You are correct.  If there is no employer office to use and the home space is a dedicated space (it can't be the couch or the kitchen table).  CA allows the home office deduction if it exceeds the standard deduction and 2% of Federal AGI.  That threshold can be hard for CA renters to hit unless they have other misc deductions like medical expenses, chartiable donations, etc. Home office goes under Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions for CA.