People use the two terms interchangeably, but a pay stub and a pay check are different things that arrive together. The pay check is the payment; the pay stub is the itemized record that explains exactly how that payment was calculated. Confusing them matters when a landlord, lender or the IRS asks you for one of them by name.
The short answer
| Pay check | Pay stub | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Money: a paper check or direct deposit | A document: paper, PDF or portal record |
| What it shows | One number: the net amount | Every number: gross, each deduction, net, YTD |
| Can you spend it? | Yes | No, it has no cash value |
| Proof of income? | Weak (only the deposit) | Strong (employer, gross and YTD in one place) |
| Kept for records? | Deposited and gone | The part you file and keep |
The word "stub" is literal: on an old paper paycheck, the stub was the perforated section you tore off and kept while the check itself went to the bank. Direct deposit removed the check, but the stub survived as the detailed statement, now usually a PDF or a page in your payroll portal.
A concrete example
Take a biweekly paycheck built on $25 an hour: 80 regular hours ($2,000) plus 6 overtime hours at $37.50 ($225) gives $2,225 gross. After FICA ($170.21), income tax withholding and voluntary deductions totaling $690.21, the amount paid is $1,534.79.
- The pay check (or deposit) says only: $1,534.79.
- The pay stub says: gross $2,225, every deduction line, net $1,534.79, and year-to-date gross of $26,700 after 12 periods.
Same money, completely different level of detail. Our pay stub generator builds the stub side of this pair so you can see the full breakdown format; what information is on a pay stub explains each field.
Why the stub matters more than the check
Income verification. Lenders and landlords ask for pay stubs, not bank deposits, because the stub proves who employs you, whether income is salary or hourly, and what you have earned year to date. A deposit proves only that money arrived.
Error detection. The stub is the only place you can audit your pay. If your overtime rate or hours are wrong, the check amount alone will not show it. How to read a pay stub walks through the gross-to-net check step by step.
Tax season. Your final stub of the year should roughly match your W-2. Checking it in December is far easier than untangling a wrong W-2 in February.
What are employers legally required to provide?
There are two layers of law, and they are easy to mix up:
Federal law (FLSA). The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to keep accurate payroll records (hours, wages, deductions) for each employee, but it does not require them to hand you a pay stub. Access to the record and delivery of a statement are different things.
State law. Roughly half of US states have their own wage-statement laws requiring employers to provide an itemized stub each payday. Requirements commonly include:
- California (Labor Code section 226): itemized statement showing gross, hours, rates, each deduction, net, dates and both names; fines apply for missing items.
- New York (Labor Law section 195): written notice and statements showing dates, rates, overtime rate, gross, each deduction and net.
- Illinois and Texas: both require itemized earnings statements covering pay, rate, hours and deductions.
- Washington: employers must provide an itemized statement each payday.
At the other end, states like Florida and Georgia have no specific pay stub statute, so federal record-keeping plus employer practice is what applies. Even in no-statute states, most payroll providers issue stubs by default, and many employers must still produce records on request in a wage dispute. Rules change, so check your state labor department for the current requirement.
Paper, PDF or portal: does the format count?
In most states with stub laws, electronic stubs are acceptable if you can view and print them. The legal test is the content, not the medium: the same fields a paper stub carries must be present and accessible to you after payday, not only during a session you cannot save.
Which one should you keep?
Keep the stubs, ideally every one, for at least three years. They are your evidence for income, hours and deductions if a dispute, loan application or tax question arrives later. The check itself only needs depositing. If your employer only offers a portal, download the PDFs each period; portals disappear when you change jobs. For a primer on generating a records copy of your own figures, see our free paycheck stub generator guide.
FAQ
Is a pay stub the same as a paycheck?
No. The paycheck is the payment itself, one net amount. The pay stub is the itemized document that shows gross pay, every deduction and year-to-date totals behind that amount. In our example the check is $1,534.79 while the stub explains the full $2,225 gross.
Why do landlords and lenders ask for pay stubs instead of bank statements?
A stub shows employer identity, pay rate, gross pay and YTD earnings together, which proves income is stable and ongoing. A bank statement only shows deposits. Lenders also verify stub figures independently, so only genuine employer stubs should ever be submitted.
Are employers required by federal law to give pay stubs?
No. The FLSA requires employers to keep payroll records, not to issue stubs. Stub delivery is a state matter: states like California, New York, Illinois, Texas and Washington require itemized statements, while Florida and Georgia have no specific stub law.
What if my employer does not provide pay stubs?
First ask payroll or HR in writing; most payroll systems generate them automatically. If your state requires statements and none are provided, your state labor department can advise and may treat it as a wage violation. Keep your own hours record either way.
How long should I keep pay stubs?
At least three years is a sensible minimum, matching how long tax records are usually kept. Keep your final stub of each year permanently with that year's tax return, since it should agree with your W-2.
Can I create my own pay stub?
You can create one for personal records and estimates, for example with a pay stub generator, but a self-made stub is not an employer document and must never be presented as proof of income. Only stubs from your employer's payroll system count for verification.