Updated June 17, 2026
A pay stub shows your gross pay for the period, itemized deductions (federal and state taxes, FICA, and benefit withholding), year-to-date totals for each line, and your net pay for the period. If any number looks wrong, the stub is where you catch it before it compounds over the year.
The main sections of a pay stub
- Employee and employer information: your name, address, Social Security number (often masked), employer name, and pay period dates.
- Earnings: regular pay for the period, plus any overtime, bonuses, or commissions. This section totals to your gross pay.
- Taxes withheld: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax, and any local tax. Each appears as a separate line with both the current-period amount and a year-to-date (YTD) total.
- Deductions: voluntary and benefit deductions such as health insurance, dental, vision, 401(k), HSA, or life insurance. Pre-tax items reduce your taxable wages; post-tax items do not.
- Employer contributions: some stubs show what your employer pays on your behalf (their share of FICA, any 401(k) match). These do not reduce your net pay but are part of your total compensation.
- Net pay: the final amount deposited or paid to you after all deductions.
Common pay stub codes and abbreviations
| Code / abbreviation | What it means |
|---|---|
| FED / FIT / Fed Tax | Federal income tax withheld |
| SS / OASDI / Soc Sec | Social Security tax (6.2% employee share) |
| MED / Medicare | Medicare tax (1.45% employee share) |
| SIT / State Tax | State income tax |
| YTD | Year-to-date total for that line |
| 401k / 403b | Pre-tax retirement contribution |
| HSA / FSA | Health savings or flexible spending account contribution |
| GTL | Group term life insurance (taxable if benefit exceeds $50,000) |
| EE / ER | Employee / Employer (portion of a shared cost) |
A worked example: reading one paycheck line by line
Imagine a biweekly pay stub for an employee earning $52,000 a year. Their gross pay for the period is $2,000. Here is what each line means:
| Line on stub | Amount | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Regular Pay | $2,000.00 | 40 hours x $50/hour, or annual salary divided by 26 periods |
| FIT (Federal Income Tax) | -$168.00 | Estimated federal withholding based on W-4 and brackets |
| OASDI (Social Security) | -$124.00 | 6.2% of $2,000 |
| MED (Medicare) | -$29.00 | 1.45% of $2,000 |
| SIT (State Income Tax) | -$80.00 | 4% state rate on taxable wages (example) |
| Medical EE | -$65.00 | Employee share of health insurance premium (pre-tax) |
| 401K | -$80.00 | 4% pre-tax retirement contribution |
| Net Pay | $1,454.00 | Amount deposited to your account |
Tax rates and limits vary by year and state. The figures above are for illustration only and are not tax advice.
How to verify your pay stub is correct
Start with gross pay: hourly workers should confirm hours multiplied by rate matches the earnings line. Then check each tax line against approximate expected percentages:
- Social Security should be 6.2% of your gross wages up to the annual wage base. Divide your SS deduction by your gross pay to confirm.
- Medicare should be 1.45% of all wages. Divide your Medicare deduction by your gross pay to confirm.
- Federal income tax is harder to verify quickly because it depends on brackets and W-4 elections, but it should generally fall between 10% and 22% for most mid-income workers.
- Compare your YTD Social Security withheld against the annual wage base to see if the deduction should have stopped. Once your YTD earnings exceed the Social Security wage base, the 6.2% deduction should stop for the rest of the calendar year.
If federal tax looks too high or too low, revisit your W-4. See gross pay vs net pay for a worked example of how each deduction reduces take-home.
What does the YTD column tell you?
The year-to-date column accumulates each item from January 1 of the current year through this pay period. It is useful for several reasons:
- Track how close your YTD earnings are to the Social Security wage base. When you cross that threshold, your 6.2% SS deduction should stop for the rest of the year, boosting your net pay for the remaining paychecks.
- Monitor your 401(k) YTD contributions against the IRS annual limit. If you are on track to exceed the limit, contact your HR or benefits administrator to adjust your contribution rate before you over-contribute.
- Gauge whether you are over- or under-withheld for federal income tax. If your YTD federal withholding looks much lower than what you expect to owe based on prior years, you may want to increase withholding now to avoid a large balance due at filing.
Why pay stubs are worth keeping
Beyond paycheck verification, pay stubs serve as proof of income for rental applications, mortgage pre-approvals, auto loans, and certain government program eligibility checks. Most lenders ask for two to three recent stubs. Some payroll systems only keep stubs online for a limited number of pay periods, so it is worth downloading or printing each one and saving it somewhere secure. If you lose access to a stub, your HR or payroll department can usually reissue it, though that takes time. See all paycheck deductions explained for details on every line you might see.