{"title":"How to Read a Pay Stub","canonicalUrl":"https://www.showmestepbystep.com/adulting/how-to-read-a-pay-stub","category":{"slug":"adulting","name":"Adulting"},"creator":{"name":"Money Instructor","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2wEhBIL5qThrHzXbcnnuOA","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_sVeFmaVmw"},"tldr":"Make sense of your pay stub: gross income, federal/FICA/state deductions, and net pay. Make sure your bank deposit matches the take-home amount.","totalDurationSeconds":257,"difficulty":"easy","tools":[],"materials":[],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Step 1: Verify your company and employee info","text":"The top of every paystub lists the company name and your information - your name, employee ID, and a partial Social Security number. Confirm the spelling matches official documents.If the SSN suffix is wrong, your withholdings might be applied to someone else's tax record. Catch it early."},{"number":2,"title":"Step 2: Check the pay period and pay date","text":"Pay period is the date range you worked - usually two weeks for bi-weekly, half a month for semi-monthly. Pay date is when the money actually hits your account, often a few days after the period closes.If you worked overtime or had time off, count the days against your pay period. Anything missing should show up next pay date or get raised with HR."},{"number":3,"title":"Step 3: Read your gross income","text":"Gross income (also labeled Wages or Earnings) is the total before any taxes or deductions. For hourly employees: rate times hours worked. For salaried: annual salary divided by the number of pay periods per year.This is the number people quote when they describe their salary, but you never actually see it in your bank account."},{"number":4,"title":"Step 4: Review the deductions","text":"The deductions section lists every dollar pulled out of your gross income. The standard four: Federal Tax, FICA Social Security (6.2%), FICA Medicare (1.45%), and State Tax (varies by state, zero in some).Below those, look for elective deductions: 401k or 403b retirement contributions, health insurance premiums, HSA contributions, dental/vision premiums. If something looks wrong or unfamiliar, ask HR."},{"number":5,"title":"Step 5: Confirm net income matches your deposit","text":"Net income (also called take-home pay) sits at the bottom: gross minus all deductions. This is the number that should match the deposit in your bank.If the bank deposit is less than net income, something is wrong: a wage garnishment you didn't know about, a payroll mistake, or a deduction code you missed. Email HR immediately - the longer it sits, the harder it is to fix."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-05-20T13:33:32.519Z","published":"2026-04-28T16:09:48.556Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}