California Wage Calculator & Paycheck Estimator (2026)

Wage calculator California: 2026 take-home pay

A single Californian earning $60,000, paid every two weeks, takes home about $1,838.71 per check: $69.36 goes to California income tax and $30.00 to SDI. At $120,000, take-home is about $3,233.98 per check, because California's rates climb quickly above about $73,000.

California paycheck deductions for 2026

• California income tax: progressive withholding from 1.1% up to 14.63% (including the 1% Mental Health Services Tax on income over $1 million).
• Standard deduction for withholding: $5,706 (single, or married with 0–1 allowances) or $11,412 (married with 2+ allowances, head of household).
• Allowance credit: each regular allowance on Form DE 4 or W-4 cuts the annual tax by $168.30.
• Low-income exemption: no CA tax is withheld if annual wages are $18,896 or less (single) or $37,791 or less (married 2+ allowances / head of household).
• SDI 1.3% on all wages: covers disability and Paid Family Leave. Since 2024 there's no wage cap, so high earners pay SDI on every dollar.

California doesn't recognise HSAs, so HSA payroll contributions are taxed by California even though they're federal pre-tax. The estimator adds them back for the state calculation.

California hourly wage calculator

California's 2026 minimum wage is $16.90 an hour statewide, and many cities set higher local minimums. At $20 an hour for 40 hours a week, a single worker takes home about $1,321.29 every two weeks. California also requires daily overtime: 1.5× after 8 hours in a day, and 2× after 12. Enter your weekly overtime hours to include it.

New for 2026: the tips and overtime deduction

For 2025–2028, federal law (P.L. 119-21) lets workers deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips and up to $12,500 of qualified overtime pay ($25,000 if married filing jointly). The 2026 Form W-4 lets you put these amounts in Step 4(b) so less federal tax is withheld from each check, instead of waiting for a refund. "Qualified overtime" is only the extra half in time-and-a-half, not the whole overtime check.

Example: a California worker earning $20 an hour with 5 hours of overtime a week has about $2,600 of qualified overtime a year. With the deduction on the W-4, take-home is about $1,555.34 every two weeks. The estimator turns this on by default; switch it off under Adjust W-4 if you haven't updated your W-4. The deduction phases out above $150,000 of income ($300,000 joint) and does not reduce Social Security or Medicare.

How to use the California paycheck estimator

1. Choose Salary or Hourly, then enter your pay. For hourly pay, add your usual hours and any overtime hours per week.
2. Pick how often you're paid (weekly, every 2 weeks, twice a month or monthly) and your filing status from your W-4.
3. Open Adjust W-4, benefits & local tax to add dependents, 401(k), health insurance, HSA or tips.
4. Read your take-home pay per paycheck and per year. Every line shows what was taken out and why.

Common mistakes when estimating a California paycheck

• Leaving out SDI. At 1.3% with no cap, it's about $780 a year on $60,000.
• Expecting the federal overtime or HSA break on your state tax. California taxes overtime as normal wages and doesn't exclude HSA contributions.
• Mixing up biweekly and semi-monthly. Every 2 weeks is 26 paychecks a year; twice a month is 24. The same salary gives a smaller biweekly check.
• Forgetting pre-tax benefits. A 401(k) lowers income tax but not Social Security or Medicare; health premiums through a cafeteria plan lower both.
• Comparing an estimate with your first paycheck of the year. Year-to-date caps (Social Security, some state insurance) mean later checks can differ.

How we calculate (and how accurate it is)

Federal income tax uses the IRS Publication 15-T (2026) percentage method for 2020-and-later W-4s, worksheet 1A, the same math payroll software uses. Social Security is 6.2% up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500 and Medicare is 1.45%, plus 0.9% above $200,000. California income tax follows the EDD 2026 California Withholding Schedules, Method B (exact calculation), annual tables; our engine reproduces the EDD's own worked examples to the cent. SDI is 1.3% of SDI-subject wages with no ceiling.

We annualize your pay, apply the tables and divide by your number of paychecks, so results can differ from your employer's per-period tables by a few cents. Tables were last checked against the official sources on October 4, 2026. This is an estimate, not tax advice. For decisions that matter, check with your payroll department or a tax professional.