SDI Tax Calculator (State Disability Insurance)

SDI / TDI rates and wage bases: 2026 and 2025

Every employee-side state disability rate, wage base, and maximum annual contribution, straight from each state agency's published figures. New Jersey and New York each have two separate components on the pay stub; the maximums shown are per component.

Hawaii's figure is the maximum an employer may deduct from the employee — up to half the TDI premium, capped at 0.5% of weekly wages up to the $1,500.21 weekly wage base for 2026. Many Hawaii employers pay the full premium and deduct nothing, so treat the $390.00/year as a ceiling, not a fixed tax.

What is SDI?

State Disability Insurance is short-term wage insurance run by a state government. If you can't work because of an illness, an injury that didn't happen on the job, or pregnancy and childbirth recovery, the program replaces part of your paycheck for a limited number of weeks. It fills the gap that workers' compensation (work-related injuries only) and Social Security disability (long-term, strict eligibility) both leave open.

California's program is the biggest: for 2026 it pays up to $1,765 per week ($1,681 in 2025), funded entirely by the employee-side 1.3% SDI deduction you see on every California pay stub. New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island run equivalent programs under different names — TDI (Temporary Disability Insurance) or DBL (Disability Benefits Law) — and New Jersey and New York pair the disability deduction with a separate paid family leave deduction (FLI and PFL).

Who pays SDI tax?

In four of the five states, the employee pays through a mandatory payroll deduction — it comes out of your check automatically, like FICA:

• California — employees pay 1.3% (2026) / 1.2% (2025) of ALL wages. Since SB 951 took effect in 2024 there is no taxable wage ceiling.
• New Jersey — employees pay two separate deductions, TDI and FLI, each on the first $171,100 of 2026 wages.
• New York — employees pay up to $0.60/week for DBL plus 0.432% of wages for PFL (2026 annual max $411.91).
• Rhode Island — employees pay 1.1% on the first $100,000 of 2026 wages; the one deduction funds both disability (TDI) and caregiver (TCI) benefits.
• Hawaii — the employer must provide TDI coverage and pays at least half the premium. The employer may deduct up to half from employees — capped at 0.5% of weekly wages up to the $1,500.21 weekly wage base ($7.50/week, $390.00/year max for 2026) — but many pay the full premium and deduct nothing.

Self-employed people are generally outside these programs unless they opt in where the state allows it (California's Disability Insurance Elective Coverage, for example). SDI is also separate from the newer paid-family-and-medical-leave payroll taxes in states like Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Massachusetts — those fund leave programs, not standalone disability insurance.

CASDI, VPDI, and the other W-2 Box 14 labels

SDI withholding shows up in Box 14 of your W-2 (some employers use Box 19). The common labels:

Is SDI deductible on your federal return?

Per the IRS Schedule A instructions, mandatory employee contributions to the California, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island state disability funds are deductible as state and local income taxes on Schedule A — if you itemize. They count toward the same SALT cap as your state income tax and property tax, so most people who take the standard deduction get no federal benefit from them.

Two exceptions: Hawaii TDI withholding is a share of an insurance premium paid to an employer's plan, not a state tax, and is not deductible. California VPDI (voluntary plan) contributions are likewise not deductible, because a voluntary plan contribution is not a tax. Run the itemized vs standard comparison to see whether your SALT total — SDI included — beats the standard deduction.

Whether the benefits you receive are taxable is a separate question — California SDI benefits are generally tax-free, but the answer differs by program and by who funded the premium. See is disability income taxable for the benefit-side rules.