The federal Social Security Administration (SSA) recently announced their 2025 cost-of-living adjustments for the Social Security taxable wage base and withholding rate. California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) also announced their 2025 State Disability Insurance (SDI) withholding rate.
At the federal level, for 2025, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax — also known as the Social Security taxable wage base — will increase to $176,100 from $168,600 (a 5.2 percent increase). However, the Social Security withholding rate is unchanged, remaining at 6.2 percent, up to the maximum taxable amount. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax rate — which is the combined total of the Social Security tax rate and the 1.45 percent Medicare tax rate — also remains unchanged at 7.65 percent.
In addition, individuals with earned income of more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) will pay an additional 0.9 percent in Medicare taxes. The tax rates above do not include the 0.9 percent. There is no base limit on the amount of wages subject to the Medicare tax.
In California, SDI is a partial wage-replacement insurance plan for eligible California workers, which is state-mandated and funded through employee payroll deductions. California’s SDI program provides short-term disability insurance and Paid Family Leave (PFL) wage replacement benefits to eligible workers who need time off work. Employers do not directly fund either SDI or PFL.
For 2025, the SDI withholding rate for employees is 1.2 percent, compared with 1.1 percent in 2024. As of January 1, 2024, employees subject to SDI contributions don’t have a taxable wage limit or maximum withholding. The SDI withholding rate is the same for all employees and is calculated annually.
Katie Culliton, Editor, CalChamber
HRCalifornia members can read more about Standard Deductions: Taxes in the HR Library. Not a member? Learn more about how HRCalifornia can help you.
