Los Angeles Paycheck Calculator (2026)

How the Los Angeles Paycheck Calculator: Take-Home Pay Works

This Los Angeles paycheck calculator estimates your take-home pay in Los Angeles, California, using the 2026 federal brackets, Social Security, Medicare, California income tax. Los Angeles workers pay California's graduated income tax and State Disability Insurance but no city income tax, so take-home pay depends mostly on state rules. Enter your salary, pay frequency, filing status and any pre-tax deduction to see net pay per paycheck and per year.

How Los Angeles paychecks are taxed

A Los Angeles paycheck is shaped by California's ten-bracket income tax, which starts at 1% and reaches 9.3% at about $72,700 of taxable income for a single filer. For a worker earning $65,000, the marginal state rate is 8% or 9.3% on part of income, and the effective state rate is around 2.8% after the $5,540 standard deduction and a small personal credit. California conforms to federal treatment of pre-tax retirement contributions, so a traditional 401(k) reduces state tax. There is no separate city income tax in Los Angeles.

Bonuses are withheld at a flat 6.6% for state purposes, and stock compensation may be withheld at higher rates. Set state withholding on Form DE 4, and use the calculator to compare withholding with expected tax.

Local taxes and payroll deductions in Los Angeles

Los Angeles employees pay State Disability Insurance of about 1.2% to 1.3% of all wages with no cap, which also funds paid family leave. There is no city wage tax, though Los Angeles charges businesses a gross receipts tax that does not reduce employee pay. The county and the city do not levy local income taxes on individuals, so the state and federal lines are the main deductions on a stub.

Many entertainment and gig workers in Los Angeles are paid as independent contractors, in which case no SDI or income tax is withheld, and quarterly estimated taxes apply. Use the self-employment tax calculator if that describes you.

How much Los Angeles workers earn

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area had about 6,271,560 jobs in May 2025. The median annual wage across all of them was $55,850 ($26.85 an hour), 4% below the California median of $58,240 and 10% above the national median of $50,980. The average wage was higher, at $77,270, because a smaller number of high earners pull the average up; the median is the better guide to a typical paycheck.

After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and the California taxes in this calculator, a single worker on that $55,850 median takes home about $44,929 a year, or $3,744 a month and $1,728.04 every two weeks.

Wage figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area. Take-home pay: this page's 2026 calculator, single filer, no pre-tax deductions, default settings.

Take-home pay for Los Angeles's most common jobs

These are the occupations with the most workers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area. Each row shows the median salary and what a single filer keeps after 2026 taxes in Los Angeles.

Large occupations tend to pay below the median: 11 of these 15 pay less than the $55,850 median for all workers, which is why the overall median is lower than many people expect.

Worked example: $65,000 salary in Los Angeles

A single Los Angeles worker earning $65,000, paid every two weeks and contributing $100 per paycheck to a traditional 401(k), has gross pay of $2,500.00 per paycheck. Federal income tax after the $2,600 deferral and the $16,100 standard deduction is about $5,308. Social Security is $4,030 and Medicare is $943. California state income tax is about $1,793, state payroll programs add about $845.

Net pay is about $49,481 a year, or $1,903.12 per paycheck, which is 76.1% of gross pay. Change any input in the calculator above to test your own situation.

Higher-paying jobs with many openings in Los Angeles

Among occupations with at least 9,400 workers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area, these have the highest median pay. Federal tax takes a larger share at these salaries, so compare the take-home column rather than the salary when weighing offers.

Occupations concentrated in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area

A location quotient compares how common a job is locally with its share nationwide: 2.0 means twice as concentrated as the U.S. overall. These occupations stand out in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area and say a lot about which industries hire there.

Los Angeles pay vs. California and the U.S. for popular jobs

Median annual wages for well-known jobs in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area, the whole state of California and the United States. Pay usually tracks living costs, so a higher wage does not always mean more money left over.

What hourly jobs pay in Los Angeles

The lowest-paid 10% of workers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area earn under $17.25 an hour. Common hourly jobs pay the median rates below; a 40-hour week at that rate takes home the amount shown after 2026 taxes. Check the current California minimum wage on the U.S. Department of Labor state minimum wage page, since several states raise it each year.

Pay by career field in Los Angeles

BLS groups every job into broad career fields. Here is how many people work in each across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area, the field's median salary and what that salary takes home in Los Angeles. Management pays the most at a median of $136,490; healthcare support pays the least at $35,630.

How pay grows with experience in Los Angeles

The median hides a wide range. The lowest-paid 10% in a job are often new to it, while the top 10% are usually experienced, specialized or in management. The ranges below for common Los Angeles jobs show how much room there is to grow, with take-home pay at each level.

Cost of living in Los Angeles: rent, sales tax and housing

Los Angeles is expensive. One-bedroom rents commonly range from $2,300 to $3,000 a month, and the combined sales tax rate in the city is 9.75%. Gas prices and insurance are higher than the national average, and commuting can take a long time. Salaries in entertainment, health care, ports and logistics, aerospace and technology are strong, but many workers spend more than a third of net pay on housing.

Use the hourly paycheck calculator to include overtime, which is common in LA jobs with daily overtime rules.

Hourly wages in Los Angeles: what different pay rates take home

Many Los Angeles workers are paid by the hour, so here is the estimated take-home pay at common wage rates for a single filer working 2,080 hours a year, using 2026 federal rules and the Los Angeles and state taxes in this calculator. The figures assume no pre-tax deductions, so your own paycheck will differ once benefits are included.

Overtime is taxed as ordinary wages, so an extra hour is worth less than the wage rate after tax. Use the hourly paycheck calculator to include overtime hours and different pay frequencies.

How a 401(k) contribution changes a Los Angeles paycheck

On a $65,000 salary with no retirement savings, estimated take-home pay in Los Angeles is $51,575 a year. Contributing 6% to a traditional 401(k), which is $3,900, reduces take-home pay by only $3,160 because the contribution lowers federal income tax and, in most cases, state income tax. A 10% contribution of $6,500 lowers take-home pay by $5,292.

In other words, each dollar you save costs roughly 81 cents of take-home pay at this income. If your employer matches contributions, the true cost is even lower, so contributing at least enough to receive the full match is one of the most reliable ways to raise your total pay. Roth contributions cost the full dollar of take-home pay but grow tax-free.

Single or married: a $120,000 household in Los Angeles

Filing status changes the outcome even when income is the same. A single filer earning $120,000 in Los Angeles takes home about $84,760 a year, while a married couple filing jointly with one earner at $120,000 takes home about $95,921, a difference of $11,161 a year, because the joint standard deduction is $32,200 and the joint brackets are twice as wide.

If both spouses work, each employer withholds as if the job were the only income, which can leave you under-withheld, so use the multiple jobs paycheck calculator and update Form W-4. Head-of-household filers with a qualifying dependent can use the head of household calculator.

Rent and a budget on a typical Los Angeles salary

On the $55,850 median, the common guideline of spending no more than 30% of gross pay on housing allows rent of about $1,396 a month. Using the 50/30/20 rule on the $3,744 monthly take-home pay, that is about $1,872 for needs such as rent, food and transport, $1,123 for wants and $749 for savings and debt payments.

If rents run above $1,396 for the home you want, the usual fixes are a roommate, a longer commute or a second income in the household; the rent affordability calculator tests your own numbers.