How to Read Your Pay Stub: Gross Pay, FICA, Deductions, and Net Pay

Your pay stub is the receipt for the biggest financial transaction in your life: your pay. Yet most people glance at one number — the deposit — and file the rest away unread. That is a missed opportunity, because a pay stub is also an error report. Wrong rates, missing hours, stale deductions, and mis-keyed details all show up there first, and they are far easier to fix in the pay period when they happen than months later. This guide explains every section of a typical stub, in the order you will usually find it, and what to check each time.

The header: earnings statement basics

At the top you will find your name, sometimes a partial Social Security number or employee ID, your employer's name and address, the pay period (the dates your work covered), and the pay date (when the money was issued). The distinction between period and date matters: a stub might cover work from the 1st to the 15th but be paid on the 20th. Verify your name and identifying details occasionally — a wrong digit in an SSN on file can create a real problem at tax time, when your W-2 is generated from the same records.

Gross pay: hours, rates, and types of pay

The earnings section lists how your gross pay — everything you earned before deductions — was built. A typical layout shows, for each type of pay, the rate, the hours or units, the amount for this period, and often a year-to-date (YTD) figure:

Regular pay — your standard hours at your base rate;
Overtime pay — premium hours, usually shown at 1.5 times the regular rate;
Other lines as they apply — holiday pay, bonuses, commissions, tips reported, or paid time off used.

Two checks here catch most problems. First, multiply hours by rate and confirm the line total matches — payroll systems are reliable but the inputs (your timesheet, a manager's approval) are human. Second, compare the year-to-date column against your expectations over time; YTD figures are what flow into your W-2, so an error that repeats every period quietly becomes a tax-document error at year-end.

The tax deductions

Next come the taxes withheld from your gross pay. The standard lines are:

Federal income tax withholding — calculated from your W-4 elections and the federal tables; it is an estimate settled up when you file your return.
Social Security tax — 6.2% of your Social Security wages. Note that some pre-tax deductions reduce income-tax wages but not Social Security wages, so the base for this line can differ slightly from your gross.
Medicare tax — 1.45% of your Medicare wages, on the same basis as Social Security.
State and local withholding — where applicable; in states with no wage tax this line is absent, and in some cities a separate local line appears.

Together, Social Security and Medicare are often labelled FICA on stubs, sometimes as a single combined line and sometimes as two. If the percentages look off, first confirm which wage base the stub is using before assuming an error — the base, not the rate, is usually what differs.

Pre-tax vs. post-tax deductions

After taxes, stubs list your other deductions, and the crucial thing about each one is when it is taken relative to taxes:

Pre-tax deductions come out before income tax is calculated, reducing your taxable wages. Common examples: traditional 401(k) contributions, health insurance premiums paid through a cafeteria plan, and HSA or health FSA contributions. You will often see these grouped together, and the stub's "taxable wages" figure is gross pay minus this group.
Post-tax deductions come out after taxes, so they do not reduce what you owe this period. Common examples: Roth 401(k) contributions (taxed now, qualified withdrawals tax-free later), union dues, many voluntary insurance products, and wage garnishments ordered by a court or agency.

Knowing which group a deduction sits in explains otherwise puzzling stubs — for example, why increasing your 401(k) contribution lowers your federal withholding but barely changes your Social Security line, while switching to a Roth contribution does the opposite pattern.

Employer-paid items

Many stubs also show amounts your employer pays on top of your wages, listed for information only — they are not deducted from your pay. The most common is the employer FICA match: your employer pays its own Social Security and Medicare taxes matching the employee rates, and some stubs print this in a separate "employer taxes" or memo section alongside things like the employer's share of insurance premiums or retirement matching contributions. If a number in this section looks strange, remember it does not reduce your check; check whether you are reading the employer column before worrying.

Net pay: the bottom line

The final figure is net pay — gross pay minus every employee deduction — and it should equal your deposit (or the sum of deposits, if you split pay across accounts). When it does not match your bank, work through the stub line by line rather than guessing: most mismatches are a deduction starting, stopping, or changing — a new benefit election, a garnishment beginning, or a one-off adjustment — and each will be visible as its own line.

What to check every pay period

Rate and hours — your current rate is correct, and the hours (including overtime and any leave) match your own record.
Year-to-date totals — earnings and taxes are accumulating sensibly, with no sudden jumps or gaps.
Deductions — each one is something you recognize, at the amount you elected; new lines have an explanation you know about.
Personal details — name spelling and identifying numbers are right, especially on your first stub with a new employer and after any change.
Deposit split — if you direct pay to multiple accounts, each amount went where you intended.

If something looks wrong

Start with payroll or HR, promptly and with the stub in hand — most discrepancies are data-entry or timing issues and are corrected in the next run or with an adjustment check. Keep your own pay stubs; they are your evidence for hours, rates, and deductions if a question becomes a dispute, and they double as income documentation for loans and rentals. If a serious problem is not resolved internally, your state labor department is the next port of call for wage questions.

Key takeaways

Gross pay is built from hours × rates for each pay type; check that math, and watch the year-to-date column that feeds your W-2.
FICA is 6.2% for Social Security plus 1.45% for Medicare, withheld alongside federal and any state or local income tax.
Pre-tax deductions (traditional 401(k), health premiums, HSA/FSA) reduce taxable wages; post-tax ones (Roth 401(k), union dues, garnishments) do not.
Employer-paid amounts on a stub, like the FICA match, are information only and never reduce your pay.
Reconcile net pay to your deposit each period; raise discrepancies with payroll quickly and keep your stubs.

Want to see how a paycheck is assembled before it reaches the stub stage? Our Paycheck Calculator estimates take-home pay from gross wages, and our companion guide explains the bigger picture of gross pay vs. net pay.

Keep exploring

Put the numbers to work: Paycheck Calculator · No Tax on Overtime Calculator · No Tax on Tips Calculator

Last updated: 2026-10-31. Tax parameters: 2026 (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32; SSA wage base; Tax Foundation state tables).

Estimate only — not tax advice. NetPayLabs provides general educational estimates using 2026 federal and state tax parameters, the standard deduction, and simplified state rules. Your actual withholding and tax depend on your W-4, pre-tax deductions (401(k), health premiums), credits, local taxes and your full return. Consult a qualified tax professional for advice about your situation.