Learning how to read a pay stub means working down the page in order: the header identifies you and the pay period, gross earnings show what you earned, a series of tax and benefit deductions reduce that figure, and net pay at the bottom is what lands in your account. A year-to-date column runs alongside most lines so you can track cumulative totals for the year.
The Header: Who, When, and Your Filing Status
The top of the stub shows your employer’s legal name and address, your name and address, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. Two dates matter here. The pay period is the range of days you’re being paid for. The check date, or pay date, is when the money actually reaches you, usually a few days after the period closes.
Your filing status from Form W-4 (single, married filing jointly, or head of household) may also appear near the top. It drives how much federal income tax comes out of every check.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3402 – Income Tax Collected at Source If any of this information is wrong, flag it right away, because it feeds every calculation below.
Gross Earnings
Gross earnings are what you earned before anything comes out. For hourly workers, this is hours worked multiplied by rate. For salaried workers, it’s the annual salary divided by the number of pay periods: a $60,000 salary paid biweekly produces gross earnings of roughly $2,308 per period.
Several items can push gross earnings above base pay for a given period:
- Overtime. Non-exempt employees earn at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.2U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 23 – Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
- Bonuses and commissions, listed as separate line items.
- Shift differentials or stipends for nights, weekends, or hazardous work.
Federal regulations require employers to keep detailed payroll records of rate, hours, and overtime for every pay period.3eCFR. 29 CFR Part 516 – Records to Be Kept by Employers Your stub is the employee-facing version of those records.
The Tax Lines
Several deductions your employer is legally required to withhold and remit sit under the gross earnings figure.
Federal Income Tax
Federal withholding is calculated from your Form W-4: filing status, dependents, and any extra withholding you requested.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3402 – Income Tax Collected at Source If the amount looks too high or too low, submitting a new W-4 is how you adjust it, and you can do that any time during the year.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
FICA funds Social Security and Medicare, and typically shows up as two separate lines:
- Social Security, sometimes labeled OASDI, at 6.2 percent of wages up to the annual wage base of $184,500 in 2026. Once your year-to-date earnings hit that cap, this deduction stops for the rest of the year.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC Ch 21 – Federal Insurance Contributions Act5Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
- Medicare at 1.45 percent of all wages with no cap. Wages over $200,000 in a calendar year (or $250,000 for married filing jointly) trigger an extra 0.9 percent on the amount above that threshold.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3101 – Rate of Tax
Your employer matches the 6.2 percent Social Security and 1.45 percent Medicare amounts from its own funds. That match doesn’t come out of your pay and won’t appear on your stub.
State and Local Taxes
Most states levy income tax, so a state withholding line appears on stubs from those states. Eight states have no state income tax on wages, and workers there won’t see this line. Some cities and counties add a local income tax as a separate item.
A handful of states, including California, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Hawaii, require employees to pay into a state disability insurance or paid family leave fund through payroll. Look for labels like SDI, TDI, or PFML. Rates generally run under 1.5 percent of wages and are separate from state income tax.
Voluntary Deductions
Voluntary deductions are amounts you elected during benefits enrollment. You can usually change them at open enrollment or after a qualifying life event like marriage or the birth of a child. Common lines include:
- Health, dental, and vision insurance premiums.
- Retirement contributions to a 401(k), 403(b), or similar plan. The employee limit is $24,500 in 2026, plus an $8,000 catch-up for workers age 50 and older, or $11,250 for those age 60 through 63.7Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026
- Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA) contributions.
- Supplemental life, short-term disability, or long-term disability premiums.
- Union dues where applicable.
Watch for the label “pre-tax” or “post-tax” (sometimes “Roth” for retirement). Pre-tax deductions come out before income tax is calculated, so they reduce your taxable wages for the period. That’s why you’ll often see a taxable wages figure lower than gross earnings even before the tax lines appear. Post-tax and Roth deductions don’t reduce current taxable income.
Involuntary Deductions and Garnishments
If a court or agency has ordered your employer to withhold pay for a debt, that amount appears as an involuntary deduction. Not everyone will see these lines. When they exist, federal law caps how much can be garnished from your disposable earnings, meaning pay after mandatory tax withholdings:
- Consumer debts like credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans: the lesser of 25 percent of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour, making the protected floor $217.50 per week).8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
- Child support and alimony: up to 50 percent of disposable earnings if you’re supporting another spouse or child, up to 60 percent if not, plus another 5 percent if payments are more than 12 weeks overdue.9U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
- Federal student loans: up to 15 percent of disposable pay through an administrative garnishment order from the Department of Education.10eCFR. 34 CFR Part 34 – Administrative Wage Garnishment
- Federal and state tax debts: the consumer-debt caps above don’t apply to tax levies, so the IRS or a state tax agency can take a larger share.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
If a garnishment line appears that you don’t recognize, ask payroll or HR for a copy of the underlying court or agency order.
The Year-to-Date Column
Alongside most lines, a year-to-date (YTD) column shows cumulative totals from January 1 through the current pay period. It’s the most useful part of the stub for catching problems:
- Social Security wage cap. Once YTD earnings reach $184,500, the 6.2 percent Social Security deduction should stop. If it keeps coming out, tell payroll.5Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
- Retirement limits. YTD 401(k) or 403(b) contributions shouldn’t exceed $24,500 plus any catch-up you qualify for.7Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026
- Tax planning. Comparing YTD federal income tax withheld against your expected annual bill tells you whether to adjust your W-4 before year-end.
- W-2 check. Your final stub of the year should closely match your W-2 in January. Any large gap is worth investigating.
Net Pay
Net pay at the bottom is gross earnings minus every deduction above it: taxes, garnishments, and voluntary items. That’s what hits your bank account or check.
If you use direct deposit, the stub may split net pay across accounts, for example a fixed amount to savings and the remainder to checking. If your employer offers a payroll card, federal rules require it to offer you an alternative payment method as well; you can’t be forced to accept a payroll card as your only option.11eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1005 – Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E)
Checking for Errors
Mistakes on pay stubs are more common than people expect. Review each stub when it arrives:
- Compare hours listed against your own timesheet or log, and confirm your rate or salary matches your offer letter or most recent raise.
- If withholding suddenly changes and you didn’t submit a new W-4, ask payroll whether a system update or filing-status error caused it.
- If you worked more than 40 hours in a week and see no overtime line, confirm your exempt or non-exempt classification with payroll.
- Every voluntary deduction should trace back to an enrollment form you signed. If a new one shows up unexpectedly, ask for documentation.
- If YTD earnings have passed $184,500 and Social Security is still being withheld, tell payroll so you aren’t over-withheld.
Raise errors with payroll or HR in writing so there’s a paper trail. Withholding mistakes caught inside the same calendar year can generally be corrected on a future paycheck. Errors found after year-end are harder to fix and may need to be resolved when you file your tax return.
Getting a Stub in the First Place
No federal law requires employers to provide a written pay stub, but most states do. Rules range from mandating a printed statement every period to allowing electronic-only access as long as you can view and print it. A small number of states have no requirement at all. If your employer doesn’t provide a stub and you think your state requires one, your state labor department’s website is the place to confirm the rule and file a complaint.
Keeping your stubs, or at least the last one of each calendar year, is worth the small effort. Lenders, landlords, and government agencies routinely ask for recent pay stubs as proof of income, and the YTD totals on your final stub give you an early check against your W-2.