Maximum income limits for CalWORKs when working - what's the current cutoff for 2025?

Congrats on the job offer! CalWORKs income limits depend on your family size and county. For a family of 3 in 2025, the gross income limit is around $2,775/month, but that's not the whole story. CalWORKs has what's called the "income disregard" - they don't count your first $450 of earned income, then they only count 50% of the rest when calculating your grant. So with $2,450 monthly income: - First $450 is disregarded - That leaves $2,000 - Only 50% of that ($1,000) counts toward your eligibility So your "countable income" would be about $1,000, which should still qualify you for some Cash Aid, but your grant amount would be reduced. You'll probably get a partial grant instead of the full $871.

they dont tell u this but u can work and still get calworks!!!! i had a job making $2100 last year and still got like $320 in cash. its that $450 thing they do plus half of whatever else you make doesn't count. just make sure u report your income on time or they will hit u with an overpayment later and that SUCKS

The income disregard continues as long as you're eligible for CalWORKs! It's not temporary. It's meant to incentivize work. But one important thing to remember - you still have to meet your Welfare to Work participation requirements even when working, unless your work hours are enough to satisfy WTW. For a single parent, that's 30 hours per week. If your new job is full-time (35+ hours), you'll meet your WTW hours just with your job. If it's part-time, you might need to do additional activities to meet your required hours. Also, when you start working, apply for CalWORKs childcare assistance ASAP! They'll cover your childcare costs while you're working, and that benefit can continue even after your Cash Aid ends due to income (up to 24 months after, I believe).

I wish they'd make this information clearer!!! I lost out on MONTHS of benefits because I thought I couldn't get CalWORKs while working. NOBODY at the county office explained the disregards to me! They just say "report your income" but don't explain how they calculate it or that you can still get benefits while working. The whole system is designed to keep people confused and not getting what they're entitled to!!! 😡

Also remember that while your Cash Aid might go down as your income goes up, you might still qualify for full CalFresh benefits, which is a separate calculation. Many working families get zero Cash Aid but still qualify for the maximum food benefits. And working often makes you eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) come tax time, which can be thousands of dollars depending on your income and number of kids. So even if your cash aid reduces significantly, you're likely to be financially better off working!

quick qusetion what if u dont report right away do they terminate ur case????? i started a job 3 weeks ago but havent told my worker yet cuz i want to make sure its going good before i say anything

To answer your question about childcare - you typically request it through your CalWORKs worker, but they'll connect you with the childcare portion of the program (sometimes called Stage 1 childcare). The process varies by county, but your worker should give you the childcare application forms when you report your new employment. Be sure to ask for them specifically if they don't offer. One more tip - your work schedule has to be verified for childcare approval, so make sure to get a letter from your employer stating your work hours/schedule. This will make the childcare approval process much smoother!

oh and dont 4get that when ur working u can get EBT cash back at stores!!! that was super helpful 4 me when i was working cuz sometimes i needed cash for like the bus or whatever and i could just get cash back with my ebt card at the grocery store

I was in your exact situation last year. If you're having trouble getting clear answers from your worker about how your exact benefits will change, try calling the main CalWORKs number and using the callback service I mentioned (Claimyr). When I finally got through, they were able to run the calculations and tell me exactly how much my grant would be reduced based on my new income. It was so helpful to have those exact numbers when budgeting. And definitely apply for childcare assistance! That benefit alone was worth more than my cash aid - they covered my daughter's entire preschool cost while I worked.

anywnn know if the medi-cal stays the same? i herd working doesnt affect medi-cal?

Congratulations on the job offer! Just wanted to add that you should also ask your new employer about their benefits - some employers offer health insurance, and if yours does, you'll want to coordinate that with your Medi-Cal coverage. Sometimes employer health plans can be better than Medi-Cal, but other times Medi-Cal might cover more services especially for your kids. Also, make sure to keep all your pay stubs once you start working! You'll need them for your quarterly reports to CalWORKs, and if there are any questions about overpayments or underpayments later, having complete records will protect you. I learned this the hard way when my hours got cut one month and I had to prove my reduced income to avoid losing benefits I was still entitled to. One last thing - if this job doesn't work out for any reason, report that change immediately too. People sometimes think they have to wait until their next reporting period, but job loss should be reported right away so your benefits can be restored quickly. Good luck with your new job!

Congratulations on the job offer! This thread has been so incredibly helpful - I'm actually in a very similar situation myself and was having the same worries about losing benefits while working. Just wanted to add something that helped me when I was researching all this - the California Department of Social Services website has a really helpful "CalWORKs Income and Eligibility Calculator" tool where you can plug in your family size and estimated monthly income to see roughly what your benefits might look like. It's not 100% accurate since every situation is different, but it gave me a ballpark idea of what to expect before I called my caseworker. Also, I noticed someone mentioned the Claimyr service for getting through to your caseworker - I actually tried that and it was a lifesaver! Instead of spending hours on hold, they wait for you and call you back when a real person picks up. Made such a difference when I needed to get information quickly. Take that job! From everything everyone has shared here, you're going to be in such a better position financially with work income plus partial benefits plus all the support programs available for working families. The income disregards really are designed to make sure working always pays more than just staying on benefits. You've got this!