This free California paycheck calculator shows your 2026 take-home pay from a salary or hourly wage. It works out federal income tax using the 2026 brackets, California state income tax, Social Security and Medicare. It also applies California's two big state quirks. One is the HSA rule. The other is a standard deduction much smaller than the federal one.
One honesty note up front. The Franchise Tax Board publishes each year's inflation-adjusted brackets in the fall. So this calculator uses the latest published schedules, the 2025 tables. It will update the moment the official 2026 tables land. For planning the difference is small, but you deserve to know what the numbers are built on.
How California taxes your paycheck in 2026
California's income tax runs from 1% to 13.3%. That top figure includes the 1% mental health surtax on income over $1 million. The brackets rise steeply, and that cuts both ways. The headline rates are the highest in the country. But a middle income is taxed mainly in the 1% to 6% bands. So the rate you actually pay lands well below the scare number.
The state standard deduction is about $5,706 for single filers and $11,412 for joint filers and heads of household. That is a fraction of the federal $16,100. California does not use dependent exemptions. Instead it gives a $153 per-person exemption credit that comes straight off your tax. Both are modeled in the calculator.
No city or county in California charges income tax on wages. San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego paychecks carry the same state deductions as the rest of the state.
SDI: the deduction this calculator does not include
California State Disability Insurance is 1.3% of all wages in 2026. The wage cap was removed, so it applies to every dollar you earn. On a $60,000 salary that is roughly $780 a year. On $200,000 it is $2,600. It is a required payroll deduction and shows up on every California pay stub, usually labelled CASDI.
SDI is not included in this calculator's results. At 1.3% of every dollar it matters. Subtract about 1.3% of your gross pay from the numbers you see here to get your true net. We flag it up front rather than bury it. A calculator that quietly drops a deduction over $800 is not doing its job.
In exchange, SDI pays for the disability and paid-family-leave benefits California workers can claim. It is a premium with a benefit attached, not a pure tax. That is why it sits in a different category from income tax.
The California HSA rule and what to do about it
Like New Jersey, and no other state, California taxes HSA money taken from your paycheck. The state has never adopted the federal HSA rules. HSA money that skips federal income tax and FICA is still fully taxed on your California return. HSA earnings are taxable in California too. This calculator gets the contribution side right: an HSA dollar cuts your federal tax but not your California tax.
401(k) contributions get the normal treatment. They are left out of both federal and California income tax, and they still pay FICA. So in California, as in New Jersey, the traditional 401(k) captures the fuller state benefit. The HSA keeps only its federal and FICA advantages.
None of this makes an HSA a bad deal in California. Skipping 22% to 24% federal tax plus 7.65% FICA is still the best pre-tax rate in payroll. It just means the "triple tax advantage" pitch you read online is missing one leg here. Your California return will need an adjustment your payroll provider will not make for you.
California paycheck FAQ
- How much is $60,000 after taxes in California?
- A single filer on $60,000 with no pre-tax deductions takes home about $48,750 a year in 2026. That is roughly $1,875 per biweekly paycheck. The total tax rate is about 18.8%. These numbers leave out California SDI, which is 1.3% of wages, or about $780 at this salary. Subtract that to get your real net pay.
- How much is $100,000 after taxes in California?
- A single filer on $100,000 with no pre-tax deductions keeps about $74,125 a year in 2026. That is roughly $2,851 per biweekly paycheck. The total tax rate is about 25.9%. This is before the separate SDI deduction of 1.3% of wages. California charges no city or county income tax, so the figure is the same statewide.
- Is the 13.3% California rate what I actually pay?
- Almost certainly not. The 13.3% rate, which includes the 1% surtax, only applies to income over $1 million. California brackets climb steeply from 1%, so a $60,000 earner pays a small fraction of that headline rate. The state standard deduction of about $5,706 also shields part of your income before any tax applies.
- Does California tax HSA contributions?
- Yes. California does not follow the federal HSA rule. HSA money taken from your paycheck is fully taxed for California income tax. HSA earnings are taxed here too. 401(k) contributions stay excluded from California tax. Only California and New Jersey treat HSAs this way, and this calculator models it.
- Why does this calculator use 2025 California brackets?
- The Franchise Tax Board publishes each year's inflation-adjusted brackets in the fall. Until the official 2026 tables are released, this calculator uses the latest published schedules, the 2025 tables. It will update as soon as the 2026 numbers land. The federal figures on this page are already the final 2026 amounts.
Sources
All sources accessed and figures verified August 2026.