California Income Tax Rates and Brackets by Filing Status

California income tax rates and brackets run from 1% to 12.3% across nine progressive brackets, with an additional 1% surcharge on taxable income above $1 million that lifts the top marginal rate to 13.3%.¹ The dollar thresholds for each bracket depend on your filing status and are adjusted every year by the Franchise Tax Board based on the California Consumer Price Index.²

How the Progressive Brackets Work

Your income is split into slices, and each slice is taxed at its own rate.³ A higher rate applies only to the dollars that fall inside that bracket, not to your whole income. So a single filer with $80,000 in taxable income pays 9.3% only on the portion above the 9.3% threshold; everything below is taxed at the lower rates for each bracket it passes through. A raise never cuts your take-home pay.

The nine regular rates are 1%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 9.3%, 10.3%, 11.3%, and 12.3%. What changes with filing status is where each rate kicks in.

2026 Brackets for Single Filers and Married Filing Separately

Single taxpayers and married individuals filing separate returns use the narrowest bracket schedule:

1% on taxable income up to $11,079
2% on $11,080 to $26,264
4% on $26,265 to $41,452
6% on $41,453 to $57,542
8% on $57,543 to $72,724
9.3% on $72,725 to $371,479
10.3% on $371,480 to $445,771
11.3% on $445,772 to $742,953
12.3% on $742,954 and above

A single filer with $100,000 in taxable income pays 1% on the first $11,079, 2% on the next slice, and so on, with only the income above $72,724 taxed at 9.3%. The effective rate, meaning total tax divided by total income, lands well below the 9.3% top marginal rate on that return.³

2026 Brackets for Joint Filers and Surviving Spouses

Married couples filing jointly and qualifying surviving spouses use brackets with thresholds roughly double the single-filer amounts:

1% on taxable income up to $22,158
2% on $22,159 to $52,528
4% on $52,529 to $82,904
6% on $82,905 to $115,084
8% on $115,085 to $145,448
9.3% on $145,449 to $742,958
10.3% on $742,959 to $891,542
11.3% on $891,543 to $1,485,906
12.3% on $1,485,907 and above

The wider brackets matter at every income level. A married couple with $145,000 in combined taxable income stays in the 8% bracket and below, while a single filer at $145,000 already has income taxed at 9.3%.³

Head of Household Brackets

Head of household status is generally available to unmarried taxpayers who pay more than half the cost of maintaining a home for a qualifying dependent.³ The lower brackets are roughly double the single-filer thresholds, and the upper brackets (10.3%, 11.3%, and 12.3%) fall between the single and joint-filer amounts. The Franchise Tax Board publishes the exact head of household thresholds for each tax year on its website.

The 1% Surcharge Above $1 Million

On top of the regular brackets, California adds a 1% surcharge on taxable income over $1 million.¹ Stacked with the top regular bracket of 12.3%, this produces a maximum marginal rate of 13.3%, the highest state income tax rate in the country. The surcharge applies only to the portion above $1 million, so a taxpayer with $1.5 million in taxable income pays an extra 1% on $500,000, adding $5,000.

Voters created the surcharge through Proposition 63 in 2004 to fund mental health programs. The $1 million threshold is the same for every filing status; the statute that creates the surcharge specifically excludes the filing-status and bracket-recomputation rules used for the regular brackets, so joint filers do not get a doubled threshold.¹ Tax credits cannot offset this surcharge.

Capital Gains Run Through the Same Brackets

California does not give long-term capital gains a lower rate the way the federal government does. Gains from stocks, real estate, and other investments are taxed as ordinary income through the same progressive brackets.⁴ A single large gain in one year can push a portion of your income into higher brackets and, if total taxable income crosses $1 million, trigger the 1% surcharge.

Standard Deduction Reduces What Hits the Brackets

The brackets apply to taxable income, which is your income after deductions. California’s standard deduction is modest compared to the federal version. For the 2025 tax year the amounts are $5,706 for single filers and those married filing separately, and $11,412 for joint filers, head of household filers, and qualifying surviving spouses.⁵ These figures are adjusted each year for inflation. You can itemize instead if your qualifying expenses exceed the standard amount.

California also provides a personal exemption credit, a flat dollar amount subtracted from tax owed for yourself, your spouse, and each dependent. The current amount is in the Franchise Tax Board’s Form 540 instructions for the year you’re filing.

Nonresidents and Part-Year Residents

If you live outside California but earn income from California sources, such as wages for work performed in the state, rent from California property, or income from a California-based business, you owe California tax on that income.⁶ The same bracket rates apply, but only to your California-source income.

Part-year residents owe tax on all worldwide income received while living in California, plus any California-source income earned during the nonresident portion of the year. One common method for splitting wages when you worked inside and outside the state is to multiply total compensation by the ratio of California workdays to total workdays.⁶ Independent contractors follow a different rule: California taxes the portion of income where the customer received the benefit of the service, regardless of where the contractor performed the work.

One Note on the Alternative Minimum Tax

A separate California Alternative Minimum Tax can override the bracket calculation for some taxpayers. It uses a flat 7% rate applied to a broader definition of income that adds back many deductions and exclusions.⁷ You owe the AMT only if that parallel calculation produces a higher liability than the regular brackets. It most often reaches taxpayers with large itemized deductions, incentive stock option exercises, or certain accelerated depreciation. Schedule P, filed with Form 540, tells you whether it applies.⁸

1
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17043 (2025)
2
Franchise Tax Board. Tax News October 2025
3
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17041 (2025)
4
Franchise Tax Board. Capital Gains and Losses
5
Franchise Tax Board. Deductions
6
Franchise Tax Board. Part-Year Resident and Nonresident
7
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17062 (2025)
8
Franchise Tax Board. Instructions for Schedule P (540) Alternative Minimum Tax and Credit Limitations – Residents