,000 of each worker's wages, at an assigned rate that starts at the new-employer rate for the first few years. Employers with a positive reserve account also pay the Employment Training Tax, set by statute at 0.1% of the same wages, which caps out at a few dollars per worker each year and funds state job training programs (California Employer's Guide 2026 (DE 44 Rev. 52); California Unemployment Insurance Code section 976.6).

California employers do not pay a matching share of SDI; disability and family leave coverage is funded entirely by the employee deduction. Workers' compensation insurance is required but is bought from an insurer or the State Compensation Insurance Fund at a price set by job class, so it is not shown here.

Every employer also owes federal unemployment tax (FUTA): 6% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages a year. With the full 5.4% credit for state unemployment tax paid on time, the net rate is 0.6%, at most $42 per employee a year (IRS Topic no. 759, Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return).

In California, a new employer pays state unemployment tax at 3.4% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages a year (U.S. DOL, Office of Unemployment Insurance: Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, effective July 2026). Later the rate follows the employer's own record, so the line in the result is the starting cost, not a fixed one.

In the example above, the employer also pays California Employment Training Tax: $2.00 per paycheck.

Payday and final pay rules in California

  • How often wages are paid: Most wages must be paid at least twice during each calendar month on days designated in advance as regular paydays (with some exceptions). U.S. DOL WHD State Payday Requirements, footnote 10, checked September 27, 2026
  • Final pay after a firing: When an employer discharges an employee, all earned and unpaid wages are due immediately at the time of discharge. California Labor Code § 201(a), checked September 27, 2026
  • Final pay after a resignation (With 72 hours notice): An employee without a written contract for a definite period who gives at least 72 hours notice of quitting must be paid all wages at the time of quitting. California Labor Code § 202(a), checked September 27, 2026
  • Final pay after a resignation (Without 72 hours notice): An employee without a written contract for a definite period who quits without giving 72 hours notice must be paid all wages within 72 hours of quitting. California Labor Code § 202(a), checked September 27, 2026

The full California rules, with each law quoted: California employment rules. The date a final paycheck is due for a given last day: final paycheck calculator.

Worked examples

Three pay levels for a single filer paid every two weeks, with the default entries of the form, computed with the same code as the calculator.

Gross pay per paycheckFederal income tax per paycheckSocial Security and Medicare per paycheckCalifornia deductions per paycheckTake-home pay per paycheckEmployer cost per paycheck
$1,200.00$60.15$91.80$32.48$1,015.57$1,341.00
$2,500.00$216.15$191.25$122.51$1,970.09$2,793.75
$5,000.00$766.69$382.50$403.38$3,447.43$5,587.50

At $2,500.00 per paycheck the employee takes home $51,222.34 per year, and the employer spends $70,259.50 per year on that job before benefits.

Full time at the California minimum wage of $16.90 per hour (California minimum wage (U.S. DOL WHD State Minimum Wage Laws table), checked September 27, 2026), 40 hours per week, is $1,352.00 per paycheck every two weeks: $1,129.69 per paycheck take-home, and $1,510.85 per paycheck for the employer.

Method and sources

Federal figures used on every Pay Desk page:

  • Per paycheck and per year. Per paycheck is one paycheck early in the year, before any yearly wage base is reached; per year is the full year at this pay with every wage base applied (Social Security, unemployment tax and any capped state contribution).
  • Forms W-4 from before 2020. Not covered: the federal line follows Worksheet 1A for the 2020 and later form.
  • Tax year 2027. When this page was checked (September 29, 2026) the IRS had not published the 2027 withholding tables (IRS page of forms and publications posted before release), so the calculator stays on tax year 2026.
  • What it leaves out. Local taxes the form does not ask for, workers' compensation insurance, benefits the employer pays, and supplemental pay such as bonuses.

Questions people ask

Does California use my federal withholding form?

No. California income tax withholding uses Form DE 4. If an employee never turns one in, the employer withholds as Single with zero allowances.

What is SDI on my California paycheck?

State Disability Insurance is an employee-paid deduction of 1.3% of wages. It pays for short-term disability benefits and Paid Family Leave. Since the wage limit was removed, it applies to all wages, however high (California Employer's Guide 2026 (DE 44 Rev. 52)).

I am married and my spouse works. Which box do I check on the DE 4?

The box for Single or Married with two or more incomes. That puts both paychecks on the single table, which avoids the underwithholding that happens when two earners each use the married table.

Why is no California tax taken from my small paycheck?

The schedules exempt pay at or below the low income threshold for the pay period and filing status. When annualized wages fall under that line, the state withholds nothing, although SDI still applies.

What does the Employment Training Tax cost an employer?

It is 0.1% of the first $7,000 paid to each employee in the year, so only a few dollars per worker. It is paid with unemployment insurance and never withheld from wages (California Unemployment Insurance Code section 976.6; California Employer's Guide 2026 (DE 44 Rev. 52)).

Where this goes next

ToolHourly to salary calculatorRulebookCalifornia employment rulesTemplateOffer letter template with the pay in writing

General information, not legal advice. Not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. This page is for general information only and isn’t legal, financial or tax advice. Laws vary by state and change; check the official source or talk to a qualified professional about your situation. Report an error