California pay stubs: state taxes and withholding

State income tax

California has a graduated personal income tax with many brackets, running from a low rate on the first dollars of taxable income to a top rate for very high earners. Employees set their state withholding on Form DE 4, which is separate from the federal W-4. Ask for a DE 4 at hiring along with the W-4.

Other state payroll deductions

The second California line on nearly every stub is SDI, State Disability Insurance. It is paid by employees through withholding and funds both disability insurance and Paid Family Leave benefits. For 2026, the SDI withholding rate is 1.3%. Since January 1, 2024, all wages are subject to SDI, so the deduction no longer stops at a yearly cap. That means SDI keeps coming out of every paycheck all year, even for high earners.

Some employers run an approved voluntary disability plan instead of the state plan; in that case the stub shows the plan deduction rather than state SDI. State unemployment insurance and the Employment Training Tax are paid by employers, not employees.

Local taxes

California cities and counties do not withhold income tax from employees' wages. San Francisco and a few other cities tax businesses on payroll or gross receipts, but those are employer costs and do not appear as deductions on a worker's stub.

Federal withholding still applies

Whatever California requires, the federal deductions are the same as in every other state. Federal income tax is figured from the employee's Form W-4. Social Security takes 6.2% of wages until the employee reaches the annual Social Security wage base. Medicare takes 1.45% of every dollar, and once an employee's wages for the year pass $200,000, the employer also withholds the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.

Creating a California pay stub with PayStubNest

In PayStubNest, select California as the state, then add the pay details: hours for hourly workers or a salary for salaried staff. The exact figures depend on pay, pay frequency, W-4 choices, deductions and year-to-date totals, and PayStubNest calculates all of it automatically, handling the federal and state withholding and carrying year-to-date totals from stub to stub. Check the preview at no cost, and pay only when you are ready to download. Start at /app/new.

Record-keeping tip

California has detailed rules about what an itemized wage statement must show, such as hours worked, rates and deductions. Check the Department of Industrial Relations for pay statement requirements, and the EDD for current withholding rates. Our guides cover the basics.