How to Read a Pay Stub: Every Field Explained

Your pay stub — also called a payslip or earnings statement — is one of the most information-dense documents you receive regularly. Most people glance at the net pay (the number that hits their bank account) and file the rest away without reading it.

That's a mistake. Your pay stub contains everything you need to verify you're being paid correctly, that the right taxes are being withheld, and that your benefits deductions are accurate. Errors on pay stubs are more common than people realize — and the only way to catch them is to understand what every field means.

This guide walks through every section of a typical pay stub, explains what each field means, and shows you what to check.

The Basic Structure of a Pay Stub

Pay stubs vary in format between employers and payroll providers, but they all contain the same core information organized into a few sections:

**Employee and employer information**: Your name, address, employee ID, and the company's name. Also shows the pay period (e.g., March 1–15, 2026) and the pay date.

**Earnings section**: All the ways you earned money this period — regular hours, overtime, bonuses, commissions, etc.

**Deductions section**: Everything taken out of your gross pay — taxes (federal, state, local), insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and other benefits.

**Net pay**: What's left after all deductions. This is your take-home amount.

**Year-to-date (YTD) totals**: Running totals since January 1st of the current year for earnings, deductions, and taxes.

Understanding each section helps you verify the stub is correct and understand where your money goes.

Earnings: Gross Pay and How It's Calculated

The earnings section shows your gross pay — your total compensation before any deductions.

**Regular pay**: For salaried employees, this is your annual salary divided by the number of pay periods (typically 24 for semi-monthly, 26 for bi-weekly, or 12 for monthly). For hourly employees, it's your hourly rate multiplied by regular hours worked.

Example: $60,000 annual salary ÷ 24 pay periods = $2,500 regular pay per period.

**Overtime pay**: Hours worked beyond 40 in a week (in the US) are typically paid at 1.5× your regular rate. Some states and employers have additional overtime rules. Your stub should show overtime hours and the overtime rate separately.

**Bonuses and commissions**: Listed separately from regular pay. Important to note that bonuses are often taxed at a higher supplemental rate (22% federal in the US for 2026), which is why a bonus of $1,000 might result in only $700 take-home.

**Holiday pay, sick pay, PTO**: Paid time off may appear as separate line items showing hours used and the rate paid.

**What to check**: Does the regular pay match your expected salary or hours × rate? Is overtime calculated at the correct rate? Are any bonuses you were promised showing up?

Federal Tax Withholding

Federal income tax is the largest deduction for most employees. The amount withheld depends on your gross pay, filing status, and the allowances or additional withholding you specified on your W-4 form.

**How withholding is calculated**: The IRS provides tax tables that payroll systems use to calculate withholding. The amount varies based on your income level and W-4 elections. A higher income means more withheld; claiming fewer allowances means more withheld.

**Federal income tax vs. FICA**: These are separate items. Federal income tax goes to general government funding. FICA is specifically for Social Security and Medicare:

- **Social Security (OASDI)**: 6.2% of gross wages up to the wage base limit ($176,100 in 2026). Your employer matches this 6.2%. - **Medicare**: 1.45% of all gross wages, no limit. Your employer matches this too. - **Additional Medicare Tax**: 0.9% on wages over $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married). No employer match on this portion.

**What to check**: Compare your federal withholding against a tax calculator. If you got a large refund or owed a lot last year, consider updating your W-4. If your withholding looks much higher or lower than expected, verify your W-4 elections are correct in your HR system.

State and Local Taxes

Most US states have their own income tax, and some cities and counties add local income taxes on top. These appear as separate line items.

**State income tax**: Rates vary from 0% (Texas, Florida, Nevada, and a few others have no state income tax) to over 13% (California tops out at 13.3% for high earners). Your stub shows the flat dollar amount withheld, not the rate.

**State-specific payroll taxes**: Some states have additional withholding beyond income tax. California has SDI (State Disability Insurance) at 1.1% of wages. New Jersey has both SDI and FLI (Family Leave Insurance). New York has SDI and PFML (Paid Family and Medical Leave). These typically appear as separate small deductions.

**Local/city taxes**: If you work in a city with its own income tax (New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Portland, etc.), you'll see a local tax line. Some states also have county-level taxes.

**What to check**: Verify your state withholding makes sense given your annual income and your state's tax rates. If you moved or changed work location, make sure the right state and local taxes are being withheld — errors here are common when employees move or work remotely across state lines.

Benefits Deductions: Health, Dental, Vision

After taxes, the next largest deductions are typically health insurance premiums. These are your share of the cost — your employer pays the rest directly to the insurance company.

**Pre-tax vs. post-tax benefits**: This distinction matters significantly. Benefits paid with pre-tax dollars (through a Section 125 cafeteria plan) reduce your taxable income, so you pay less in federal and state income tax. Benefits paid post-tax don't reduce your taxes.

Most employer health insurance is pre-tax. Some supplemental benefits (certain types of life insurance, disability insurance bought outside the employer plan) may be post-tax.

**What typically appears**: - Medical insurance premium (your share) - Dental insurance premium - Vision insurance premium - Employee Assistance Program (EAP) — often $0 cost but may appear as a line item - Health Savings Account (HSA) contributions — if you enrolled in a high-deductible plan - Flexible Spending Account (FSA) contributions

**What to check**: During open enrollment, you selected specific coverage levels and family tiers (individual, employee + spouse, family). Verify the deduction matches what you enrolled in. Errors during enrollment are common and can be missed for months.

Retirement Contributions: 401(k) and Others

Retirement contributions are usually the third major deduction category.

**Traditional 401(k)**: Pre-tax contributions reduce your taxable income now. You'll pay tax when you withdraw in retirement. The 2026 contribution limit is $23,500 ($31,000 if you're 50 or older).

**Roth 401(k)**: Post-tax contributions — you pay tax now, but withdrawals in retirement are tax-free. Your stub may show this separately from traditional 401(k).

**Employer match**: Your employer's matching contribution doesn't appear as a deduction — it's added to your account separately. It may appear as a memo line or in a separate benefits summary. This is "free money" — make sure you're contributing enough to get the full match.

**403(b) and 457**: Similar to 401(k) but for non-profits/schools (403b) and government employees (457). Appear the same way on your stub.

**SIMPLE IRA**: For small businesses — works similarly with lower limits.

**What to check**: Is your contribution percentage correct? Did a recent raise change your contribution amount (it should, since it's percentage-based)? Is the employer match showing up in your retirement account statements?

Other Deductions

Beyond taxes and benefits, pay stubs often contain a handful of other deductions:

**Life insurance**: Employer-provided life insurance up to $50,000 is tax-free. Coverage above that amount creates "imputed income" — a taxable benefit that appears as a small addition to your earnings (to be taxed) even though you didn't receive cash.

**Disability insurance**: Short-term and long-term disability premiums. Pre-tax LTD premiums mean disability payments are taxable; post-tax premiums mean payments are tax-free. Worth understanding if you ever need to file a claim.

**Commuter benefits**: Pre-tax transit or parking benefits (up to $315/month in 2026). Reduces taxable income.

**Garnishments**: Court-ordered wage garnishments for child support, student loan default, or debt judgments appear as mandatory deductions. If you see an unexpected garnishment, you should have received a notice — contact HR immediately.

**Union dues**: If you're in a union, dues appear here.

**What to check**: Look for any deduction you don't recognize. Unexpected deductions — even small ones — should be questioned with HR or payroll. Common errors include continuing to deduct for benefits you cancelled or charging the wrong benefit tier.

Year-to-Date (YTD) Figures

The YTD column shows your running total for the year. This is one of the most useful sections for verifying your finances.

**YTD earnings**: Your total gross pay since January 1st. Compare this against your employment contract to verify you're on track.

**YTD federal tax withheld**: Compare this against your estimated annual tax liability. If you're on track to withhold much more or much less than you owe, adjust your W-4 now rather than waiting for a surprise at tax time.

**YTD Social Security**: Social Security tax stops once you hit the wage base limit ($176,100 in 2026). Watch for this on your stubs — once you hit the cap, your Social Security deduction should drop to $0 for the rest of the year.

**YTD retirement contributions**: Track against your annual contribution limit. If you're maximizing your 401(k), your YTD 401(k) should approach $23,500 by year-end.

**YTD benefits deductions**: Useful for tax filing — your pre-tax health insurance premiums are reported on your W-2 in Box 12, and YTD figures help you verify the W-2 is correct.

Common Pay Stub Errors to Watch For

Pay stub errors happen more often than employers would like to admit. Here are the most common ones:

**Wrong hourly rate or salary**: After a raise, the old rate may persist for one or more pay periods due to payroll processing delays. Check your rate every time you get a raise.

**Missing overtime**: If you worked over 40 hours but no overtime appears, that's a wage theft violation. Keep your own records of hours worked.

**Wrong tax withholding state**: Remote workers or those who moved may have taxes withheld for the wrong state. If you live in a different state than your employer's office, verify withholding is in the right state.

**Double deductions**: A benefits change sometimes results in both old and new premiums being deducted simultaneously for one period.

**Incorrect benefit tier**: Being charged for family coverage when you enrolled in individual, or vice versa.

**Expired garnishment**: A wage garnishment that should have ended (paid off debt, modified child support order) continuing to deduct.

**Imputed income errors**: Life insurance imputed income calculated on wrong coverage amount.

If you find an error, report it to HR or payroll in writing (email creates a paper trail). Employers are required to correct payroll errors, and back pay must be issued for underpayments.

Extracting Pay Stub Data Automatically

If you receive digital pay stubs as PDFs and need to track your compensation, deductions, or tax withholding across multiple periods, manual entry into a spreadsheet is tedious.

AI extraction tools like DocPrivy can read a pay stub PDF and pull out all the structured fields — gross pay, net pay, each deduction line item, YTD figures — into a structured format you can export to Excel or CSV.

This is particularly useful for:

**Year-end tax preparation**: Pull all 26 (or 24, or 12) pay stubs for the year into a spreadsheet to verify your W-2 figures before filing.

**Tracking withholding**: Monitor your YTD federal withholding across the year to catch under/over-withholding early.

**Expense verification**: Verify that benefit deductions match what you enrolled in across multiple periods.

**Freelance/contract work**: If you receive 1099s from multiple clients, keeping a structured record of all payments is essential for quarterly estimated taxes.

DocPrivy supports payroll documents in English, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and other languages — making it useful for pay stubs from international employers or subsidiaries.