A pay stub looks like a wall of numbers, but every field falls into one of five groups: who you are, who paid you, what you earned, what was taken out, and what you actually kept. Once you know what information is on a pay stub and where each piece sits, you can check your pay in about a minute. This guide walks through every field using one complete example stub.
The 5 groups of pay stub information
| Group | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Employee information | Who was paid, and for which period? |
| Employer information | Who paid, and under what business identity? |
| Earnings | How much did you earn before anything was taken out? |
| Deductions | Where did the rest of the money go? |
| Net pay and YTD | What landed in your account, and what are the running totals? |
1. Employee and pay period information
The top of the stub identifies the worker and the time window:
- Employee name and partial ID: your full legal name, employee number, and often the last four digits of your Social Security number.
- Home address: the address your employer has on file (worth checking, your W-2 is mailed here).
- Pay period: the start and end dates of the work covered, for example Oct 13 to Oct 26.
- Pay date: the day the money is issued, which can be several days after the period ends.
- Pay frequency: weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly or monthly. Biweekly means 26 stubs a year; semi-monthly means 24.
2. Employer information
- Employer legal name and address: the business entity paying you. On small-business stubs this sometimes differs from the shop's trading name.
- EIN (sometimes shown): the employer's federal tax ID. Not every stub prints it, but it appears on your W-2.
3. Earnings: the gross pay section
This is the "before" picture. Typical lines:
- Regular hours and rate: hours worked times your hourly rate, or your salary for the period.
- Overtime hours: hours past 40 in a week, paid at 1.5x the regular rate for non-exempt workers.
- Other earnings: bonuses, commissions, tips reported, holiday or shift differentials.
Worked example. Maria earns $25 an hour and is paid biweekly. This period she worked 80 regular hours and 6 overtime hours:
| Earnings line | Hours | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular pay | 80 | $25.00 | $2,000.00 |
| Overtime pay | 6 | $37.50 | $225.00 |
| Gross pay | $2,225.00 |
Gross pay is the sum of every earnings line. It is the number your taxes are calculated from, even though it is never the number that reaches your bank.
4. Deductions: where the money goes
Deductions split into two families. Statutory deductions are required by law. Voluntary deductions are ones you signed up for.
| Deduction | Type | Maria's stub |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | Statutory (withholding estimate) | $222.50 |
| Social Security (6.2% of gross) | Statutory | $137.95 |
| Medicare (1.45% of gross) | Statutory | $32.26 |
| State income tax | Statutory | $111.25 |
| Health insurance premium | Voluntary | $75.00 |
| 401(k) contribution (5%) | Voluntary | $111.25 |
| Total deductions | $690.21 |
Social Security and Medicare together are called FICA. On Maria's stub they are $137.95 + $32.26 = $170.21, which is exactly 7.65% of her $2,225 gross. Your employer pays a matching 7.65% that never appears as a deduction from your pay. If you want to see how these lines move with your own numbers, build the same layout in our pay stub generator and compare it with the real stub from your employer.
5. Net pay and YTD totals
Net pay is gross minus total deductions: $2,225.00 − $690.21 = $1,534.79. That is the amount deposited. Maria's effective deduction rate is $690.21 ÷ $2,225 = 31.02%, meaning about 69 cents of every dollar earned reached her account.
YTD (year-to-date) columns run beside most lines. If this is Maria's 12th biweekly stub of the year, her YTD gross is $2,225 × 12 = $26,700, YTD deductions are $690.21 × 12 = $8,282.52, and YTD net is $18,417.48. Lenders, landlords and the IRS all care about YTD figures because a single stub can be an unusually good or bad period.
What a pay stub does NOT show
Two common gaps confuse people. First, your employer-side costs (the FICA match, unemployment insurance, workers comp) are mostly invisible, so your total compensation is higher than gross pay suggests. Second, PTO balances appear on some stubs but not others; their absence does not mean you have no leave. For the difference between this document and the money itself, see pay stub vs pay check, and for a guided walkthrough of checking one, see how to read a pay stub.
A 60-second stub check
- Does the pay period match the weeks you worked?
- Do hours and rate match your agreement?
- Is gross pay the correct sum of the earnings lines?
- Is net pay gross minus total deductions?
- Did YTD gross rise by exactly this period's gross?
For how the pay itself compares with your salary over a year, our free paycheck stub generator guide shows how stubs are used as income records.
FAQ
What personal information is on a pay stub?
Your name, employee ID, home address, pay period and pay date, plus your earnings, every deduction and year-to-date totals. Most stubs show only the last four digits of your Social Security number for security.
What is the difference between current and YTD amounts on a pay stub?
"Current" is this pay period only. YTD (year-to-date) is the running total from January 1 through this stub. In our example, current gross is $2,225 while YTD gross after 12 biweekly periods is $26,700.
Why is my net pay lower than my gross pay?
Because deductions come out before you are paid: income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare (7.65% combined), plus voluntary items like health insurance and retirement contributions. In the example, $690.21 of $2,225 was deducted, an effective rate of 31.02%.
How much FICA is taken from a paycheck?
Employees pay 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare, 7.65% total. On $2,225 of gross pay that is $137.95 + $32.26 = $170.21. You can model your own figures with the pay stub generator.
Can I use the information on a pay stub for a loan application?
Yes, lenders routinely ask for your most recent stubs because they show employer, gross pay and YTD earnings in one document. They also verify the figures independently with your employer or tax records, so stubs must be genuine employer documents.
What should I do if a field on my pay stub is wrong?
Tell payroll in writing as soon as you spot it, and keep the stub. Errors in hours, rate or address are usually fixed on the next run, and a wrong address should be corrected before W-2s are mailed in January.