Every California income tax bracket for 2026, exactly as published — with the standard deduction, the exemption credit, and a tool that finds your bracket and shows the tax slice by slice.
| Rate | Taxable income over | Up to | Cumulative tax at top of band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1% | $0 | $11,079 | $111 |
| 2% | $11,079 | $26,264 | $414 |
| 4% | $26,264 | $41,452 | $1,022 |
| 6% | $41,452 | $57,542 | $1,987 |
| 8% | $57,542 | $72,724 | $3,202 |
| 9.3% | $72,724 | $371,479 | $30,986 |
| 10.3% | $371,479 | $445,771 | $38,638 |
| 11.3% | $445,771 | $742,953 | $72,220 |
| 12.3% | $742,953 | $1,000,000 | $103,837 |
| 13.3% | $1,000,000 | and above | — |
Brackets apply to taxable income — gross income minus the standard deduction, with the exemption credit subtracted from the tax at the end. Both tables are printed in full on this page; the tabs only choose which you look at first.
Enter your California taxable income (after the standard deduction). Your bracket lights up in the table above, and your tax is broken into its slices.
Slide to explore — or type an exact amount; typing is never limited by the slider.
Figure A The bracket staircase
The staircase: each step is one bracket. The tax climbs only inside the step you are standing on — moving into a higher bracket never taxes your earlier income at the higher rate.
| Taxable income (single) | California tax | Effective rate | Top (marginal) rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $1,382 | 2.8% | 6% |
| $75,000 | $3,261 | 4.3% | 9.3% |
| $100,000 | $5,586 | 5.6% | 9.3% |
| $150,000 | $10,236 | 6.8% | 9.3% |
Figure C How the $100,000 tax is built — slice by slice
Effective rate 5.6% on $100,000 of taxable income — the top slice is taxed at 9.3%, the slices below it at their own lower rates.
Rates are unchanged for 2026: the same nine statutory rates, 1% to 12.3%, plus the 1% Mental Health Services Tax over $1 million. In the Tax Foundation 2026 table the standard deduction is $5,540 (single) / $11,080 (joint) and the personal exemption credit is $153 / $306. The Franchise Tax Board publishes its own indexed schedule with the Form 540 package; SDI rose to 1.3% of wages.
Figure B 2025 against 2026
2025 figures: FTB 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules; FTB standard deduction $5,706 single (2025).
The state-specific rules behind the numbers above — the things a generic calculator gets wrong about California.
California's State Disability Insurance is deducted from wages at 1.3% for 2026, with no wage cap since 2024. It is an insurance premium, not an income tax — so it is not part of the annual liability on this page, but it is a real line on every California paycheck. Our California paycheck calculator shows it as its own row.
Source: CA Employment Development Department (rate corroborated for 2026; EDD confirmation is a pre-launch check).
California's statutory top rate is 12.3%. Proposition 63 adds a 1% Mental Health Services Tax on taxable income above $1,000,000 — at every filing status — taking the top marginal rate to 13.3%, the highest state rate in the US. Only the slice of income above $1 million pays it.
Source: CA Franchise Tax Board rate schedules; Proposition 63 (2004).
California does not tax Social Security benefits, and unemployment insurance benefits are also exempt from California income tax — one of the few generous features of the CA code for retirees.
Source: CA Franchise Tax Board.
Unlike New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Maryland, no California city or county levies its own income tax. The state tax on this page is the whole state-level picture.
Source: Tax Foundation, 2026 State Income Tax Rates and Brackets.
Nine brackets from 1% to 12.3% (plus the 1% Mental Health Services Tax over $1,000,000 of taxable income, for a 13.3% top rate). The standard deduction is $5,540 for single filers and $11,080 for joint filers, and there is a personal exemption credit of $153 (single) / $306 (joint). The full table is at the top of this page.
As a single filer with no extra deductions: $2,788 of California income tax, plus $7,670 federal income tax and $5,738 of Social Security and Medicare — $16,195 in total, leaving take-home pay of $58,805. On top of that, 1.3% of wages ($975) is deducted from paychecks for CA SDI.
Two reasons. First, 1.3% of every paycheck goes to CA SDI, which is a payroll deduction on top of income tax. Second, employers withhold using the EDD withholding schedules (Form DE 4 elections), which approximate your annual bill paycheck by paycheck — the two rarely match to the cent until you file.
No. Social Security benefits are exempt from California income tax, as are unemployment insurance benefits. Federal taxation of Social Security still applies.
13.3% — a 12.3% statutory top rate plus the 1% Mental Health Services Tax on taxable income above $1 million. It applies only to the income above each threshold, never to your whole salary.
Form DE 4, the Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate for California. If you never file one, your employer withholds using your federal W-4 elections instead.
California income tax brackets for 2026 in full: every rate and threshold for single and joint filers, the $5,540 standard deduction, worked examples and a find-your-bracket tool.
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Every California income tax bracket for 2026, printed in full exactly as published: single and married-filing-jointly tables, the standard deduction, worked examples on taxable income, and a find-your-bracket tool that lights up your band and builds your tax slice by slice. Rates checked 31 October 2026; all figures are for the 2026 tax year.
On $100,000 of taxable income in California (single filer, 2026), the slice-by-slice tax is $5,585.64 — the top slice is taxed at 13.3%, but the effective rate on the whole $100,000 is far lower because the early slices are taxed at the bottom rates. A $100,000 salary is not $100,000 of taxable income: the $5,540 standard deduction comes off first, which is what the companion income calculator works through.
California taxes income in 10 bands from 1% to 13.3%. The standard deduction is $5,540.00 for a single filer. The tables are the state’s official 2026 schedules (sources printed on the page); cumulative tax at the top of each band is computed slice by slice from those rates. The federal comparison figures use IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32.
Nine brackets from 1% to 12.3% (plus the 1% Mental Health Services Tax over $1,000,000 of taxable income, for a 13.3% top rate). The standard deduction is $5,540 for single filers and $11,080 for joint filers, and there is a personal exemption credit of $153 (single) / $306 (joint). The full table is at the top of this page.
As a single filer with no extra deductions: $2,788 of California income tax, plus $7,670 federal income tax and $5,738 of Social Security and Medicare — $16,195 in total, leaving take-home pay of $58,805. On top of that, 1.3% of wages ($975) is deducted from paychecks for CA SDI.
Two reasons. First, 1.3% of every paycheck goes to CA SDI, which is a payroll deduction on top of income tax. Second, employers withhold using the EDD withholding schedules (Form DE 4 elections), which approximate your annual bill paycheck by paycheck — the two rarely match to the cent until you file.
No. Social Security benefits are exempt from California income tax, as are unemployment insurance benefits. Federal taxation of Social Security still applies.
13.3% — a 12.3% statutory top rate plus the 1% Mental Health Services Tax on taxable income above $1 million. It applies only to the income above each threshold, never to your whole salary.
Form DE 4, the Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate for California. If you never file one, your employer withholds using your federal W-4 elections instead.
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