California SDI Tax 2026 — How Much Comes Out of Your Paycheck (and What It Pays)

If you've looked at a California pay stub, you've seen a line labeled "CASDI," "CA SDI" or just "SDI" (California State Disability Insurance) quietly taking a bite out of your check every pay period — usually without much explanation of what it actually is or what you get for it.

SDI stands for State Disability Insurance. Unlike federal income tax, which funds government generally, SDI funds a specific benefit you may be able to draw on directly — but only under specific conditions, and only for part of your income, not all of it. This guide covers exactly how much is withheld, what it actually pays out, who's covered, and the limits worth knowing before you count on it.

What is SDI (State Disability Insurance)?

SDI is a California payroll deduction, required for most employees, that funds two related benefits, administered by the Employment Development Department (EDD):

• Disability Insurance (DI) — partial wage replacement if you can't work because of your own illness or injury that isn't work-related, or because of pregnancy or childbirth.
• Paid Family Leave (PFL) — partial wage replacement if you need time off to care for a seriously ill family member, bond with a new child (a newborn, or a newly adopted or foster child), or support family during a military deployment.

If you were hurt on the job, this usually isn't the right program. A workplace injury or illness normally goes through Workers' Compensation — a separate system with its own claims process. DI is for conditions that aren't work-related, but the EDD says you may still get DI in some cases — for example, if your workers' comp payments are delayed or denied, or are lower than your DI amount.

Both benefits are funded through the same 1.3% payroll deduction — there's no separate line for each on your pay stub. It's an employee deduction: the 1.3% comes out of your wages. Social Security and Medicare work differently — your employer pays a matching share of those.

To see where SDI sits next to federal tax, state tax, Social Security and Medicare, read how much is taken out of your paycheck in California.

How much SDI is taken from your paycheck

SDI is a flat 1.3% of your wages (usually your gross pay; health premiums you pay pre-tax through a qualified cafeteria plan are excluded) — unlike income tax, there are no brackets and no differences by filing status. Since 2024, there's also no wage ceiling: a change under SB 951 eliminated the old annual cap, so every paycheck is subject to the deduction no matter how much you earn in the year. SDI is one reason your gross pay and net pay never match.

To check your own stub: multiply your gross pay for the pay period by 0.013. If you made $1,200, SDI should be about $15.60. If you pay for health insurance before taxes through a cafeteria (Section 125) plan at work, subtract that amount from your gross first. Since all wages are subject to SDI, overtime is too, at the same 1.3% — see how overtime affects your California paycheck. If you earn the state minimum, here's what $16.90 an hour leaves after taxes.

For take-home pay at other wages, see our 2026 table of hourly wages after taxes.

What SDI actually pays if you need it

If you qualify for Disability Insurance or Paid Family Leave, your Weekly Benefit Amount is generally 70% to 90% of the wages you earned in a base period (a 12-month period the EDD looks back at, from about 5 to 18 months before your claim starts) — lower earners get the higher percentage. For 2026, the most SDI can pay is $1,765 per week. How long you can receive it depends on which benefit applies: Disability Insurance can last up to 52 weeks for a single claim, while Paid Family Leave is capped at 8 weeks within any 12-month period — no matter how many separate qualifying reasons come up in that period.

There's an important timing difference between the two benefits:

• Disability Insurance (DI): the first 7 days of a claim are an unpaid waiting period — payments start on the 8th day.
• Paid Family Leave (PFL): no waiting period — it can start paying from day one.

Who pays into SDI — and who's covered

• W-2 employees (you're one if your employer withholds taxes from your paycheck): covered automatically in most cases. The 1.3% is withheld from every paycheck, and one requirement for benefits is having earned at least $300 in wages (with SDI withheld) during your base period — a threshold nearly every working employee clears quickly. You also have to meet the other rules (for DI, for example: being unable to do your regular work for at least 8 days, losing wages, and being certified by a licensed health professional).
• Self-employed / 1099 workers (paid without taxes withheld, usually reported on a Form 1099): not covered automatically. SDI is only mandatory for employees. If you're a freelancer, gig worker, or business owner, you can voluntarily opt in and pay premiums through the EDD's Disability Insurance Elective Coverage (DIEC) program — but it doesn't happen automatically, and DIEC benefits max out at 39 weeks rather than the 52 weeks available under standard DI.
• Some public-sector employees: coverage isn't automatic for everyone. Certain California state employees, and some city, county, school district, or community college workers, are covered by a different program instead of standard SDI — or aren't covered at all — depending on their employer or union agreement. If you work in the public sector, check with your HR or benefits office to confirm what applies to you.

How to file an SDI claim

1. Check your pay stub first. If it shows a voluntary-plan deduction (often labeled VPDI), file through your employer's plan — ask HR or the plan administrator — not with the EDD.
2. File online with SDI Online. You'll need your Social Security number, your most recent employer's name, phone number and address (as shown on your W-2 or pay stub), and the last day you did your regular work. If you don't have a valid ID or Social Security number, you can file a paper claim by mail: form DE 2501 for DI or DE 2501F for PFL. Get it from your doctor or other licensed health professional or your employer, or order it from the EDD (it can take up to 10 days to arrive). See how to file by mail for DI or PFL.
3. Disability Insurance: the EDD suggests waiting 9 days after your disability starts, and you must file within 49 days. Your doctor or other licensed health professional has to complete the medical certification.
4. Paid Family Leave: file on or after the first day of your leave and no later than 41 days after it starts. To bond with a new child, you may need a proof-of-relationship document, such as a birth certificate or adoption or foster papers (new mothers moving over from a pregnancy DI claim don't need one).

Filing late can get your claim disqualified, so don't wait.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

The numbers in this article come from these official and primary sources:

• California EDD — Rates and Withholding — 2026 SDI rate (1.3%) with no wage limit
• California EDD — Disability Insurance — who can qualify and what DI covers
• California EDD — Calculating DI benefit payment amounts — 70-90% of base-period wages, the $1,765 weekly maximum and the 5-to-18-month base period
• California EDD — Contribution Rates and Benefit Amounts — 2026 rate of 1.3% and $1,765 maximum weekly benefit
• California EDD — Paid Family Leave — up to 8 weeks in a 12-month period
• California EDD — PFL Benefits and Payments FAQs — up to 8 weeks within any 12-month period for care, bonding and military assist claims combined
• California EDD — Disability Insurance Elective Coverage — optional coverage for self-employed workers (DIEC)
• California EDD — Self-employed benefit amounts — DIEC pays up to 39 weeks of DI
• California EDD — Voluntary Plan — what a VPDI plan must offer
• California EDD — Form 1099G FAQs — when DI and PFL benefits are taxable
• California EDD — DI eligibility FAQs — the 7-day waiting period and which public employers are covered
• California EDD — Nonindustrial Disability Insurance (NDI) — state employees in certain bargaining units are covered by NDI instead of SDI
• California EDD — Am I eligible for DI benefits? — the 8-day, lost-wages, $300 and medical certification requirements
• California EDD — Workers' Compensation FAQs — when you can get DI if workers' comp is delayed, denied or lower
• California EDD — Pregnancy FAQs — DI coverage before and after delivery
• California EDD — How to file a DI claim and How to file a PFL claim — deadlines and what you need
• California EDD — Paid Family Leave brochure (DE 2511) — PFL doesn't provide job protection; bonding within the child's first 12 months; proof-of-relationship documents
• California EDD — FMLA and CFRA FAQs — DI and PFL don't provide job protection; FMLA and CFRA may
• California Civil Rights Department — Your Rights and Obligations as a Pregnant Employee — up to 4 months of Pregnancy Disability Leave with employers of 5 or more employees
• California EDD — How to file a DI claim by mail and a PFL claim by mail — forms DE 2501 and DE 2501F, where to get them, up to 10 days to arrive
• California EDD — Voluntary Plan FAQs — file a Voluntary Plan claim through your employer's personnel or benefits office
• California Franchise Tax Board — Form 540 instructions — refers to this withholding as "Voluntary Plan Disability Insurance (VPDI)"
• California Legislature — AB 908 analysis — eliminated the one-week waiting period for PFL
• California EDD — DE 231EB, employee benefits — health premiums paid through a qualified cafeteria plan are not subject to SDI
• California EDD — May 2026 DI Fund Forecast — projected 1.4% rate and $1,791 maximum weekly benefit for 2027
• IRS Topic 751 — employers pay a matching share of Social Security and Medicare