How to Read a Pay Stub: Every Line and Deduction Explained

What a pay stub is, and what it is called

A pay stub, also called a check stub, paycheck stub or earnings statement, is the record that comes with each payment of wages. It was once the tear-off slip on a paper paycheck, which is why the name stuck even though most pay is now direct deposit. Outside the United States the same record is a payslip or salary slip.

The purpose is the same everywhere: to show how your gross pay turned into the money that reached your account. Reading it takes a minute once you know the order of the lines, and checking it each period is the easiest way to catch a wrong rate, missing hours or an unexpected deduction.

The lines on a stub, in order

What each part of a US pay stub tells you
Section	What it shows	What to check
Header	Employer, employee, pay period, pay date	The period dates match the days you worked
Earnings	Regular pay, overtime, bonus, commission, tips, with hours and rate	Hours and rate are right; overtime is paid at the multiplier
Pre-tax deductions	Health insurance, HSA or FSA, traditional 401(k)	The amounts match what you chose at enrolment
Taxes	Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state and local tax	The rates look sensible for your income and W-4
After-tax deductions	Roth 401(k), garnishments, union dues, loan repayments	You recognise each one
Net pay	What is paid to you	It equals the deposit in your account
Year to date	Running totals of each line since 1 January	They grow steadily from stub to stub

From gross pay to net pay

Take an employee paid $2,000 every two weeks who is single and has nothing on the Form W-4 beyond the filing status. Gross pay is $2,000.00. Federal income tax withholding is $156.15, Social Security is $124.00 and Medicare is $29.00. Those taxes total $309.15, so net pay is $1,690.85.

Each deduction has its own rule. Taxes are worked out on taxable wages, which can be lower than gross pay when pre-tax items come off first. Net pay is therefore gross pay, less pre-tax deductions, less taxes, less after-tax deductions, plus any tax-free reimbursements.

Pay stub generatorEnter hourly or salary pay and watch gross turn into net, line by line.

How federal income tax withholding is calculated

Withholding is an estimate of the tax you will owe for the year, collected a little at a time. Employers using the IRS percentage method annualise the wages for the period, adjust them for what you wrote on your Form W-4, look up the yearly tax in the IRS table for your filing status, subtract any credits you claimed, and divide by the number of pay periods.

Step 1 of the W-4 sets the filing status and so the table: single or married filing separately, married filing jointly, or head of household.
Step 2 is for people with more than one job or a working spouse. Ticking the box switches to a table with no standard allowance, which withholds more.
Step 3 is yearly credits, such as the child tax credit, divided across the pay periods and taken off the tax.
Step 4(a) adds other income, 4(b) takes off extra deductions, and 4(c) adds a fixed extra amount to every paycheck.

In the example above, the annual wages are $52,000. The 2026 table gives the standard allowance of $8,600 for a single filer, leaving $43,400, and the yearly tax from the table is $4,060.00, which is $156.15 a period. A married-filing-jointly employee on the same pay has a larger allowance and has $76.15 withheld, while ticking the Step 2 box for the single employee raises it to $270.19.

Withholding is not your final tax The amount withheld is only a prepayment. Your actual tax is worked out on your return, where deductions, credits and other income can leave you with a refund or a bill. Adjust the W-4 if you are always owed a large refund or always owe.

Social Security and Medicare (FICA)

Employees pay 6.2% of wages for Social Security, up to a yearly limit called the wage base, which is $184,500 for 2026. Medicare is 1.45% of all wages with no limit, and employers withhold an extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 in a year. The employer pays a matching share of Social Security and regular Medicare; the extra 0.9% is paid by the employee only.

On $2,000.00 that is $124.00 for Social Security and $29.00 for Medicare. A high earner will see the Social Security line drop to zero once their year-to-date wages pass the base, which can make late-year paychecks noticeably larger.

Pre-tax and after-tax deductions

Not every pre-tax item lowers every tax. A traditional 401(k) contribution lowers the wages used for income tax but not for Social Security and Medicare. Health, dental and vision premiums and HSA or FSA contributions taken through a cafeteria plan lower all three. For $200 taken from $2,000: a 401(k) leaves federal taxable wages at $1,800 but Social Security and Medicare wages at $2,000, while a cafeteria-plan deduction lowers both to $1,800.

After-tax deductions come out of pay that has already been taxed. They include Roth 401(k) contributions, wage garnishments for child support or debts, union dues and loan repayments. They do not reduce any tax.

Bonuses and other extra pay

Bonuses are supplemental wages. An employer may add them to regular pay and withhold on the total, or withhold at the optional flat rate of 22%. Taking the $1,000 bonus at the flat rate adds $220 to the federal withholding on the stub, $376.15 instead of $156.15. A bonus is never taxed at a higher rate than your final rate just because of its size; withholding is only an advance.

Year to date and pay frequency

The year-to-date column adds each line since 1 January. It is what lenders look at to confirm income, what you compare with your W-2 in January, and how you spot errors: a missing deduction or a jump in a tax line shows up as a break in the pattern.

Pay periods per year and the gross pay for a 52,000 salary
Frequency	Pay periods a year	Gross per period
Weekly	52	$1,000.00
Every two weeks	26	$2,000.00
Twice a month	24	$2,166.67
Monthly	12	$4,333.33

Making a pay stub the right way

Small employers, household employers and the self-employed often need to produce a stub by hand. That is ordinary record keeping when the figures are true: the hours really worked, the pay really paid and the tax really withheld and sent to the authorities. A generator only does the arithmetic and the layout.

A stub must match real pay Creating a pay stub that shows income that was never paid, to obtain a loan, a lease or benefits, is fraud. Lenders and landlords usually verify with the employer, bank statements or tax records, so an invented stub is easily caught and the consequences are serious.

Many states require employers to give employees a wage statement. The rules differ on what it must contain and how it is delivered, so check your state labour department if you are the employer. A stub from a generator does not replace running payroll: the employer still has to deposit the withheld taxes and file the returns.

Salary slips in Pakistan and the Gulf

A salary slip usually lists the basic salary and allowances such as house rent, utilities, medical and conveyance on one side, and deductions such as income tax, provident fund, loan or advance recoveries and absence deductions on the other, then the net salary. Statutory items depend on the country and the employer, so the amounts should come from your payroll or accountant and not from a general rule.

The salary slip mode of the pay stub generator keeps this simple: you type each figure, it totals them, and for PKR, AED, USD, GBP and EUR it writes the net pay in words, which is how many employers print it.

A checklist for checking your stub

Check the dates and hours: do they match your own record of what you worked?
Multiply hours by rate yourself, including overtime at the right multiplier.
Look for deductions you do not recognise and ask payroll about each one.
Compare Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45% with your taxable wages.
Check that net pay equals the amount deposited.
Keep your stubs: they support loan applications and help you reconcile your W-2 in January.

Common questions

Why is my net pay so much lower than my gross pay?

Taxes and deductions come out between the two. Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, any state tax, and benefit deductions such as health insurance and a 401(k) are all taken from gross pay. Together they can take a large share of it.

What does YTD mean on a pay stub?

YTD means year to date: the running total of each line from 1 January to the pay date on the stub. It lets you and a lender see total earnings and taxes for the year so far.

Why did my Social Security tax stop?

Social Security tax applies only to wages up to the yearly wage base, which is $184,500 for 2026. Once your year-to-date wages reach it, the line falls to zero for the rest of the year. Medicare continues on all wages.

Can I get a pay stub if my employer does not give me one?

Ask the employer or payroll department first, and look for an employee portal. Many states require a wage statement, so your state labour department can tell you your rights. For your own records you can rebuild a statement from your real hours and pay.

What is the difference between a pay stub and a W-2?

A pay stub covers one pay period and shows year-to-date totals. A W-2 is the annual form your employer sends after the year ends, summarising your total wages and the tax withheld for the whole year. You use the W-2 to file your return.

Sources

Reviewed on 20 Oct 2026 against the published sources below. Laws and prices change, so check the current position before you rely on a figure.

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This guide is general information, not legal, financial or religious advice. Figures are estimates worked out from the sources above and may differ from what applies to you. See the disclaimer. Found a mistake? Tell us.