California paycheck calculator: 2026 take-home pay

• Federal income tax: withheld with the IRS 2026 percentage method for Forms W-4 from 2020 or later (Publication 15-T).
• Social Security: 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 in 2026.
• Medicare: 1.45% of all wages, plus 0.9% on wages above $200,000 in a calendar year.
• California withholds income tax at rates from 1.1% to 14.63% after a standard deduction and a $168.30 credit per allowance.
• State Disability Insurance (SDI, includes Paid Family Leave): 1.3% of wages, no wage cap.

• Pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) contributions and health premiums: they lower taxable pay, and states treat them differently.
• Bonuses and other supplemental pay, which can be withheld at flat rates.
• Year-to-date wages: the result is your first paycheck of 2026 from this employer, with no earlier wages counted. Social Security stops once your 2026 wages from the employer reach $184,500, and the employer withholds the extra 0.9% Medicare tax only on wages it pays you above $200,000 in 2026; the calculator names the paycheck in which each change starts.
• No local income tax is included.
• Uses California's annual exact-calculation tables (Method B), which the EDD allows employers to use and prorate to the pay period; per-period tables can differ by a few cents.
• Married with fewer than 2 allowances uses the single standard deduction and low-income exemption, as the Method B tables do.
• Additional allowances for estimated deductions claimed on the DE 4 are not modeled.

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