WIC California 2026: Who Qualifies, Benefits & How to Apply

California WIC covers residents who are pregnant, breastfeeding a baby under 1, or within six months of a birth or pregnancy loss, and children under 5. A family of four qualifies with gross income up to $5,088 a month, 185% of the federal poverty level, through June 30, 2027. If the person enrolling already gets Medi-Cal, CalFresh or CalWORKs, the income test is met at any income. Call 1-800-852-5770 or search your ZIP code in the WIC office finder today; at the first appointment, staff confirm eligibility, check nutrition and load benefits onto a California WIC Card you can use that day.

Who qualifies for WIC in California

The local WIC office checks category, California residence, income and nutrition risk for each person. The categories:

• Pregnant. Bring proof such as a provider's note, an ultrasound picture or a prenatal appointment notice; without it, you still get certified and have 60 days to bring it.
• Breastfeeding, until the baby's first birthday.
• Postpartum and not breastfeeding, up to six months after the birth or pregnancy loss.
• Infants, birth to 12 months.
• Children, up to the fifth birthday. Fathers, grandparents, foster parents and guardians apply for the child.

You must live in California, for any length of time. California WIC enrolls anyone who meets these rules, U.S. citizen or not, and a Matricula Consular works as proof of address.

The nutrition check covers height, weight, a blood test for anemia (optional for babies under 9 months) and a few questions about what you eat. Your doctor's height and weight from the last 60 days count. When staff find no other risk, California policy has them record a presumed dietary risk for pregnant and postpartum applicants, infants 4 months and older, and children.

California WIC income limits through June 30, 2027

WIC counts the household's gross income from all sources in the 28 to 31 days before you apply. Your household is everyone you live with who shares income and expenses. California WIC uses USDA's limits for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027:

• Pregnant and over the limit: staff offer to count each expected baby in your household size.
• Foster child: each one counts as a household of one.
• Military: Basic Allowance for Housing is left out; staff work from your Leave and Earnings Statement.
• Laid off: WIC counts the income your household will have in the next 30 days.
• Self-employed: staff use the adjusted gross income on your latest federal tax return.

Use Medi-Cal, CalFresh or CalWORKs instead of pay stubs

A person enrolling meets the income test, with no limit, when:

• that person is fully eligible for Medi-Cal, CalFresh or CalWORKs;
• anyone in the family gets CalWORKs;
• a pregnant person or an infant in the family is fully eligible for Medi-Cal;
• that person takes part in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
• that person is an infant up to 60 days old whose mother had Medi-Cal at the birth, or a pregnant applicant presumptively eligible for Medi-Cal or CalWORKs (these two cover only that person).

Staff confirm enrollment in state records, with your Medi-Cal card or benefits notice as backup. You give an income estimate and skip the pay stubs. If nobody is enrolled yet, check the Medi-Cal income limits, CalFresh and CalWORKs.

What WIC gives your family

Each person gets a monthly food package for their age and stage, plus nutrition counseling and referrals to health and dental care.

• Parents and children over 1: milk, cheese and yogurt, eggs, whole-grain bread, tortillas and cereal, beans or peanut butter, canned tuna, pink salmon or sardines, and fruit-and-vegetable dollars. Your counselor can swap milk for tofu, plant-based milk or yogurt, and eggs for peanut butter, beans or tofu.
• Fruit-and-vegetable dollars: fresh, frozen or canned produce, dried fruit and fresh herbs, any brand, organic included. Each parent and child also gets $3 a month for produce in place of juice unless they ask for juice.
• Formula: Enfamil Infant (milk-based) and Similac Soy Isomil (soy-based) are California's contract formulas, with Enfamil Gentlease, Reguline and A.R. also available. Buy the exact brand, size and number of cans on your balance.
• Baby food from 6 months: jarred infant fruits and vegetables; trade half or all of the jars for $11 or $22 a month in produce dollars. Babies who get no formula from WIC also get infant meats.
• Breastfeeding support: a bigger food package, plus lactation consultants and peer counselors at many offices. Parents who work full time, attend school for long hours or have low milk supply can get an electric breast pump at no cost.

From October 2026, California's monthly produce dollars are $27 per child, $48 per pregnant or postpartum parent, $53 per breastfeeding parent and 1.5 times that for a parent fully breastfeeding twins or more. USDA set these amounts for October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, and the WIC App shows the exact dollars on your card. WIC food counts as zero income for taxes and other benefit programs.

Shopping with the California WIC Card

Set a 4-digit PIN and shop all at once or a little at a time; each month's benefits last 30 days from issue. The free California WIC App shows your balance and expiration date, scans barcodes and lists appointments.

Shop at WIC-authorized grocery stores, found in the app, in the grocer search or by the WIC logo at the entrance. WIC-authorized farmers' markets scan the card's QR code for your produce dollars year-round. When produce costs more than your balance, pay the rest with cash, CalFresh or a card.

For a lost card, a PIN change or your balance, call WIC Card Customer Service at 1-844-469-3264, any hour; the benefits stay on your account.

How to apply for WIC in California today

1. Find your local office. Search your city or ZIP code in the office finder, or call 1-800-852-5770, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, PHFE WIC takes an online application and its staff contact you.
2. Book the first appointment with the call script below.
3. Gather documents: ID for you and each child under 5 (license, passport, birth certificate, hospital crib card, immunization record or Medi-Cal card); proof of address such as a utility bill or rent receipt; pay stubs from the last 30 days or a Medi-Cal card or benefits notice; proof of pregnancy; any medical form your provider filled out.
4. Bring the baby or child you are enrolling unless the office says otherwise.
5. Leave with a loaded card. A counselor confirms eligibility and assesses each person, you sign a rights form, and benefits go onto your card.

Where your case splits

• If a document is missing, keep the appointment. With two of the three core proofs (identity, address, income), you get certified for 30 days to bring the third.
• If you are paid in cash, homeless, a migrant farmworker or a disaster victim, sign the CDPH 4130 self-declaration form instead of bringing income proof.
• If your income is just over the limit, apply for Medi-Cal for a pregnant family member or baby first; once one of them has it, everyone in the family who fits a WIC category passes the income test.
• If someone in the family is applying for a green card or visa, call an organization on the state's public charge provider list before enrolling that person. Since September 18, 2026, immigration officers can weigh WIC the applicant receives or applies for on or after that date as one factor among many. Applications filed before then stay under the 2022 rule, which leaves WIC out, and WIC received before then stays out of any review. A relative's WIC counts only in limited situations tied to the applicant's finances.
• If you are moving here from another state, get a Verification of Certification (VOC) from your current WIC office and bring it to your California office to transfer.

If WIC says no or stops your benefits

A denial comes in writing with the reasons. You have 60 days from the date on the notice to ask for a fair hearing: ask your local WIC office in person or in writing, or call the CDPH WIC Hearing Line at 1-800-852-5770. Before benefits stop mid-certification you get 15 days' notice, and an appeal inside that window keeps benefits coming until the decision or the end of your certification period. The written decision arrives within 45 days, and a win restarts benefits immediately.

Call script for the first appointment

"Hi, I'd like to sign up for WIC. I'm [pregnant and due in (month) / the parent of a (age)-year-old]. We live in [ZIP]. [Name] gets [Medi-Cal / CalFresh / CalWORKs], or our household of [number] makes about $[amount] a month before taxes. What is your first open appointment, can it be by phone or video, and what should I bring?"

Today

1. Call 1-800-852-5770 or search your ZIP code and book the first open appointment.
2. Put your ID, each child's ID, one piece of mail with your address, and your Medi-Cal card, benefits notice or pay stubs in one folder.
3. If you are pregnant, get a note from your provider or print your prenatal appointment notice.

Benefits load at the appointment, you can shop that day, and new benefits arrive each month. The California benefits guide covers child care and bill help to add next.