How to Read Your Pay Stub, Line by Line
Most people glance at the deposit amount and file the rest away. But your pay stub is the only document that shows, line by line, where 20–30% of your income goes — and payroll systems do make mistakes. This guide decodes every section and cryptic abbreviation on a typical U.S. pay stub, then lists the five errors actually worth checking for.
The anatomy of a pay stub
Layouts vary by payroll provider (ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Workday all look different), but nearly every stub has the same six sections:
- Pay period and pay date — the date range you are being paid for, and the day the money moves. These differ: a paycheck dated June 5 often covers work through late May. Taxes are assigned to the year of the pay date, not the work dates — this is why late-December work can land in next year's W-2.
- Earnings — each pay type as its own row: regular, overtime, bonus, commission, holiday, PTO. Hourly stubs show rate × hours per row.
- Pre-tax deductions — 401(k), health/dental/vision premiums, HSA/FSA, commuter benefits.
- Taxes — federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state (and sometimes city/county) tax.
- Post-tax deductions — Roth 401(k), extra life or disability insurance, union dues, garnishments.
- Net pay — what is deposited. Every other section exists to explain the gap between this and gross.
Decoding the abbreviations
| Code on stub | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| FED / FIT / FWT | Federal income tax withholding |
| OASDI / FED OASDI/EE / SS | Social Security tax — 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 (2026) |
| MED / FED MED/EE | Medicare tax — 1.45% of all wages |
| ADDL MED | Extra 0.9% Medicare on wages above $200,000 |
| SIT / SWT / ST TAX | State income tax (state abbreviation often prefixed) |
| SDI / VPDI | State disability insurance (California, New Jersey, and a few others) |
| PFL / FLI / PFML | Paid family/medical leave premium (state programs) |
| 401K / RET / DCP | Traditional retirement contribution (pre-tax) |
| R401K / ROTH | Roth 401(k) contribution (post-tax) |
| MED PRE / HLTH / DEN / VIS | Health, dental, vision insurance premiums |
| IMP INC / GTL | Imputed income — e.g., employer-paid life insurance over $50,000 counted as taxable income (raises taxes, not your deposit) |
| EE / ER | Employee / employer share ("EE" rows come out of your pay; "ER" rows are informational) |
The tax lines are explained in depth in What is FICA? and How paycheck taxes work.
Current vs. YTD columns
Every line typically shows two numbers: this period and year-to-date (YTD). The YTD column is the useful one:
- YTD gross is what lenders and apartment applications ask you to prove.
- YTD 401(k) tells you whether you will hit (or overshoot) the annual contribution limit.
- YTD Social Security × — once it reaches the annual maximum ($11,439 in 2026), that line should stop for the rest of the year. Your December stub is where high earners can verify this actually happened.
- Your final stub of the year should reconcile with your W-2 — Box 1 of the W-2 equals YTD gross minus pre-tax deductions (not your full salary, which confuses everyone every January).
Five errors worth checking your stub for
- Wrong state. After a move or a remote-work arrangement, payroll sometimes keeps withholding for the old state — a mess to unwind at filing time. Check the state tax line matches where you actually live/work.
- Overtime paid at straight time. Non-exempt and worked more than 40 hours? Verify the OT row uses 1.5× your rate (the overtime calculator gives the correct figure).
- Benefit deductions after you opted out. Premiums for plans you dropped in open enrollment have a way of surviving a cycle or two.
- 401(k) percentage not applied to bonuses (or applied when you asked it not to be) — bonus paychecks frequently use a different election than you expect.
- Filing status/W-4 wrong. If federal withholding looks wildly off versus the paycheck calculator estimate for your salary and status, your W-4 on file may not say what you think it says.
Why you should keep stubs (briefly)
Keep at least your year-end stub each year, and recent ones until the W-2 arrives and matches. You will need stubs for mortgage and rental applications (usually the last 2–3), disputing payroll errors, and proving income between jobs. PDF downloads from the payroll portal are fine — paper is not required.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my employer's 7.65% FICA share not on my stub?
Some providers show it as informational "ER" rows, most omit it. Either way it never comes out of your gross — only the "EE" lines reduce your pay.
What does "imputed income" mean on my stub?
The taxable value of a non-cash benefit (group life insurance over $50k, some wellness perks, domestic partner coverage). It is added to taxable wages so tax comes out, then subtracted again — raising your withholding slightly without ever being money you receive.
My YTD numbers reset mid-year. Why?
Usually a payroll-provider switch or a corporate entity change. Keep the last stub from the old system — its YTD totals plus the new system's should add up to your real annual figures (and your W-2s should too).
Want to sanity-check the tax lines on your own stub? Enter your salary, state, and filing status into the paycheck calculator — the per-paycheck breakdown should land close to what your stub shows.