How to read a pay stub, line by line, with a sample

Learning how to read a pay stub takes about ten minutes, and it is the easiest way to catch a payroll mistake before it costs you money. Every stub follows the same logic. It lists what you earned, subtracts taxes and deductions, and shows the money you actually receive, both for this pay period and for the year so far. Below is a complete sample stub for an hourly employee, followed by an explanation of each section, the abbreviations you will see, the state rules on pay stubs and the errors worth checking.

What is a pay stub?

A pay stub, also called a pay statement, earnings statement or wage statement, is the record that comes with each paycheck or direct deposit. It shows how your pay for one pay period was calculated. Years ago it was the paper slip torn off a paper check, which is where the word “stub” comes from. Today most employees get it as a PDF, in a payroll portal or in an employee app.

A typical stub has six parts:

• Header: employer name and address, your name and employee ID, the pay period dates and the pay date.
• Earnings: each type of pay, with hours, rate and amount.
• Taxes: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and any state or local taxes.
• Deductions: benefits, retirement, garnishments and other amounts taken out, split into pre-tax and post-tax.
• Net pay: what you actually receive.
• Year-to-date totals, and often PTO balances and employer-paid benefits.

A sample pay stub, annotated

The fastest way to learn how to read a pay stub is to walk through a real one. This sample belongs to Emily Carter, a kitchen employee at Northfield Coffee in Austin, Texas, paid $19.00 an hour every two weeks. The pay period is November 1–14, 2026. She worked one 46-hour week, took a day of approved PTO and was reimbursed for supplies she bought. The numbers in brackets match the notes below the stub.

What the numbered notes mean:

1. Header. Check your name, the last four digits of your Social Security number or employee ID, the pay period and the work state. A wrong state can mean the wrong state tax.
2. Earnings. Each kind of pay gets its own line with hours × rate.
3. Gross pay. Everything earned before anything is taken out.
4. Pre-tax deductions. Taken out before income tax is figured, so they lower taxable wages.
5. Taxes. Each tax with its own taxable wage base and amount.
6. Post-tax deductions. Taken out after taxes.
7. Net pay. The amount deposited.
8. Employer contributions. Paid by the employer on top of your wages.
9. Balances. PTO or sick leave used and remaining.

Gross vs net pay

The single most useful line on any stub is the gap between gross and net pay. For Emily it works like this:

1. Gross pay: $1,777.00.
2. Minus pre-tax deductions: $1,777.00 − $112.64 = $1,664.36.
3. Minus taxes: $1,664.36 − $231.48 = $1,432.88.
4. Minus post-tax deductions: $1,432.88 − $5.00 = $1,427.88 net pay.

About 80% of Emily’s gross pay reaches her bank account. Your own share depends on your W-4 choices, your state and the benefits you signed up for. If you want to change how much federal tax comes out of each check, that is done on Form W-4; our W-4 form guide walks through each step.

One detail trips people up. Some stubs, including this one, list a reimbursement inside gross pay; others show it below net pay. Either way, an expense reimbursement under an accountable plan is paying you back, not paying you wages, so it is not taxed. That is why Emily’s taxable wages start from $1,691.00 (her $1,777.00 gross minus the $86.00 reimbursement), not from $1,777.00.

Earnings, hours and rates

The earnings section is where most real mistakes hide, because it depends on your hours being recorded correctly. Each line should read hours × rate = amount:

• Regular: 72 hours × $19.00 = $1,368.00.
• Overtime: 6 hours × $28.50 = $171.00. Emily worked 46 hours in one workweek, so under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act the 6 hours over 40 are paid at 1.5 × $19.00 = $28.50. Overtime is counted per workweek, not across the two-week pay period. Our guide on how to calculate overtime covers bonuses and multiple rates, and the overtime calculator checks a week in seconds.
• PTO: 8 hours × $19.00 = $152.00. Paid time off is paid, but it is not hours worked, so it does not count toward overtime under federal law.

Other lines you may see include holiday pay (HOL), double time (DT), sick pay, tips, commissions, bonuses and shift differentials (DIFF). Non-discretionary bonuses and differentials raise the overtime rate, which our shift differential guide explains. If you are paid a salary, you may see one salary line and no hours; whether you are owed overtime depends on whether you are exempt or non-exempt, not on being salaried.

To check the hours, compare them with your own record or your time card. The time card calculator adds up punches and unpaid breaks so you can match the total.

Taxes and deductions: pre-tax vs post-tax

Everything taken out of gross pay falls into one of three groups.

Pre-tax deductions come out before some or all taxes are figured. Health, dental and vision premiums paid through a Section 125 cafeteria plan, health savings account (HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA) contributions usually lower the wages subject to federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Traditional 401(k) deferrals are different: they lower wages for federal income tax but not for Social Security and Medicare. That is why Emily has two different taxable wage figures:

• Federal income tax wages: $1,691.00 − $45.00 − $67.64 = $1,578.36.
• Social Security and Medicare wages: $1,691.00 − $45.00 = $1,646.00.

Taxes come next. The IRS sets the payroll tax rates for 2026:

• Social Security: 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500. $1,646.00 × 6.2% = $102.05. Once your year-to-date wages pass $184,500, this line drops to $0 for the rest of the year.
• Medicare: 1.45% of all wages, with no cap. $1,646.00 × 1.45% = $23.87. Employers also withhold an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages over $200,000 in a calendar year.
• Federal income tax: depends on your W-4. Using the 2026 Publication 15-T percentage method for a single filer, the employer annualizes $1,578.36 × 26 pay periods = $41,037.36, subtracts $8,600 to get $32,437.36, and applies the table: $1,240.00 + 12% of the amount over $19,900, which comes to $2,744.48 for the year, or $105.56 per paycheck. Treat this as an estimate; your actual withholding depends on every entry on your W-4.
• State and local income tax: Texas has no state income tax, so Emily’s line is $0.00. In most other states you will see a state income tax line, and in some cities or counties a local tax as well.

Post-tax deductions come out after taxes and do not lower your taxable wages. Common examples are Roth 401(k) contributions, charitable giving, union dues in some plans, and wage garnishments such as child support.

Employer contributions

Many stubs also show money the employer pays on your behalf. It is not taken out of your pay and does not change your net pay, but it is part of what your job costs and what it is worth to you.

• Matching payroll taxes: the employer pays its own 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare on your wages, so Emily’s employer pays another $125.92 this period.
• Unemployment taxes: the federal unemployment tax (FUTA) and state unemployment tax are generally paid by the employer. The IRS applies FUTA to the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages in a year, so it usually stops early in the year. A few states also take a small employee share for unemployment or disability insurance.
• Benefits: the employer’s share of health premiums ($180.00 here) and any 401(k) match ($33.82 here).

YTD on a pay stub

YTD means year to date: the total of every paycheck dated from January 1 through this pay date. Payroll years follow the pay date, not the work date, so a check paid in early January for late-December work counts toward the new year.

YTD totals are useful for three things:

• Checking your W-2. Your last stub of the year should line up with your Form W-2. Box 1 (federal wages) is usually lower than gross pay because of pre-tax deductions such as a 401(k). Boxes 3 and 5 (Social Security and Medicare wages) usually match the FICA taxable wages on the stub. Emily’s YTD federal taxable wages are $32,690.76 while her Social Security and Medicare wages are $34,096.00, and that gap is her $1,405.24 of 401(k) deferrals.
• Spotting the Social Security cap. If your YTD Social Security wages are near $184,500, the next few stubs will show less tax withheld.
• Proving income. Landlords and lenders often ask for a recent stub because the YTD column shows steady earnings.

A quick consistency check: last stub’s YTD plus this stub’s current amount should equal this stub’s YTD, line by line. If it does not, ask payroll why.

Common pay stub abbreviations

Payroll systems squeeze long names into short codes. These are the pay stub abbreviations you are most likely to see. Exact codes vary by provider, so if one is unclear, ask payroll.

Pay stub laws: federal rules and state requirements

Federal law does not require pay stubs. The U.S. Department of Labor states that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to keep accurate records of hours worked and wages paid, but it does not require them to give employees a pay stub. The obligation comes from state law.

State rules fall roughly into three groups: states that require an itemized statement every payday, states that only require employers to give access to the information or provide it on request, and states with no general requirement. Many states allow electronic stubs, sometimes only if the employee can view and print them or agrees to it. A few examples, checked against official sources:

• California: under Labor Code section 226, the Labor Commissioner’s office (DLSE) says employees must get an itemized wage statement each time they are paid, showing gross wages, total hours worked (not required for exempt salaried employees), piece-rate units and rates if any, all deductions, net wages, the pay period dates, the employee’s name and only the last four digits of the Social Security number or an employee ID, the employer’s legal name and address, and each hourly rate with the hours worked at that rate. Employers must also show available paid sick leave on the stub or a document issued the same day. Employees can ask to inspect or copy their payroll records, and DLSE says the employer must comply within 21 calendar days. For the state’s overtime rules, see our California overtime law guide.
• New York: the New York State Department of Labor says workers must receive a wage statement each time they are paid, showing gross and net wages, deductions, hours worked and pay rate.
• Washington: the state rule (WAC 296-126-040) requires an itemized statement on each payday with the basis of pay, rates, gross wages and all deductions. An electronic statement is allowed if the employee can receive and copy it on payday; otherwise the employer must give a written one.
• Texas: the Texas Minimum Wage Act (Labor Code section 62.003) includes a written earnings statement requirement, but that chapter does not apply to employees covered by the federal FLSA (section 62.151), which covers most Texas workers. Check current guidance with the Texas Workforce Commission.

State laws change, and the rule that applies is the one for the state where the employee works, not where the company is based. Confirm the current requirement with your state labor department before you rely on any summary, including this one.

Pay stub errors to check every payday

Knowing how to read a pay stub pays off only if you look at it every payday. Most problems show up as a net pay that feels a little off. Work through this list:

• Hours: do regular, overtime and PTO hours match your schedule and time records? Missed punches and edited time cards are the most common cause of short pay.
• Rate: is your current rate shown, including a recent raise? Is overtime at 1.5× your regular rate, with any differential or non-discretionary bonus included?
• Overtime by workweek: on a biweekly stub, a 46-hour week and a 34-hour week still owe 6 overtime hours, even though the total is 80.
• PTO and holidays: were approved days paid, and does the balance go down by the right amount? Our guide to holiday pay covers what federal law does and does not require.
• Deductions: do the benefit amounts match what you enrolled in? Is a deduction still there after you cancelled it?
• Taxes: is the right work state shown? Does federal withholding fit the W-4 you filed? Is Social Security still being taken after you passed the wage base?
• Reimbursements: are expense repayments shown as non-taxable, not as wages?
• YTD math: does last stub’s YTD plus this stub’s current amount equal this stub’s YTD?

If something is wrong, raise it in writing with your manager or payroll contact, and keep a copy. Employers can prevent most of these issues by recording hours with a time clock app and approving time off through PTO tracking, so the stub is built from the same records employees can see.

How long to keep pay stubs

Employees: keep every stub at least until you get your Form W-2 in January and confirm the totals match. The IRS says to keep tax records until the period of limitations for that return expires, which is generally three years, so keep your last stub of each year with that year’s tax return. Keep stubs longer if you are disputing pay, applying for a loan or tracking retirement contributions.

Employers: the U.S. Department of Labor requires FLSA payroll records to be kept for at least three years, and records wages are based on, such as time cards, for two years. The IRS says to keep employment tax records for at least four years after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later. Some states require longer, so check your state labor department.

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