California Paycheck Calculator

How California paychecks work

California layers three state-side deductions on top of federal tax and FICA:

California tax brackets (2025 FTB tables — the latest official, single filer)

Worked example

The details that surprise people

• SDI lost its cap. Since 2024 the 1.3% State Disability Insurance applies to every dollar — a $500k earner now pays $6,500/year of SDI (it used to stop around $1,600). It funds disability leave and Paid Family Leave, and it’s why CA paystubs sting even before income tax.
• The 9.3% bracket is CA’s workhorse: it covers taxable income from ~$73k to ~$371k (single) — most professionals live their whole careers inside it.
• Millionaire’s surcharge: taxable income above $1M pays +1% (the Behavioral Health Services Tax, renamed from Mental Health Services Tax in 2025), taking the top marginal rate to 13.3% — modeled by this calculator automatically.
• No local wage taxes: unlike NYC or Philadelphia, California cities don’t tax paychecks — San Francisco and LA salaries compute identically.
• Bracket vintage: CA indexes brackets each fall; this page uses the latest official FTB tables and is updated when new ones publish.

California wage rules that shape your paycheck

California’s Labor Code reaches further into the paycheck than most states’. Beyond the tax layers above, five rules decide how much you are paid, when it arrives, and what an employer owes when the job ends.

1. The minimum wage is $16.90 — and it sets the exempt-salary floor too

The Department of Industrial Relations’ wage order MW-2026 sets $16.90 an hour from January 1, 2026 for every employer, regardless of the number of employees (it was $16.50 in 2025). Fast-food restaurant and healthcare-facility employers have their own higher schedules, and many cities and counties set local minimums above the state rate — the higher number always wins.

The minimum wage also moves the line for overtime exemption. Labor Code § 515 lets an executive, administrative or professional employee go without overtime only if they earn a monthly salary of at least two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment. For 2026 that is $70,304 a year ($5,858.67 a month) — far above the federal $684-a-week test. A salaried “manager” paid less than that is owed overtime in California whatever the job title says. At exactly that salary, a single filer takes home about $54,976.

2. Paydays: twice a month, with fixed deadlines

Section 204 makes most wages due twice each calendar month on paydays the employer designates in advance. Work performed from the 1st through the 15th must be paid between the 16th and the 26th; work from the 16th through month-end must be paid between the 1st and the 10th of the next month. Weekly, biweekly and semimonthly payrolls comply if wages are paid within seven calendar days of the close of the pay period. Overtime may lag one cycle: it must be paid by the payday for the next regular payroll period. Exempt executive, administrative and professional staff may be paid monthly, but only if the whole month is paid by the 26th.

3. Final pay: immediately if fired, 72 hours if you quit

California’s final-pay clock is among the strictest in the country. If you are discharged, § 201 makes every earned wage “due and payable immediately.” If you quit without notice, § 202 gives the employer 72 hours; give 72 hours’ notice and you are owed the check at the time you quit. An employer that willfully misses either deadline owes a waiting-time penalty under § 203: your wages continue at the same rate as a penalty from the due date until paid, for up to 30 days. For a full-time worker at the state minimum, 30 days of 8 hours comes to 30 × 8 × $16.90 = $4,056.00.

4. Earned vacation cannot be forfeited

California does not require paid vacation, but once an employer offers it, § 227.3 treats vested vacation as wages: whatever you have earned and not used must be paid at your final rate when employment ends, and a contract or policy “shall not provide for forfeiture” of it. Use-it-or-lose-it policies therefore do not work in California; employers limit the balance instead with accrual caps that stop new vacation from building at a ceiling. The PTO payout calculator turns an unused balance into the dollar figure on your last check.

5. Paid sick leave: 40 hours or five days a year

Under § 246, California employees accrue paid sick leave at at least one hour for every 30 hours worked from the start of employment, usable from the 90th day. An employer may cap use at no less than 40 hours or five days a year and total accrual at no less than 80 hours or 10 days; accrued sick leave carries over, unless the employer front-loads the full five days or 40 hours at the start of each year. Unlike vacation, unused sick leave is not paid out when you leave. Sick days are paid at your regular rate, so they do not change the take-home figure above.

How this estimate is calculated

• Federal income tax: 2026 IRS brackets with the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single / $32,200 married filing jointly), no credits or itemizing.
• FICA: Social Security 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (plus 0.9% additional above $200k single / $250k married).
• Pre-tax deductions (401(k), traditional retirement) reduce federal and state taxable income but not FICA wages.
• Results estimate your annual tax liability spread across paychecks — real per-check withholding depends on your W-4 and settles at tax time.