How to read a pay stub
Start with the deposit, then walk back up the stub. On a $2,500 check, the deposit is $2,092.60. The rest is three federal lines, and the names vary by payroll company.
The check this article uses
| Line | This check | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $2,500.00 | What this period earned, before anything came out. |
| Federal income tax | $216.15 | Income-tax withholding from the W-4. It is not the April tax bill. |
| Social Security | $155.00 | Social Security. Stubs often say OASDI. On this check it is 6.2%. |
| Medicare | $36.25 | 1.45% of Medicare wages. This line does not use the Social Security cap. |
| Texas income tax | $0.00 | Texas does not tax wages, so this line is zero. |
| Net pay | $2,092.60 | Gross pay minus every line above it. |
The deposit, and the three lines that explain it
A paycheck argument almost always starts with the deposit. Someone expected the wage and received less, and the stub is a stack of abbreviations. On a 2026 check of $2,500 every two weeks, for a single person in Texas with a blank 2020 W-4 and no benefits, the deposit is $2,092.60. The other $407.40 is three federal lines: federal income tax of $216.15, Social Security of $155.00, and Medicare of $36.25. Texas adds no wage tax.
The table on this page is that check. A longer stub has added a benefit, a state tax, a local tax, or a deduction you signed up for. The labels change from one payroll company to the next. The order of the math does not.
Gross pay is the line that should match the work
Gross pay is what this period earned before anyone took a share. It is hours times the rate, or one slice of a salary, plus overtime, a bonus, or tips that landed on this check. It sits at the top of the stub. The bank receives the bottom.
$31.25 an hour for 40 hours, paid every two weeks, is $2,500. The period has 80 hours. A $60,000 salary on that same schedule is $2,307.69, because 60,000 does not split into 26 even paychecks. If gross pay is wrong, every tax under it is wrong, and the conversation with payroll is about hours, the rate, or unpaid time.
Current means this check. Year to date means every check from this employer since January 1, including this one. A second job keeps a separate year-to-date column at the other employer. The two stubs do not merge.
The abbreviations in the middle
Federal income tax may be printed as FIT, Fed W/H, or Federal. It is withholding under IRS Publication 15-T, built from Form W-4. It is an estimate of the return, paid in advance. The $216.15 on the example is a blank 2020 W-4, filing single, with nothing in Steps 2, 3, or 4. Checking the two-jobs box, or typing extra withholding into Step 4(c), changes this line.
OASDI, SS, and Social Security are one tax. The employee share in 2026 is 6.2%. On $2,500 that is $155.00. Medicare sits beside it at 1.45%, which is $36.25. The two together are FICA. The FICA article and the OASDI article take those lines one at a time. Social Security stops when wages from that employer reach $184,500. The most withheld for the year is $11,439. Medicare keeps going. After $200,000 from one employer, an extra 0.9% Medicare tax starts, and the employer does not match that extra 0.9%.
The lines under the taxes are the ones people skip. A traditional 401(k) lowers the income-tax line and leaves Social Security and Medicare alone. Health insurance taken through a cafeteria plan usually lowers all three, because those dollars were never in the wage base. A Roth contribution lowers the deposit and leaves the tax lines alone. A garnishment is a court order. If the code is a jumble of letters, the deduction list in the payroll portal is the dictionary. This site does not know your employer’s codes.
Net pay is gross minus every line you can point at
Add the withholdings and the deductions. Subtract the sum from gross pay. The result should be the printed net. On the example, $2,500 minus $407.40 lands on $2,092.60. If your addition misses the printed net, a line was skipped, or a reimbursement was paid on top of wages. Mileage and other reimbursements can arrive in the same bank deposit and were never part of gross pay.
Take the stub to how to check a pay stub and match one line at a time. The calculator above is the Texas example. Change the state or the wage and the lines move with the new facts. Gross pay and net pay is the same check, told from the offer letter instead of the stub.
Keep reading
Questions
What is the difference between current and year to date?
Current is this check. Year to date is every check from this employer so far this year, including this one.
Why is Social Security labeled OASDI?
OASDI is the legal name of the Social Security tax. The employee share is 6.2% in 2026.
Why is my net pay not gross minus federal tax?
Medicare, state tax, local tax, and benefits sit between gross and net. Add the lines. They should reach the net.
Can PaycheckZip.com rebuild my exact stub?
It can estimate the tax lines. It does not copy your employer’s benefit codes, garnishments, or payroll system.