Four sample pay stubs with real 2026 tax calculations: hourly, salaried, overtime and a 1099 contractor earnings statement. Each one links to the generator pre-filled so you can make your own.
Every pay stub answers four questions: who paid whom, for what period, how much was earned, and what was taken out. The layout below is the Classic template from the pay stub generator, and the numbers come from the same engine, so they add up.
Hourly employee, biweekly
A retail associate in Georgia paid $31.25 an hour for 80 hours, with federal, FICA and Georgia withholding.
PAY STUB
Peachtree Supply Co.
1440 Piedmont Avenue NE Atlanta, GA 30309
EMPLOYEE
Marisol Okafor
88 Ormewood Terrace SE Atlanta, GA 30316 ID 4821
PAY DETAILS
Pay date: 09/18/2026 Period: 08/31/2026 to 09/13/2026 Frequency: Biweekly
Earnings
Hours
Rate
Current
YTD
Regular pay
80.00
31.25
2,500.00
47,500.00
Gross pay
2,500.00
47,500.00
Taxes
Current
YTD
Federal income tax
355.92
6,762.48
Social Security
155.00
2,945.00
Medicare
36.25
688.75
Georgia income tax
95.96
1,823.24
Gross pay2,500.00YTD 47,500.00
Taxes643.13YTD 12,219.47
Deductions0.00YTD 0.00
Net pay1,856.87YTD 35,280.53
Record of an actual payment. Tax amounts are estimates from published 2026 withholding tables.
Hours times rate gives the regular pay line. The stub shows both so the math can be checked.
Federal income tax follows the IRS percentage method for a single filer with a 2020 or later W-4.
Social Security is 6.2% and Medicare 1.45% of the FICA wages, up to the annual wage base for Social Security.
Employer name and address, employee name, an employee ID and often the last four digits of the Social Security number. The pay period is the span of work being paid for; the pay date is when the money is paid, usually a few days after the period ends.
Earnings
Regular pay is hours times rate for hourly staff or the salary for the period. Overtime is listed separately at the premium rate. Bonuses, commissions and tips get their own lines. The current column is this period; YTD is the total since January 1. Read what YTD means on a pay stub.
Taxes and deductions
Federal income tax (often labelled FIT), Social Security (OASDI) and Medicare are the federal items on every employee stub. State and local income tax appear where they apply. Pre-tax benefits such as a 401(k) deferral or health premium follow in the deductions table, then after-tax items. The FIT guide explains the federal line.
Summary bar and net pay
Gross pay, total taxes, total deductions and net pay, each with its year-to-date figure. Net pay is the amount deposited or written on the check.
Use only for real payments you made or received. Creating documents with false information may be illegal. Read our acceptable use policy.
Frequently asked questions
What does a pay stub look like?
A pay stub has a header with the employer, the employee and the pay period, an earnings table with hours, rate, current and year-to-date amounts, a taxes table and a deductions table listing each item, and a summary bar with gross pay, taxes, deductions and net pay. The samples above show the standard layout.
What is the difference between gross pay and net pay on a sample pay stub?
Gross pay is everything earned in the period before anything is taken out. Net pay is what is actually paid after taxes and deductions. On the hourly example, gross pay is the hours times the rate and net pay is what is left after federal, Social Security, Medicare and state tax.
What does YTD mean on these examples?
Year to date: the running total of that line since January 1. On our examples each YTD figure adds up every pay day so far in the year, assuming the same pay each period.
Are the example pay stubs real?
The people and companies are invented. The tax figures are real calculations from the current withholding tables, run through the same engine as the generator.
Can I download these sample pay stubs?
Click Make one like this to open the generator with the example filled in, change the details to your own, and download the PDF. Do not present the sample figures as anyone's real pay.