California paycheck calculator
California works out withholding with Method B, the exact-calculation method its Employment Development Department publishes for employers: the pay for one period is annualised, taxed on the schedule for the filing status, then reduced by a credit for every allowance claimed on Form DE 4. Wages under a low-income threshold are not withheld on at all.
Take-home pay
$1,609.32
per bi-weekly (26 per year) period
- Gross pay
- $2,000.00
- Federal Income Tax
- −$156.15
- Social Security
- −$124.00
- Medicare
- −$29.00
- CA State Income Tax
- −$55.53
- CA SDI
- −$26.00
- Net pay
- $1,609.32
Carries these figures into a full California pay stub you can preview and download.
How California withholding is worked out
Two things set California apart from most states. It publishes a genuinely different bracket schedule for each filing status, so the married column below is not the single one doubled. And it withholds State Disability Insurance from the same paycheck as a line of its own, at a rate set in law rather than chosen by the employer. One caveat we cannot calculate away, and the state's own method is the reason for it: the married figures assume two or more allowances, and estimated-deduction allowances are not modelled here.
These are withholding figures: what an employer takes out of one paycheck, which is not the same calculation as the one on an annual return.
Wages are annualised before the schedule is read, so the figures below are annual.
A married employee whose spouse earns, or who holds more than one job, reads the single column instead: schedule, standard deduction and the floor below which nothing is withheld alike.
| Annual wages | Tax on the lower figure | Rate on the rest |
|---|---|---|
| $0.00 to $11,079.00 | $0.00 | 1.1% |
| $11,079.00 to $26,264.00 | $121.87 | 2.2% |
| $26,264.00 to $41,452.00 | $455.94 | 4.4% |
| $41,452.00 to $57,542.00 | $1,124.21 | 6.6% |
| $57,542.00 to $72,724.00 | $2,186.15 | 8.8% |
| $72,724.00 to $371,479.00 | $3,522.17 | 10.23% |
| $371,479.00 to $445,771.00 | $34,084.81 | 11.33% |
| $445,771.00 to $742,953.00 | $42,502.09 | 12.43% |
| $742,953.00 to $1,000,000.00 | $79,441.81 | 13.53% |
| $1,000,000.00 and up | $114,220.27 | 14.63% |
| Annual wages | Tax on the lower figure | Rate on the rest |
|---|---|---|
| $0.00 to $22,158.00 | $0.00 | 1.1% |
| $22,158.00 to $52,528.00 | $243.74 | 2.2% |
| $52,528.00 to $82,904.00 | $911.88 | 4.4% |
| $82,904.00 to $115,084.00 | $2,248.42 | 6.6% |
| $115,084.00 to $145,448.00 | $4,372.30 | 8.8% |
| $145,448.00 to $742,958.00 | $7,044.33 | 10.23% |
| $742,958.00 to $891,542.00 | $68,169.60 | 11.33% |
| $891,542.00 to $1,000,000.00 | $85,004.17 | 12.43% |
| $1,000,000.00 to $1,485,906.00 | $98,485.50 | 13.53% |
| $1,485,906.00 and up | $164,228.58 | 14.63% |
| Annual wages | Tax on the lower figure | Rate on the rest |
|---|---|---|
| $0.00 to $22,173.00 | $0.00 | 1.1% |
| $22,173.00 to $52,530.00 | $243.90 | 2.2% |
| $52,530.00 to $67,716.00 | $911.75 | 4.4% |
| $67,716.00 to $83,805.00 | $1,579.93 | 6.6% |
| $83,805.00 to $98,990.00 | $2,641.80 | 8.8% |
| $98,990.00 to $505,208.00 | $3,978.08 | 10.23% |
| $505,208.00 to $606,251.00 | $45,534.18 | 11.33% |
| $606,251.00 to $1,000,000.00 | $56,982.35 | 12.43% |
| $1,000,000.00 to $1,010,417.00 | $105,925.35 | 13.53% |
| $1,010,417.00 and up | $107,334.77 | 14.63% |
- Annual standard deduction
Single: $5,706.00
Married filing jointly: $11,412.00
Head of household: $11,412.00
The married filing jointly figure needs at least two allowances; with fewer, the single one applies.
- Credit per allowance
- $168.30
Taken off the tax, not off the income.
- Withholds nothing below
Single: $18,896.00
Married filing jointly: $37,791.00
Head of household: $37,791.00
The married filing jointly figure needs at least two allowances; with fewer, the single one applies.
Method B heads its first column "Single Persons, Dual Income Married or Married with Multiple Employers" and prints the married row of Tables 1 and 3 twice, once for nought or one allowance and once for two or more. Both halves are loaded: two allowances earn the doubled standard deduction and low income exemption, and either a spouse with earnings or an employee drawing wages from more than one employer moves the employee onto the single column outright, rate schedule included. Estimated-deduction allowances are not modelled. The wages charged are the federal ones, with one part of a cafeteria plan put back: Information Sheet: Types of Payments (DE 231TP) marks contributions to a health savings account under a section 125 cafeteria plan subject to PIT withholding, while Information Sheet: Taxability of Employee Benefits (DE 231EB) leaves salary reductions for dependent care, accident and health cover outside it, so the rest of the plan stays off.
Withheld beside the income tax
- CA SDI — 1.3%
- California State Disability Insurance, which also funds Paid Family Leave. Withheld from the employee, at a rate set by law rather than by the employer. There is no wage ceiling on it, so it is withheld all year.
California sources
Frequently asked questions
What California law asks of a pay stub
Whether a stub is required, how it may be delivered, and the minimum wage and pay frequency rules.