Explore State-Specific Paid Leave Programs
12 states & DC offer state-administered wage replacement with specific benefit formulas, weekly caps, and eligibility rules:
What is a Paid Family Leave Calculator?
A family leave calculator is a financial planning tool that helps expectant parents and caregivers estimate their income during a period of absence from work. It accounts for state-mandated paid leave benefits, employer-provided disability insurance, and personal savings to determine the "income gap" during leave.
Navigating the mix of state laws, federal FMLA, and private company policies can be complex. Our tool simplifies this by providing estimated weekly benefit amounts based on your specific location and salary.
How to Plan Your Parental Leave Budget
Follow these steps to ensure you are financially prepared for your time away from work:
- 1Verify Your State EligibilitySelect your state of residence to apply local paid family leave (PFL) or temporary disability insurance (TDI) benefit formulas.
- 2Input Your Base EarningsEnter your current gross annual salary and any additional employer-sponsored wage replacement percentages you expect to receive.
- 3Define Your Leave DurationInput the intended duration of your leave (e.g., 6, 8, or 12 weeks) to see the total estimated benefit amount for the entire period.
- 4Calculate the Savings GoalIdentify the "gap" between your regular take-home pay and your leave benefits. This is the amount you should aim to save before your leave begins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which states have paid family leave?
As of 2026, 12 states and D.C. have paid family leave programs: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. In our data, replacement rates range from 60% to 100% of wages, with varying weekly caps and duration limits.
How much does paid family leave pay?
Paid family leave benefits typically replace 60-90% of your wages up to a weekly cap. For example, California pays 60-70% of wages up to $1,765/week, while New York pays 67% up to $1,228/week. Most states use a sliding scale where lower-wage workers receive a higher replacement rate.
How long is paid family leave?
Paid family leave duration varies by state, from 8 to 12 weeks in our data. California and Rhode Island offer 8 weeks, and most other states, including Oregon, Colorado and New York, offer 12 weeks. Federal FMLA provides 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave but does not include wage replacement.
By Frank Sterling (pen name of LifeCalc’s founder; not a licensed financial advisor). Figures on this page were computed with the same code the calculator runs. Data verified 2026-09-01.
How this paid family leave calculator works
For the 12 states and D.C. with a state paid family leave program, the calculator looks up that state’s replacement rate, weekly benefit cap and maximum number of weeks. Your weekly wage is salary ÷ 52, and the estimated weekly benefit is min(weekly wage × replacement rate, weekly cap). Paid weeks are the smaller of the weeks you want and the state maximum. Total benefit is weekly benefit × paid weeks, and your income gap is the wages you would have earned over the whole leave minus that benefit. The savings goal is the gap, shown as a monthly amount over 6 or 12 months. For states without a program the tool treats the whole leave as unpaid, with federal FMLA providing 12 weeks of job protection.
Assumptions and defaults
- Defaults: California, $75,000 salary, maternity leave, 12 weeks.
- Each state is reduced to one flat replacement percentage and one cap. Many real programs use tiered formulas: California pays 60% to 70% depending on earnings, and Colorado and Massachusetts pay a higher share of lower wages and a lower share above a threshold. Your true benefit can therefore be lower or higher than this estimate.
- The Maternity, Paternity and Family Care buttons do not change the math. They are labels; eligible weeks depend on the state and on your circumstances.
- Waiting periods are displayed for states that have one but are not subtracted from the estimate, and benefits are shown before tax. Programs such as California’s are subject to federal income tax.
- Pregnancy-related disability leave (for example California SDI) that can be paid before bonding leave is not included, so a birth parent’s total paid time can be longer than shown.
- Employer top-ups, PTO and short-term disability policies are not counted.
Worked example: $75,000 and 12 weeks off
A $75,000 salary is $1,442.31 a week. In California, 70% of that is $1,009.62, well below the $1,765 cap (the cap only binds once salary passes about $131,100). California pays up to 8 weeks, so 8 of your 12 weeks are covered.
| California: weekly benefit | $1,010 |
|---|---|
| California: benefit for 8 paid weeks | $8,077 |
| Wages skipped over 12 weeks | $17,308 |
| California income gap to save | $9,231 ($1,538/mo over 6 months) |
| New York (67%, 12 weeks): benefit / gap | $11,596 / $5,712 |
| Massachusetts (80%, 12 weeks): benefit / gap | $13,846 / $3,462 |
The comparison shows that the maximum number of paid weeks can matter as much as the percentage. California’s rate is higher than New York’s, but New York pays for four more of those 12 weeks, leaving a smaller gap. Massachusetts looks best on paper, but it has a 7-day waiting period that this estimate ignores.
Limitations: when to talk to a professional
This is a budgeting aid, not a benefit determination. Only your state agency can tell you what you qualify for, and rules, caps and rates change each year. Eligibility usually depends on your recent earnings, your employer’s coverage and how you file the claim. FMLA, which the U.S. Department of Labor describes as up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, has its own eligibility tests. Before you plan around a number, confirm the figure on your state’s benefit calculator, ask HR how your employer’s policy interacts with the state program, and consider an employment attorney if you expect a dispute over job protection.
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State Taxes
Often Exempt
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MN & ME Launching