California Paycheck Calculator 2026
California withholding follows the Employment Development Department's Method B: a low-income exemption, a standard deduction, bracketed rates and an allowance credit. On top comes State Disability Insurance at 1.3% of every dollar of wages.
Pre-tax deductions and W-4 adjustments
Take-home pay
$0.00
per two weeks
Employer payroll taxes on the same wages.
State unemployment tax is experience-rated per employer, so it cannot be a fixed number. Enter the rate from your state notice; leave it blank to exclude.
Total employer cost per period: $0.00
Annualised: $0.00
How California withholding works
Your employer first compares your wages with the low-income exemption for your pay period. Below it, no California income tax is withheld. Above it, the employer subtracts any estimated-deduction allowances from DE 4, then the standard deduction ($5,706 a year for a single filer, $11,412 for married with two or more allowances or head of household).
The remainder runs through the EDD tax-rate table for your pay period and status. The tables run from 1.1% to 14.63% of taxable wages. Finally, the employer subtracts the exemption allowance credit — $168.30 a year for each regular allowance on DE 4 — and withholds what is left.
If you never filed a DE 4, your employer uses your federal W-4 status. The calculator matches that by default and lets you set DE 4 status and allowances directly.
State Disability Insurance
SDI funds California's disability and paid family leave benefits. For 2026 the employee rate is 1.3%. Senate Bill 951 removed the taxable wage limit from 2024, so SDI applies to every dollar of wages, all year — unlike Social Security, it never stops in December.
Worked examples
Single filer, biweekly pay, no pre-tax deductions, default state withholding certificate. Produced by the same engine as the calculator.
| Annual salary | Gross, biweekly | Federal income tax | FICA | California tax + SDI | Net, biweekly | Effective tax rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $1,923.08 | $147.00 | $147.11 | $69.04 | $1,559.93 | 18.88% |
| $75,000 | $2,884.62 | $295.00 | $220.68 | $154.93 | $2,214.01 | 23.25% |
| $100,000 | $3,846.15 | $507.00 | $294.23 | $263.90 | $2,781.02 | 27.69% |
Figures recomputed at build time by the same engine that powers the calculator. Verified 2026-10-30.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the California SDI rate for 2026?
- 1.3% of wages, with no wage cap since 2024 under Senate Bill 951.
- How many allowances should I claim on DE 4?
- Each regular allowance reduces California withholding by $168.30 a year. The calculator uses one allowance for single and head of household and two for married by default; enter your own DE 4 figure to match your pay stub.
- Why is no California tax withheld from a small paycheck?
- Wages at or below the low-income exemption for the pay period — $727 biweekly for a single filer in 2026 — carry no California income tax withholding.
- Do California cities tax wages?
- No. California cities do not withhold an income tax from employee wages.
Federal withholding: IRS Publication 15-T (2026), percentage method for automated payroll systems. FICA: IRS Publication 15 (2026).
California withholding: EDD, 2026 California Withholding Schedules, Method B — Exact Calculation (Tables 1–28); calculator verified against EDD Examples A–F.
SDI 1.3% and no wage limit: EDD, Rates and Withholding (edd.ca.gov).
All figures verified on 2026-10-30.