Plain-English explanations of every line on your pay stub, from OASDI to YTD, plus the state laws that decide what your employer has to show you.
Gross pay is what you earn before anything comes out; net pay is what reaches your bank. See every step between them, with real 2026 math from a sample pay stub.
Learn how to read a pay stub line by line: earnings, pre-tax deductions, OASDI, Medicare, state taxes, net pay, and YTD, with a labeled example and a 5-minute check.
How to read an ADP pay stub: what CO, FILE, and DEPT mean, statutory vs voluntary deductions, the asterisk, federal taxable wages, and how to get old ADP stubs.
What every pay stub abbreviation means: earnings codes like REG and OT, tax codes like FIT, OASDI, SDI, and FLI, and deduction codes like 401K, HSA, and GARN.
Pay stub requirements by state for 2026: which states require pay stubs, what each must show, electronic pay stub rules, and the statute behind every rule.
Pre-tax deductions come out before taxes, post-tax after. But a 401(k) still pays FICA while health premiums don't. 2026 limits and a worked pay stub example.
What counts as proof of income for an apartment, mortgage, or loan, how self-employed and gig workers can show income, and how verifiers check what you submit.
YTD means year to date: your running totals since January 1. Learn how pay stub YTD works, why it follows the pay date, and how to use it to check your W-2.
A pay stub is the statement that shows how your paycheck was calculated. Learn what's on one, how it differs from a W-2, whether employers must give one, and how to get yours.
OASDI is the Social Security tax on your pay stub: 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 in 2026. What it funds, when it stops, and how to get excess OASDI back.
SDI on your pay stub is State Disability Insurance, an employee-paid deduction in a few states. 2026 rates for CA, NY, NJ, HI, RI, plus the new paid leave lines.
