What is that line on my pay stub?
Pick any line from a typical US pay stub and get a plain explanation in English or Spanish. Written by an HR generalist who gets asked these on the floor every week.
Your numbers
Result
Earnings
Gross pay
Pago bruto
Part of Pay Kit, a free appSave your details once and all 8 tools fill themselves in. Installs to your phone, works offline, nothing leaves your device.Open Read a pay stub in three passes
First pass, hours. Compare regular and overtime hours against your own count. Most pay problems are timeclock problems, and they are easiest to fix inside the same pay period.
Second pass, taxes. Federal, Social Security, Medicare, state, local. Social Security and Medicare are fixed percentages, so if they look off, the gross is off. Federal withholding follows your W-4 and is the only tax line you control.
Third pass, everything else. Benefits you chose, and deductions you may not have. Anything you do not recognize, especially a garnishment or a "miscellaneous" line, ask payroll in writing.
Por qué está en español
La mitad de las preguntas que recibo sobre talones de pago llegan en español, y casi ninguna herramienta en línea las responde en ese idioma. Este decodificador existe para eso. Si falta una línea que aparece en su talón, escríbame y la agrego.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rates and rules mentioned (FICA, Pennsylvania examples) are current as of September 2026 and change over time.