California Sales Tax Calculator

How the California sales tax rate is built

California does not have one sales tax rate. It has a base rate plus whatever local districts have voted to add, and the total changes from one address to the next. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, or CDTFA, keeps the official list and updates it on set dates. The figures on this page come from its sales and use tax rates page and the county table dated October 1, 2026.

The base rate is 7.25%, and it is built from three pieces:

• 6.00% goes to the state
• 1.00% is the local jurisdiction share, which goes to the city or county where the sale happens
• 0.25% is the local transportation fund, which always goes to the county

Everything above 7.25% is district tax. District taxes range from 0.10% to 2.00%, and an address can sit under more than one of them. That is how a rate climbs from the 7.25% base to 11.25% in parts of Los Angeles County. The statewide base itself has been 7.25% for years, so most of the movement people notice is district tax being added or expiring.

Worked example: a $100 purchase in four places

Same $100 item, four addresses, four totals. This is the fastest way to see why the rate matters.

• Statewide base, 7.25%: tax $7.25, total $107.25
• Los Angeles County, 10.25%: tax $10.25, total $110.25
• Santa Clara County, 9.75%: tax $9.75, total $109.75
• Oakland, 10.75%: tax $10.75, total $110.75

The spread is $3.50 on a single $100 purchase between the base rate and Oakland. On a $1,000 laptop in Oakland the tax is $107.50 and the total is $1,107.50, while the same laptop at the base rate is $1,072.50. Thirty-five dollars is worth knowing about before you decide where to buy.

Odd prices split the tax further. A $49.99 purchase in San Francisco at 8.625% carries $4.31 in tax for a total of $54.30. Of that, $3.62 is the base and $0.69 is district tax. The cents matter to a seller filing returns, because the base and district pieces are reported separately.

County and city rates at a glance

These are the rates for the most populated counties and a few well-known cities, taken from the CDTFA county table dated October 1, 2026. When a city is not listed, the county rate applies to the unincorporated area and to cities that impose no district tax of their own.

Los Angeles County moved to 10.25% on October 1, 2026, and the change carried into many of its cities, which is why several now sit at 11.00% or 11.25%. Rates are not permanent. A district tax can expire, and a new one can appear at the next quarterly change, so check the address before a large purchase or a filing.

What the district tax adds, and why your neighbour pays less

The district portion is where the differences live. Two people in the same county can pay different rates if one lives in a city with its own district and the other does not. In Orange County the county rate is 7.75%, but Santa Ana sits at 9.25% and Los Alamitos also reaches 9.25%, because each added city districts on top.

Because district tax is tied to the place of sale or delivery, it follows the address, not the seller. Buy the same item online and have it shipped to two houses ten miles apart and the tax can differ, even from the same store, because the delivery addresses fall under different districts. That is the single most common reason a receipt shows a rate you did not expect.

For a household budget the difference is real over a year. Spend $10,000 a year on taxable goods in a 10.25% area and the tax is $1,025.00. Do the same spending in a 7.75% area and it is $775.00. That is $250.00 a year, just from where the purchases land. The base rate is the floor everywhere in the state, and the district stack is what you are paying above it.

What is taxed and what is not

Sales tax applies to tangible personal property, which is most physical goods you buy. A few categories are handled differently, and the differences matter more than the rate for some households.

• Groceries. Most food bought for home use is exempt from sales tax, so a $150 grocery run adds no tax. The exemption covers food products, not the prepared meals or hot food you buy ready to eat.
• Restaurant meals. Meals served hot, and most food sold for immediate consumption, are taxed at the full local rate. A $20 takeout order in a 10.25% area adds $2.05.
• Prepared food in a grocery store. A deli sandwich made to order is taxed even though the same bread and meat bought cold is not.
• Prescription medicine. Generally exempt, while over-the-counter medicine is usually taxed.
• Services. Most services are not subject to sales tax, which is why a $100 repair bill often carries no tax while the $100 part does.

Because the boundary runs through mixed baskets, a single receipt can carry two rates, one on the exempt food and one on the taxable items. Sellers handle that split on their returns, and it is why the number at the bottom of a grocery receipt is rarely a clean percentage of the total. The CDTFA publishes the detail for each category if you need the exact treatment.

Online shopping, delivery and use tax

Online purchases are not a way around sales tax in California. A retailer that has a physical presence in the state, or that sells more than $500,000 of goods into California in a year, has to collect the local rate on the order. That threshold pulled most large marketplaces and national stores into collection years ago, so the tax shows up on the checkout page.

For a delivered order the rate is set by the delivery address. Buy from a store in a 7.25% area but ship to a home in a 10.25% area and you pay 10.25%, because the district taxes at the destination apply. The reverse also holds. This is why a checkout estimate can change the moment you correct the shipping address.

When a seller does not collect the tax, the buyer still owes it as use tax, which is the same amount reported on the state income tax return or paid directly to the CDTFA. Most people never see a use tax line because collection is now the norm, but the obligation has not gone away. Keep the receipts for any large out-of-state purchase, and treat the figure from this calculator as the amount that will be due one way or another. If you itemize, the IRS guidance on deductible taxes explains how state and local sales tax can be claimed on a federal return.

This is an estimate for planning, not tax advice. Rates change on set dates and some addresses sit under several districts, so confirm the exact rate for a real purchase with the CDTFA rate look-up or a tax professional.