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Free tools · 2026 estimates

California Paycheck Calculator

See a California paycheck broken into federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare, California personal income tax and State Disability Insurance. Enter California DE 4 information separately from the federal W-4.

Your details

Pay period & earnings
Enter qualifying hours separately. Eligibility is not determined here.
Deductions this pay period
Assumed exempt from federal/CA income tax, but subject to FICA and CA SDI.
Use only benefits exempt from federal and CA income tax, FICA and CA SDI. Verify your plan.
Garnishments, Roth contributions or other after-tax deductions.
Federal W-4 information
W-4 credits, adjustments & exemption

Exemption does not remove FICA. Use only when the exemption on your W-4 applies.

Year-to-date taxable wages before this paycheck
Zero models the first paycheck of the year.
State & local withholding

2026 EDD annualized Method B with SDI.

Enter the amount for this pay period. These are not calculated automatically.

No signup required. Calculations run in this browser.

How this calculator works

California PIT uses the annualized Method B calculation permitted by EDD, with the 2026 low-income exemption, deduction, allowance credit and rate tables. SDI is calculated separately at 1.3% of covered wages with no wage cap. Married dual-income or multiple-employer withholding uses the Single option in the California filing field.

Example calculation

EDD’s 2026 annualized example uses $57,000 annual wages, monthly pay, Married status and four regular California allowances. It produces approximately $7.17 California PIT per month. On $4,750 of SDI-covered monthly wages, SDI is $61.75 before considering other deductions.

2026 methodology & assumptions

For regular U.S. employee wages with a 2020-or-later W-4. This estimate uses 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semi-monthly or 12 monthly pay periods. Federal withholding follows IRS Publication 15-T Worksheet 1A. Amounts are rounded to cents.

Social Security uses a $184,500 wage limit and 6.2% employee rate; Medicare uses 1.45%. Additional Medicare withholding is 0.9% on wages above $200,000 paid by the same employer, regardless of filing status. Enter year-to-date taxable wages before this paycheck to model those thresholds.

California uses EDD Method B annualization, including DE 4 allowances and 1.3% uncapped SDI. Period-specific tables may differ slightly because of rounding. Supplemental wages, nonresident-alien adjustments, self-employment tax, local taxes, special exemptions, and multi-state allocation are not automatically modeled. Overtime is not automatically treated as tax-free.

Frequently asked questions

Are W-4 credits the same as California allowances?

No. Federal Step 3 is an annual dollar amount. California DE 4 regular and additional estimated-deduction allowances are separate whole-number inputs.

Does this determine California overtime eligibility?

No. Enter the regular and overtime hours and rate that apply to your situation. Daily overtime, double time, exemptions and special wage rules require separate review.

Sources & further reading

Tax configuration reviewed September 19, 2026. Applicable tax year: 2026.

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Calculations are estimates for informational purposes and may not reflect every tax, deduction, credit, local tax, or individual payroll situation. Verify important payroll and tax information with applicable government guidance or a qualified professional. Use the generator only for accurate, authorized payroll records.

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Review wages, withholding and deductions against your records. Use the free tools for an estimate, then create a document only from accurate, authorized payroll information.

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California pay stub calculator: distinguish PIT from SDI

This California paycheck calculator uses the existing 2026 EDD Method B annualized engine. California personal income-tax withholding (PIT) and employee State Disability Insurance (SDI) are separate rows. Enter California DE 4 status and allowances separately from federal W-4 information. EDD rates and withholding schedules · 2026 Method B tables.

Review covered wages before applying SDI

For 2026, EDD specifies SDI at 1.3% of covered wages, without an annual taxable wage cap. The calculator provides a separate exemption control; it does not determine eligibility. Confirm coverage and whether a benefit reduces the relevant wage base. Employer UI and ETT are employer costs, not employee deductions in this calculator.

A reproducible EDD withholding fixture

Select Salary, Monthly, $57,000 annual salary, Married California status and four regular DE 4 allowances, with zero additional deduction allowances, extra withholding and benefits. Monthly gross is $4,750. The annualized EDD illustration yields approximately $7.17 monthly PIT, with SDI of $61.75 on covered wages. Federal status is a separate input, so the state illustration does not prescribe the federal net-pay result.

Arithmetic does not establish wage-statement compliance

California’s wage-statement rules cover identifying information, pay-period dates and itemized wage information. Review the actual required fields and applicable exceptions against payroll records; a correct net calculation alone is insufficient. The calculator does not determine daily overtime, double time, worker classification or special wage rules. California Labor Commissioner paydays and wage statements.

Keep prior wages and YTD amounts separate

Prior Social Security and Medicare taxable wages drive the federal thresholds. They are not substitutes for actual prior YTD gross, taxes, employee deductions or net. Use the main calculator for a reconciliation of those running totals.

Why can period-specific California tables differ slightly?

This engine annualizes wages using Method B. Pay-period tables and cent rounding can produce small differences; compare the method and input assumptions before concluding a payroll record is incorrect.

California pay statement requirements · Review overtime separately · Employer payroll reconciliation

Additional methodology reviewed October 7, 2026. Examples are fictional; supported automatic calculations and manual entries are distinguished above.