California’s state income tax rates and brackets for the 2025 tax year run from 1% to 12.3% across nine progressive brackets, with an additional 1% mental health surcharge on taxable income above $1 million that pushes the top effective rate to 13.3%. The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) adjusts the bracket thresholds each year for inflation and publishes the updated schedule before filing season. Only the income that falls inside a given bracket is taxed at that bracket’s rate.
2025 Brackets for Single Filers
Single filers and those filing as married or registered domestic partner filing separately use these thresholds for the 2025 tax year:1FTB (Franchise Tax Board). 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules
- 1% on income up to $11,079
- 2% on income from $11,079 to $26,264
- 4% on income from $26,264 to $41,452
- 6% on income from $41,452 to $57,542
- 8% on income from $57,542 to $72,724
- 9.3% on income from $72,724 to $371,479
- 10.3% on income from $371,479 to $445,771
- 11.3% on income from $445,771 to $742,953
- 12.3% on income $742,953 and above
Progressive brackets don’t mean your whole income gets taxed at your top rate. A single filer with $80,000 of taxable income pays 1% on the first $11,079, 2% on the slice up to $26,264, and so on up the ladder; only the amount above $72,724 is taxed at 9.3%. Earning a dollar more never raises the rate on the dollars beneath it.
2025 Brackets for Joint Filers
Married couples and registered domestic partners filing jointly get thresholds that are exactly double the single-filer amounts:1FTB (Franchise Tax Board). 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules
- 1% on income up to $22,158
- 2% on income from $22,158 to $52,528
- 4% on income from $52,528 to $82,904
- 6% on income from $82,904 to $115,084
- 8% on income from $115,084 to $145,448
- 9.3% on income from $145,448 to $742,958
- 10.3% on income from $742,958 to $891,542
- 11.3% on income from $891,542 to $1,485,906
- 12.3% on income $1,485,906 and above
Head of household filers use a separate schedule with thresholds that sit between the single and joint amounts. Those figures appear in the FTB’s published tax rate schedule each year.
The 1% Surcharge on Income Over $1 Million
Sitting on top of the nine regular brackets is a 1% surcharge on taxable income above $1,000,000. California voters approved this levy in 2004 through the Mental Health Services Act to fund expanded mental health programs.2UCL Law Scholarship Repository. Mental Health Services Expansion, Funding Tax on Personal Incomes Above One Million Initiative Statute The $1 million threshold is set in statute and is not adjusted for inflation.
The surcharge applies only to the portion of income above $1 million. A taxpayer with $1.2 million in taxable income owes the extra 1% on $200,000, adding $2,000. Combined with the 12.3% top bracket, this produces the 13.3% top effective rate often cited as one of the highest in the country. The threshold is the same regardless of filing status: single, joint, and every other status all hit the surcharge at $1 million.1FTB (Franchise Tax Board). 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules
The Standard Deduction You Subtract First
The bracket rates apply to taxable income, not gross income. Before running through the schedule, you subtract either the standard deduction or your itemized deductions. For 2025, California’s standard deduction is $5,706 for single filers and married filing separately, and $11,412 for married filing jointly, head of household, and qualifying surviving spouse.3FTB.ca.gov. Deductions
These amounts are considerably smaller than the federal standard deduction, which is more than twice as large for every status. Some taxpayers who take the federal standard deduction find it worth itemizing on the California return instead. A separate worksheet with a floor of $1,300 applies to filers who were claimed as a dependent on a parent’s return.4Franchise Tax Board. 2024 Instructions for Form 540 Personal Income Tax Booklet
How the Rates Apply to Capital Gains, Retirement Income, and Social Security
The bracket rates above are the whole story for most types of income. California does not offer a preferential rate for long-term capital gains the way the federal government does; all capital gains are taxed as ordinary income and run through the same nine brackets.5FTB.ca.gov. Capital Gains and Losses A stock sale or real estate profit stacks on top of your other income and lands wherever it falls on the schedule. For a high earner, a gain taxed at 20% federally can be taxed at 13.3% by California on the same dollars.
Distributions from 401(k) plans, IRAs, and pensions follow the same treatment as federal for the taxable portion — ordinary income running through the regular brackets.6FTB Publication. Pension and Annuity Guidelines After-tax basis from nondeductible IRA contributions comes back tax-free, matching the federal treatment.
Social Security benefits are the exception. California does not tax Social Security at all, including survivor’s and disability benefits.7California Tax Service Center. Special Circumstances Retirees whose income mixes Social Security with pension or 401(k) withdrawals will see only the pension and withdrawal amounts on their state return.
Who These Rates Apply To
California residents pay these rates on worldwide income. If you lived in the state all year, everything you earned, anywhere, runs through the California brackets.8FTB.ca.gov. Part-Year Resident and Nonresident
Part-year residents pay California tax on all worldwide income received during the portion of the year they were residents, plus any California-source income earned during the nonresident portion. Nonresidents pay only on California-source income: wages for work physically performed in the state, rent from California property, profits from a California-based business, gains from selling California real estate. Employees who split their workdays between California and another state prorate using a workday ratio. Independent contractors use a different rule: what matters is where the customer receives the benefit of the service.
The Alternative Minimum Tax
A separate rate structure can override the regular brackets for some filers. California has its own alternative minimum tax at a flat 7%, applied after adding back certain deductions and preference items.9FTB (Franchise Tax Board). 2025 Schedule P (540) Alternative Minimum Tax and Credit For 2025, the AMT exemption is $92,749 for single or head of household filers (phasing out above $347,808), $123,667 for married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse (phasing out above $463,745), and $61,830 for married filing separately (phasing out above $231,868).
The AMT most often catches taxpayers with large itemized deductions, incentive stock option exercises, or significant private activity bond interest. You owe it only if your tentative minimum tax exceeds your regular tax, and you pay only the difference. Schedule P, filed with Form 540, runs the calculation.