How to Read Your Pay Stub, Line by Line

Five, on almost every stub: earnings (gross pay, split into regular, overtime, bonus and paid time off), pre-tax deductions (retirement, health premiums, HSA, FSA, commuter), taxes (federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax, local tax, and any state disability or paid leave premium), post-tax deductions (Roth contributions, garnishments, union dues, life insurance), and net pay. Most stubs show each figure for the current period and year to date, and many list the employer's contributions separately because they are not deducted from pay.

The order of operations matters. Gross pay minus pre-tax deductions gives the wages that income tax is calculated on. Gross pay minus section 125 deductions (health premiums, FSA, HSA through payroll) but not 401(k) gives the wages FICA is calculated on. Net pay is gross pay minus everything.

For a salaried employee, gross pay per period is the annual salary divided by the number of pay periods: 26 for biweekly, 24 for semimonthly, 12 for monthly, 52 for weekly. A $60,000 salary is $2,307.69 biweekly or $2,500 semimonthly; the difference between those two schedules is the most common cause of a stub that looks wrong. For an hourly employee it is hours times rate, with overtime at 1.5 times the rate for hours over 40 in a week under federal law (over 8 in a day in California and a few other states).

Bonuses and commissions are often on a separate line because they are withheld differently: the IRS lets employers withhold a flat 22% on supplemental wages up to $1 million, which is why a bonus stub shows a higher federal percentage than a regular one. The tax is reconciled on the return.

Annualise the taxable wages (gross less pre-tax deductions, times pay periods), subtract the 2026 standard deduction for the filing status on your W-4 ($16,100 single, $32,200 married), apply the brackets, and divide by pay periods. On $60,000 biweekly with no pre-tax deductions and a single W-4, that is $5,020 a year or $193.08 a period. Dependents claimed on the W-4 reduce the annual figure by the credit amount entered; extra withholding adds to each period.

The stub figure will usually be within a few dollars of this because the IRS percentage-method tables the employer uses approximate the same calculation. A figure far above it means the W-4 has extra withholding or the wrong status; a figure of zero on a normal salary means the W-4 claimed exemption, which is worth checking. The withholding guide has the full bracket table.

Social Security should be exactly 6.2% of FICA wages (gross less section 125 deductions) until year-to-date wages reach $184,500, after which it should be zero. Medicare should be exactly 1.45% of the same wages all year, rising to 2.35% on wages above $200,000 year to date. On a $2,307.69 biweekly gross with no cafeteria deductions that is $143.08 and $33.46. If Social Security is being withheld past $184,500, or on a second job whose combined wages exceed it, the excess is refunded on the return.

These two lines are the easiest check on a stub and the first place a payroll error shows. A Social Security line that is not 6.2% of anything visible usually means a pre-tax deduction is being treated as section 125 when it is not, or the reverse.

The state line is the state's withholding on the same taxable wages, following the state's own rules: flat 3.07% of everything in Pennsylvania, 2.75% of income above $26,050 in Ohio, graduated brackets in New York. Each state's paycheck page on this site shows what the line should be per period for a given salary. A stub for a resident of a no-tax state should have no state line at all.

Local lines appear in eleven states and are labelled inconsistently: OCC or OLT for Kentucky's occupational tax, EIT or LST for Pennsylvania's earned income and local services taxes, a city name in Ohio or Michigan, a county name in Indiana or Maryland, NYC for New York City. Some employers also list state disability or paid leave premiums here (CA SDI, NJ SDI/FLI, NY DBL/PFL, WA PFML, OR PFML, MA PFML, CO FAMLI, CT PL). They are real deductions but they are not income tax.

Pre-tax deductions come out before income tax: 401(k), 403(b) or 457 contributions (up to $24,500 in 2026, $32,500 at 50 and over), health, dental and vision premiums, HSA and FSA contributions, and commuter benefits. Each reduces the federal and state taxable wage, which is why the tax lines on a stub with a 401(k) contribution are lower than the calculator's default. Post-tax deductions come out after: Roth 401(k) contributions, voluntary life or disability insurance, union dues, charitable giving through payroll, and any wage garnishment or child support order.

The employer contributions section, where shown, lists the employer's 401(k) match, its share of health premiums and its 7.65% of FICA. None of it is deducted from pay; it is shown so the employee can see total compensation.

• Social Security still being withheld after year-to-date wages pass $184,500, or not stopping across two employers (refundable on the return).
• The wrong state: an employer withholding for its own state rather than the employee's residence or work state, common with remote work.
• The wrong local jurisdiction, especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana where the rate depends on an address.
• A W-4 filing status or dependent entry that no longer matches your situation after a marriage, birth or second job.
• A pre-tax deduction listed as post-tax, which overstates FICA and income tax.
• Overtime paid at the straight rate.
• Year-to-date totals that do not equal the sum of the periods, which usually means a correction was made silently.