Read Your Paystub

The story: Jade’s first stub

Jade sits at a kitchen table comparing a paystub with the hours on a phone.

1. Narrator: Jade just got paid for two weeks at a café job. The deposit looks smaller than expected.
2. Jade: I worked 30 hours. Why is my deposit less than 30 times my rate?
3. Narrator: Taxes and paycheck deductions come out before pay lands. The stub shows each one.
4. Jade: Wait, the stub says 28 hours, not 30.
5. Narrator: Payroll mistakes happen. Checking the stub is how you catch them.

What you’ll learn

1. Top to bottom

   A stub runs top to bottom. It starts at gross pay, then shows deductions before tax, taxes and deductions after tax. It ends at net pay: what you actually get.

2. Two kinds of deduction

   A paycheck deduction is money taken out before you’re paid. A tax deduction is different: it lowers the income you pay tax on. Same word, two meanings.

3. Check the math

   Hours × rate should equal gross pay for hourly work. Overtime is paid at a higher rate. Year-to-date (YTD) columns add up the whole year.

   Example: 28 hours × $15.00 = $420.00 gross.

4. Pay period vs pay date

   The pay period is the days you worked. The pay date is when the money arrives. If something looks off, ask payroll or your manager. It’s normal to ask.

Key words

gross pay

what you earned before anything comes out

net pay

what you take home

Also called: take-home pay

paycheck deduction

money taken out of your pay before you get it

withholding

tax held back from your pay

Common questions

Why are Social Security and Medicare on my stub?

Most jobs pay these payroll taxes. They build your record for benefits later. The current rates are on the fact card.

Remember this

Check your stub like a receipt.

Try it: Decode a stub

1. Open the sample stub from this lesson, or your own if you have one.
2. Find gross pay, each tax line and net pay.
3. Check hours × rate.

Decode the sample stub, or your own if you have one.

Live facts

Numbers that change over time, with when they were last checked and where they come from.

• Social Security tax rate (employee)

  6.2%

  Taken from each paycheck up to the wage base; employers pay the same again

  As of 2026

  Source: IRS.gov(opens in a new tab)

• Medicare tax rate (employee)

  1.45%

  Taken from every paycheck; employers pay the same again

  As of 2026

  Source: IRS.gov(opens in a new tab)