How to Read a Pay Stub

Check the dates and hours first

The pay date is when wages are paid. The pay-period start and end dates describe the work covered. Those dates are not always in the same month, and a holiday can affect the deposit schedule.

For hourly work, compare regular hours, overtime hours and each rate with your own time records. For salary pay, check the period allocation and any unpaid leave adjustments. A biweekly salary allocation is different from a semimonthly one.

Separate deductions from tax-base information

Find gross earnings, then identify amounts actually deducted. Lines labeled federal taxable wages, Social Security wages or Medicare wages describe calculation bases. Subtracting those lines again would count the same money twice.

Employee taxes and employee benefits can reduce net pay. Employer contributions shown for information usually do not reduce your paycheck. Check the employer’s labels rather than treating every printed amount as an employee deduction.

Reconcile an illustrative payment

This example assumes ordinary wages and a $100 traditional retirement deferral. Its income-tax withholding amounts are fictional illustrations; they are not official withholding examples or a result for a particular state.

Use year-to-date columns carefully

Current columns cover one payment; YTD columns accumulate payments in the calendar year. Check whether a YTD taxable-wages figure includes the current check before entering it in a calculator that asks for prior YTD wages.

If an amount appears wrong, keep a copy of the stub and the relevant time or deduction records, then ask payroll to explain the line. Redact account identifiers and Social Security numbers before sharing any example outside your employer’s secure process.