California’s personal income tax runs across nine brackets, with marginal rates from 1% to 12.3%. A separate 1% surcharge on taxable income above $1 million lifts the effective top rate to 13.3%. The California tax brackets below are the 2025 figures published by the Franchise Tax Board, which apply to the return most people file in early 2026. Thresholds shift slightly each year because the FTB indexes them to the California Consumer Price Index.
How the Brackets Actually Work
California’s income tax is progressive. Your taxable income gets sliced into layers, and each layer is taxed at its own rate. Earning one dollar past a threshold does not push your whole paycheck into the next rate; only the dollars sitting inside that higher bracket are taxed at the higher percentage.
Revenue and Taxation Code Section 17041 sets the base structure, and the FTB recalculates the dollar thresholds each year using the California CPI so that cost-of-living raises don’t quietly bump people into higher brackets.1California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17041
One more thing to keep straight before reading the tables. The brackets apply to taxable income, which is your gross income minus either the standard deduction or your itemized deductions. For 2025, the California standard deduction is $5,706 for single filers and married individuals filing separately, and $11,412 for joint filers, heads of household, and qualifying surviving spouses.2Franchise Tax Board. Standard Deduction Those amounts come off the top before any bracket math begins.
2025 Brackets for Single and Married Filing Separately
- 1% on taxable income up to $11,079
- 2% from $11,080 to $26,264
- 4% from $26,265 to $41,452
- 6% from $41,453 to $57,542
- 8% from $57,543 to $72,724
- 9.3% from $72,725 to $371,479
- 10.3% from $371,480 to $445,771
- 11.3% from $445,772 to $742,953
- 12.3% on taxable income over $742,953
Consider a single filer with $100,000 in taxable income. They pay 1% on the first $11,079, then 2% on the slice up to $26,264, and so on up through the 8% bracket. Only the dollars between $72,725 and $100,000 are taxed at 9.3%. The total state income tax works out to roughly $5,738, well below what a flat 9.3% rate would produce.3California Franchise Tax Board. 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules
2025 Brackets for Married Filing Jointly and Qualifying Surviving Spouse
- 1% on taxable income up to $22,158
- 2% from $22,159 to $52,528
- 4% from $52,529 to $82,904
- 6% from $82,905 to $115,084
- 8% from $115,085 to $145,448
- 9.3% from $145,449 to $742,958
- 10.3% from $742,959 to $891,542
- 11.3% from $891,543 to $1,485,906
- 12.3% on taxable income over $1,485,906
Joint-filer thresholds are roughly double the single-filer figures at each tier, so a married couple filing together is not pushed into a higher combined bracket just by filing jointly. The top 12.3% rate does not apply until taxable income passes about $1.49 million.3California Franchise Tax Board. 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules
2025 Brackets for Head of Household
- 1% on taxable income up to $22,173
- 2% from $22,174 to $52,530
- 4% from $52,531 to $67,716
- 6% from $67,717 to $83,805
- 8% from $83,806 to $98,990
- 9.3% from $98,991 to $505,208
- 10.3% from $505,209 to $606,251
- 11.3% from $606,252 to $1,010,417
- 12.3% on taxable income over $1,010,417
Head of household status is available to unmarried taxpayers who pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for a qualifying dependent. The thresholds sit between the single and joint schedules, with the widest span in the 9.3% bracket, which runs from about $99,000 to over $505,000.3California Franchise Tax Board. 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules
The 1% Surcharge Above $1 Million
On top of the nine standard brackets, a flat 1% surcharge applies to every dollar of taxable income above $1 million, regardless of filing status. Revenue and Taxation Code Section 17043 created this tax in 2005 to fund mental health and behavioral health services statewide.4California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17043 Recent FTB estimated-tax instructions call it the Behavioral Health Services Tax, though the statute still uses the original name.5Franchise Tax Board. Instructions for Form 540-ES Estimated Tax for Individuals
Because the surcharge stacks on top of the 12.3% bracket, the effective top marginal rate is 13.3%. A detail that catches people off guard: the $1 million threshold is not indexed for inflation. The regular bracket thresholds under Section 17041 rise each year, but the millionaire line is fixed by statute.4California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17043 No tax credits can be applied against the surcharge, so it hits dollar-for-dollar on income above the threshold.
Credits That Reduce Your Final Bill
After the bracket math produces a tax figure, personal exemption credits come off the top. For 2025, the credit is $153 per person for single, married filing separately, and head of household filers, and $306 for joint filers or surviving spouses. Each qualifying dependent adds a $475 credit.6Franchise Tax Board. Tax News October 2025 These are credits, not deductions, so they reduce the tax owed dollar-for-dollar rather than lowering the income the brackets apply to.
Capital Gains Run Through the Same Brackets
California does not offer a preferential rate for long-term capital gains. Short-term and long-term gains both flow into your regular taxable income and are taxed at whatever marginal bracket they land in.7Franchise Tax Board. Capital Gains and Losses This surprises people moving from no-income-tax states and anyone used to the federal system, where long-term gains top out at 20%. A California resident selling stock for a $500,000 gain owes state tax on that gain at rates up to 12.3%, plus the 1% surcharge if total income crosses $1 million. If you are sitting on large unrealized gains, the year you sell can meaningfully change which bracket most of that gain falls into.
What to Expect for 2026
The FTB has not yet published 2026 bracket figures. When it does, expect modestly higher thresholds across every tier because of the annual CPI adjustment under Section 17041. The $1 million surcharge threshold will not move.