Los Angeles paycheck calculator (2026)
LA workers pay California state income tax, not a separate LA income tax. LA City minimum wage 2026: $18.42/hr per the Office of Wage Standards. Commuter benefit: $340/month transit + $340/month parking in 2026, pre-tax federal + California.
Tax outcomes depend on your specific situation. This page summarises 2026 published guidance from the LA Office of Wage Standards, the California DIR, the California FTB, and the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Consult a CPA about your circumstances.
How LA paychecks differ from California-wide paychecks
From a tax-mechanics perspective, an LA paycheck looks identical to a paycheck anywhere else in California. There is no Los Angeles city income tax. Federal income tax, California state income tax (1%-13.3% per FTB brackets), Social Security, Medicare, and SDI all apply at the same rates as in any other California city. The differences appear in three places. First, the Los Angeles city minimum wage of $18.42/hour (from July 1, 2026) is higher than the California statewide $16.90, set by the Office of Wage Standards under the LA Municipal Code. This affects only the wage floor; workers paid above the LA minimum see no LA-specific impact on their paycheck. Second, certain LA County cities (Pasadena $18.57, Santa Monica $18.47, West Hollywood $20.25) have their own city minimum wages applicable when work is performed within those city boundaries.
Third, LA's housing costs are meaningfully higher than the California average outside coastal metros, which dominates the cost-of-living calculation rather than the tax calculation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics shows the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area median wage across all occupations at $55,850 a year. The per-zip-code variation within LA is substantial: a worker in Beverly Hills, Westwood, or Manhattan Beach pays the same state and federal taxes as a worker in Boyle Heights or Sun Valley, but their take-home stretches very differently.
LA take-home table by salary band
The table below shows annual and biweekly take-home for a single filer earning each salary level in Los Angeles in 2026. Salary brackets begin at $40,000 (close to the LA metro 25th percentile of $39,320, BLS May 2025) and run to $150,000 (well above the LA metro median of $55,850 and into the upper professional wages band). Each row uses California state income tax, federal income tax, FICA, and SDI applicable statewide. There is no LA-specific income tax addition.
| Annual gross | Federal tax | CA state tax | Annual take-home | Biweekly net | ETR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $2,620 | $706 | $33,094 | $1,273 | 17.3% |
| $50,000 | $3,820 | $1,131 | $40,574 | $1,561 | 18.9% |
| $60,000 | $5,020 | $1,731 | $47,879 | $1,841 | 20.2% |
| $75,000 | $7,670 | $2,823 | $57,794 | $2,223 | 22.9% |
| $100,000 | $13,170 | $5,069 | $72,811 | $2,800 | 27.2% |
| $125,000 | $18,734 | $7,394 | $87,685 | $3,372 | 29.9% |
| $150,000 | $24,734 | $9,719 | $102,122 | $3,928 | 31.9% |
Cost of living: what each take-home buys in LA
A worker earning $50,000 in LA takes home approximately $40,574 a year, or about $3,381 a month. Under the conventional guide of rent at or under 30% of gross pay, that salary supports about $1,250 a month of rent. At $75,000 gross / $57,794 annual take-home / about $4,816/month, the guide points to about $1,875. At $100,000 gross with annual take-home of about $72,811 / $6,068/month, it points to $2,500. Put a real listing against those numbers to see where a neighbourhood leaves you.
HUD's Fair Market Rents for Los Angeles County are set at the 40th percentile of recent-mover rents, so listings in popular West LA neighborhoods (Santa Monica, Venice, Westwood, Brentwood) commonly run above them. Workers with significant rent burden can reduce California taxable income via Section 125 health insurance premiums, FSA, and commuter benefits, none of which reduce rent directly but improve the gross-to-net cushion. Strategies for reducing California state tax: increase take-home pay page.
LA Metro pre-tax commuter benefit
One LA-specific pre-tax benefit worth knowing: the IRC 132 commuter benefit. Federal law allows employees to set aside up to $340/month in 2026 for transit (LA Metro monthly pass, Metrolink monthly pass, vanpool fares, paratransit) and up to $340/month for parking, both pre-tax (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32). The deduction reduces both federal and California taxable income. The annual maximum if both transit and parking are maxed: $8,160. At a single 22% federal + 9.3% California marginal rate, the combined annual income tax saving is approximately $2,554. Many large LA-area employers (LA County, USC, UCLA, the major studios, large law firms) offer the benefit through their payroll system; check with HR.
LA Metro publishes detailed employer outreach materials and a commuter benefit toolkit at metro.net. The benefit must be administered through the employer's payroll system to qualify for pre-tax treatment; workers cannot claim a deduction on their personal tax return for transit or parking they pay out-of-pocket. Workers without employer-sponsored commuter benefits should ask HR whether the program can be added; the administrative cost to the employer is minimal. LA Metro and Foothill Transit both administer comprehensive employer programs.
Compare LA with other California metros
Los Angeles paycheck, common questions
LA paycheck calculations on this page reflect 2026 published rates from the California FTB, IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, the LA Office of Wage Standards, and BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). There is no Los Angeles city income tax; California state income tax applies. Pre-tax commuter benefit limits are set by IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Consult a CPA about your circumstances.