Paycheck help for US workers
Read your paycheck. Spot what is wrong. Ask the right questions.
Pay stubs are full of acronyms and lines that nobody explains. PayslipIQ walks through each one in language a worker can use. Federal tax. State tax. FICA. Pre-tax 401(k). Health premiums. Overtime math. Bonus withholding. The lot.
Numbers shown are estimates. Your real paycheck depends on your employer, your benefits and your W-4. Verify with payroll, the IRS or your state authority before relying on anything.
Built for the United States
Federal rules, FICA, every state. Local taxes where they apply (NYC, Philadelphia, Detroit, Ohio cities).
Plain language
The pay stub jargon decoded once, kept consistent across every page.
Not advice
Education and rough numbers. For a binding answer, see your CPA, the IRS or your state tax authority.
Tools
Free. No account. No upsell on the basics.
Pay Stub Checker
Upload a pay stub. Walk through every line.
Check my pay stubPaycheck Calculator
Estimate take-home from gross. Federal, state, FICA.
CalculateSalary After Tax
Annual salary to bi-weekly or monthly take-home.
EstimateHourly Calculator
Hours times rate. Overtime aware. State aware.
Run the mathOvertime Pay
Verify overtime is calculated correctly under FLSA.
Check overtimeFICA Calculator
What Social Security and Medicare are taking.
See FICAW-4 Guide
What every W-4 box does, line by line.
Read the guide401(k) Deductions
Pre-tax vs Roth. Match. Limits. Vesting.
ReadPay Stub Mistakes
Twelve common payroll errors and how to spot them.
ReadQuestions you might be asking
What people search after they look at their pay stub. Each links to a written answer.
How a US paycheck is built
Five things shape what lands in your bank account every pay period. Federal law sets the first three. State and city add the next two. Your own choices fill in the rest.
Federal income tax comes off first, calculated using the IRS Publication 15-T method against what you wrote on your W-4. Then FICA: 6.2 percent Social Security up to the annual wage base, plus 1.45 percent Medicare on every dollar. An extra 0.9 percent Medicare kicks in once year-to-date wages cross 200,000 single or 250,000 married filing jointly.
State income tax varies. Nine states do not levy one (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming). Several use flat rates. The rest run progressive brackets. Local tax applies in a few jurisdictions: New York City, Yonkers, Philadelphia, Detroit and many Ohio cities.
The remaining lines are yours. Pre-tax deductions like traditional 401(k), HSA and Section 125 health insurance reduce taxable wages. Post-tax like Roth 401(k), garnishments and after-tax life insurance come off net. PayslipIQ walks through each line on the dedicated explainer pages.
What this is not
PayslipIQ is a reading guide and a calculator. Not a CPA. Not a payroll provider. Not a law firm. Not affiliated with the IRS, the SSA, or any state tax authority. If a number on your stub is wrong, raise it with payroll. If you need filing advice, see a CPA. The goal here is just to help you read the stub and ask the right question.
PayslipIQ provides educational information and estimated calculations only. It does not provide tax, legal, financial, accounting, employment, benefits, or payroll advice. PayslipIQ is not a CPA firm, law firm, financial advisor, payroll provider, or tax authority. Always verify your paycheck, deductions, withholdings, and tax position with your employer's payroll department, a qualified CPA, the IRS, your state tax authority, or another appropriately qualified professional. Calculations are estimates; your actual paycheck may differ based on factors specific to your employer, location, benefits elections, and personal tax situation.