How to Read Your Pay Stub: Every Line Explained (2026)
Decode every line on your pay stub: gross, FED, FICA, OASDI, MED, state, deductions, net, and YTD. Recompute each number yourself and check for payroll errors.
This article is for general information, not tax or legal advice. Tax rates and the Social Security wage base change most years. Verify current figures with the IRS and the SSA, or talk to a payroll professional if something on your stub looks wrong.
Your pay stub is a full accounting of what you earned and where every missing dollar went. Once you know how to read it, you can catch mistakes that cost you real money. More than half of U.S. workers have found an error on a paycheck at some point, so this is worth the ten minutes.
The whole thing comes down to one formula: Gross Pay minus Taxes minus Deductions equals Net Pay. Everything below walks that formula down a real stub, line by line, and shows you how to recreate each number yourself.
The 30-second scan: gross, taxes, net
Before you read anything closely, find three numbers.
Gross pay is at the top. It is everything you earned this period, before a single deduction. Total taxes and deductions is the middle chunk, the pile of lines that shrink your check. Net pay, usually at the bottom and often in bold, is what actually hit your bank account.
Do the quick math: gross minus everything in the middle should equal net. If it does, the arithmetic is at least internally consistent. If it does not, stop and figure out why.
While you are up top, check the header identity fields too. Your name, the last four of your SSN, your address, the pay-period start and end dates, and your pay frequency all live here. A wrong SSN can send your withholding to the wrong Social Security record, and a wrong pay frequency throws off every tax calculation on the page. These boring fields are the first place errors hide.
Your earnings: gross pay and how to recompute it
Gross pay is the foundation. Get it wrong and every tax below it is wrong too, so verify it first.
If you are paid hourly, gross is hours times rate, plus overtime. Overtime is time-and-a-half (1.5x your regular rate) for hours over 40 in a workweek. So 45 hours at $20/hour is 40 x $20 plus 5 x $30, which is $800 plus $150, or $950. Check that your hours match what you actually worked and that any overtime is paid at the higher rate.
If you are salaried, gross per paycheck is your annual salary divided by the number of pay periods in a year:
- Biweekly (every two weeks): 26 periods
- Semimonthly (twice a month): 24 periods
- Monthly: 12 periods
A $78,000 salary paid biweekly is $78,000 / 26 = $3,000 per check. If your stub shows something else, either your salary changed or something is off. (Confused about which schedule you are on? Our guide to semimonthly vs biweekly pay breaks down the difference.)
Your earnings section may also break out separate lines for regular pay, overtime, tips, bonus or commission, and reimbursements. Reimbursements (like mileage) are usually not taxable, so they are added back after tax, not before. Bonuses are taxable and often withheld at a flat supplemental rate, which is why a bonus check can feel over-taxed. If that has bitten you, see why your bonus is taxed so high.
The tax lines decoded: FED, FICA, state, and local
This is where the cryptic abbreviations live. Here is what each one means and how to check it.
| Label on stub | What it is | 2026 rate |
|---|---|---|
| FED, FIT, FITW | Federal income tax | Based on your W-4 and income |
| FICA, SS, OASDI, Fed OASDI EE | Social Security | 6.2% up to $184,500 |
| MED, Fed MED EE | Medicare | 1.45% on all wages |
| State (e.g. CA IT, NY SIT) | State income tax | Varies by state |
| CA SDI, NY PFL, local | State/local special taxes | Varies |
FED (federal income tax). This one is driven by your W-4, not a flat percentage, so it is the hardest to recompute by hand. If it looks way off, the usual cause is a W-4 that no longer matches your life (a second job, marriage, or a dependents change).
FICA. This is two taxes bundled together. Social Security is 6.2% of your gross (up to the wage cap), and Medicare is 1.45% of all your gross. Add them and you get 7.65%. On many stubs Social Security shows up as OASDI or Fed OASDI EE rather than “FICA,” but it is the same 6.2% tax. Medicare usually shows as MED or Fed MED EE.
To check FICA: multiply your FICA-taxable wages by 0.062 for Social Security and by 0.0145 for Medicare. On $3,000 of taxable wages that is $186.00 and $43.50. If your stub’s SS and MED lines match, that half of the check is right.
There is also an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% that kicks in once your year-to-date wages pass $200,000. It is withheld from you only, with no employer match. Most people never see it.
State and local. Most states charge income tax, shown on its own line. Some states add special lines: California has SDI (State Disability Insurance), New York has PFL (Paid Family Leave), and many cities levy a local income tax. Nine states have no state income tax at all, so if you live in one, that line is simply absent.
Deductions: pre-tax vs post-tax, and why order matters
Deductions are the amounts you or your employer subtract for benefits, retirement, and other items. The single most important thing to understand is the difference between pre-tax and post-tax, because the order changes how much tax you pay.
Pre-tax deductions come out before income tax is calculated. They lower your taxable wages, which lowers your tax. Common ones: traditional 401(k) or 403(b), HSA, FSA, and most health, dental, and vision premiums.
Post-tax deductions come out after tax is figured. They do not lower your taxable income. Common ones: Roth 401(k), wage garnishments, union dues, and some voluntary benefits.
Here is why the order matters, with numbers. Say you earn $3,000 this period and your marginal federal rate is 12%.
- No 401(k): federal tax is figured on the full $3,000.
- With a $300 pre-tax 401(k): federal tax is figured on $2,700 instead. That is $300 x 12% = $36 less federal tax this check, on top of the $300 you saved for retirement.
So a $300 contribution costs your take-home pay less than $300. That is the pre-tax advantage, and we cover it in detail in how your 401(k) affects take-home pay.
One catch worth knowing: a traditional 401(k) lowers your income tax but generally does NOT lower Social Security and Medicare wages, so FICA still applies to it. Pre-tax health premiums usually lower both. This is why your taxable wages for federal tax and your FICA-taxable wages can be different numbers on the same stub.
It also helps to sort deductions three ways: mandatory (taxes), voluntary (retirement, insurance, you chose these), and involuntary (a garnishment ordered by a court). If you see a deduction you never signed up for and it is not a tax or a garnishment, ask payroll.
The YTD column: the part most people skip
Every line on your stub has two amounts: this period, and year-to-date. YTD means the running total since January 1. Most people ignore this column. Do not, because it is where the important limits get triggered.
YTD tells you when Social Security tax stops. Social Security only applies to the first $184,500 of wages in 2026 (up from $176,100 in 2025). The moment your YTD FICA-taxable wages cross $184,500, the 6.2% Social Security line drops to zero for the rest of the year, and your take-home pay jumps. If you are a high earner and your fall paychecks got bigger for no obvious reason, the wage cap is why. We explain the exact mechanics in when Social Security tax stops.
YTD tells you when the Medicare surtax starts. Once your YTD wages pass $200,000, that extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax begins and continues for the rest of the year.
YTD lets you reconcile against your W-2. In January, your YTD gross and YTD tax totals from your final stub should line up with the boxes on your W-2. If they do not, you want to catch that before you file, not after.
Because these caps are cumulative and per-person, tracking them by hand mid-year is genuinely tricky. WorkLogs44 takes your YTD FICA earnings as an input, so it truncates the wage base on the exact dollar and reproduces every line on your stub, whether you are checking one paycheck or running payroll for a team.
Check it for errors: run the math
You now have everything you need to audit your own stub. Work top to bottom.
- Verify gross. Recompute hours x rate (plus overtime), or annual salary divided by pay periods. Confirm it matches the earnings section.
- Verify FICA. Multiply FICA-taxable wages by 6.2% and by 1.45%. Confirm the SS/OASDI and MED lines match.
- Spot-check federal and state. These depend on your W-4, so just confirm they are in a sane range and did not swing wildly from last period without a reason.
- Re-add your deductions. Make sure each one is expected and none are duplicated.
- Run the master formula. Gross minus all taxes minus all deductions should equal net pay. Then confirm net pay equals your actual bank deposit.
The most common errors are wrong hours, missing or under-paid overtime, an outdated W-4 causing too much or too little federal tax, and duplicated or incorrect deductions. If something is off, contact your payroll or HR department, not your direct manager. Keep your pay stubs for at least a year so you can prove what you were paid.
If you would rather not do the arithmetic by hand, a paycheck calculator can reproduce the whole stub for you. Try the salary-to-paycheck calculator to verify a net paycheck, or the 401(k) paycheck impact calculator to see how a contribution change moves your take-home. And the same lines you are checking as an employee are exactly what an employer or bookkeeper computes on the other side of the paycheck.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does FICA mean on my pay stub?
FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. It is two taxes: Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45%, which add up to 7.65% of your wages. On some stubs the Social Security line is labeled OASDI instead of FICA.
What does YTD mean on a pay stub?
YTD means year-to-date. It is the running total of an amount from January 1 through the current pay period. Your YTD gross, YTD taxes, and YTD deductions accumulate all year and should roughly match your W-2 at the end of the year.
What does OASDI mean on my paycheck?
OASDI stands for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, which is the formal name for Social Security. The OASDI line is the same 6.2% Social Security tax, just under a different label. Some stubs write it as Fed OASDI EE.
Why is my take-home pay so much lower than my salary?
Your salary is gross pay, before anything comes out. Take-home pay is what is left after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, any state and local tax, and your deductions like retirement and health insurance. Together those can easily reduce a paycheck by 20% to 35% or more.
When does Social Security tax stop coming out of my check?
Social Security tax stops once your year-to-date FICA-taxable wages reach the annual wage base, which is $184,500 for 2026. After you cross that amount, the 6.2% Social Security line drops to zero for the rest of the year. Medicare keeps coming out on every dollar.
What is the difference between pre-tax and post-tax deductions?
Pre-tax deductions come out of your pay before income tax is calculated, so they lower your taxable wages and your tax. Examples include traditional 401(k), HSA, and most health premiums. Post-tax deductions, like a Roth 401(k) or a garnishment, come out after tax is figured and do not lower your taxable wages.
How do I know if there is a mistake on my pay stub?
Recompute the stub yourself: check your hours and rate, confirm Social Security is 6.2% and Medicare is 1.45% of the right wage base, re-add your deductions, then run Gross minus Taxes minus Deductions and compare it to your net pay and your actual deposit. If the numbers do not match, contact your payroll department.