🎯 In 30 seconds: Your pay stub starts with gross pay, subtracts pre-tax benefits, then payroll taxes (FICA), then income tax withholding, and ends with net pay: the amount that hits your bank. Knowing each line lets you catch errors and see where raises and benefit choices actually go.
The lines, top to bottom
- Gross pay. Your pay before anything is taken out: salary for the period, or hours times your rate, plus overtime and bonuses.
- Pre-tax deductions. Money taken out before income tax is figured. Common ones: traditional 401(k) contributions, health, dental and vision premiums, and HSA or health FSA contributions made through your employer.
- FICA taxes. Social Security and Medicare, which fund those programs.
- Federal income tax withholding. An estimate of your yearly income tax, collected a little each paycheck, based on the Form W-4 you filed.
- State and local withholding. Depends on where you live and work. Some states have no income tax.
- After-tax deductions. Roth 401(k) contributions, some insurance, union dues, wage garnishments.
- Net pay. What is left.
Most stubs also show year-to-date (YTD) totals for every line. Those are handy for checking that 401(k) contributions and tax withholding are on track.
FICA: the 2026 numbers
| Social Security (employee share) | 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 for 2026 |
| Medicare (employee share) | 1.45% of all wages, no cap |
| Additional Medicare Tax | 0.9% extra; your employer starts withholding it once your wages for the year pass $200,000 |
| Employer share | Your employer pays a matching 6.2% and 1.45% (not the extra 0.9%) |
Once your 2026 wages pass $184,500, the 6.2% Social Security line stops for the rest of the year, so high earners see their checks rise late in the year. The most an employee pays in Social Security tax for 2026 is $11,439.
The 0.9% withholding starts at $200,000 regardless of filing status. The actual tax applies above $250,000 for married couples filing jointly, $125,000 for married filing separately and $200,000 for everyone else, so it gets settled on your tax return.
Pre-tax benefits and their 2026 limits
- 401(k), 403(b) and most 457 plans: up to $24,500 of employee contributions for 2026. A traditional contribution lowers income tax now but still counts for Social Security and Medicare.
- HSA (only with a qualifying high-deductible health plan): $4,400 for self-only coverage or $8,750 for family coverage for 2026. Through an employer’s cafeteria plan it avoids income tax and FICA.
- Health FSA: up to $3,400 for plan years starting in 2026. Mostly use-it-or-lose-it.
- Health premiums paid through your employer’s plan are generally exempt from income tax and FICA.
Worked example: $60,000 salary, paid every two weeks
26 paychecks a year. This person puts 5% in a traditional 401(k), pays $80 for health insurance and $50 into an HSA each check. The federal and state withholding lines are illustrations; your real figures come from your W-4, your state and the IRS withholding tables.
| Gross pay ($60,000 ÷ 26) | $2,307.69 |
| 401(k), 5% | −$115.38 |
| Health premium | −$80.00 |
| HSA | −$50.00 |
| Social Security, 6.2% of $2,177.69 | −$135.02 |
| Medicare, 1.45% of $2,177.69 | −$31.58 |
| Federal withholding (illustration) | −$164.00 |
| State withholding (illustration) | −$82.00 |
| Net pay | $1,649.71 |
Notice FICA is figured on $2,177.69, not $2,307.69: the health premium and HSA escape FICA, but the 401(k) money does not. About 71% of gross pay reaches the bank, yet $165.38 of the difference (401(k) plus HSA) is still your money, just saved.
What to check each time
- Hours, rate and overtime match your records.
- Benefit deductions match what you picked at enrollment.
- Your employer match appears in the 401(k) account (it is often listed on the stub but not deducted from your pay).
- Withholding looks right after a raise, marriage, new baby or second job. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator takes about 25 minutes and produces a filled-in W-4.