Pay Stub Generator

What's on a pay stub

Every pay stub covers the same basic information, laid out a little differently depending on the employer or software that generated it:

1. Employee and employer details — name, address, and often an employee ID.
2. Pay period and pay date — the range of days you were paid for, and the date the payment was issued.
3. Gross pay — your total earnings before anything is taken out, either hours worked times your rate, or your salary for the period.
4. Deductions — federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax (if your state has one), and any other withholding like retirement contributions or health insurance.
5. Net pay — what's left after every deduction, and the amount that actually lands in your account or on your check.
6. Year-to-date (YTD) totals — a running total of gross pay, each deduction, and net pay for the whole calendar year so far.

Common pay stub terms explained

1. Gross pay — earnings before taxes and deductions.
2. Net pay — take-home pay after everything is deducted.
3. FICA — the combined Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) tax required on nearly all US wages.
4. Federal withholding — income tax withheld based on the IRS's current withholding tables and the allowances or filing status on file.
5. State withholding — state income tax withheld, if the state you work in collects one.
6. YTD (year-to-date) — the cumulative total of a figure from January 1st through the current pay period.

When you actually need a pay stub

A pay stub documents income you already earned — here's when people generate their own:

1. Replacing a stub your employer never gave you, or one you lost.
2. Documenting income as a freelancer, contractor, or gig worker who doesn't get one automatically.
3. Running payroll for your own small business or household employee.
4. Personal budgeting and record-keeping, alongside your real bank deposits.

How our generator calculates yours

Federal withholding follows the IRS's Publication 15-T percentage method, Social Security and Medicare use the current year's statutory rates, and all 50 states are supported — including the nine with no state income tax. Preview before you pay, then download a clean PDF.

One tool, many names

Pay stub generator, paystub generator, pay stub creator, paycheck stub maker and check stub generator are all names for the same kind of tool. It takes your earnings and deductions, works out the taxes, and lays everything out the way a payroll-provider pay stub does.

How to create a pay stub in four steps

1. Enter your employer and employee details and pick your state and pay frequency.
2. Add your hourly rate or salary, hours worked and any deductions like a 401(k) or health insurance.
3. Check the live preview - federal, Social Security, Medicare and state withholding are calculated for you.
4. Pay and download a clean, watermark-free PDF instantly.

What a good paycheck stub maker gets right

A paystub that only looks real is not much use. The numbers should add up the way payroll software calculates them: correct tax withholding for your state, year-to-date totals that grow from stub to stub, and a consistent pay period and pay date on every check stub.

Need pay stubs for more than one pay period?

Create one stub or several in the same session. Each additional stub costs less, and year-to-date totals carry through automatically, so a set of paystubs from our paystub generator stays consistent from the first pay date to the last.

Common reasons to create a pay stub

1. Small business owners who pay a handful of employees and need a clear record of each paycheck.
2. Self-employed people and freelancers documenting what they earn when no employer issues a stub.
3. Gig economy workers, such as delivery and rideshare drivers, who are paid as contractors.
4. Household employers paying a nanny, caregiver or cleaner.
5. Landlords and property managers who pay on-site staff.
6. Employees who lost a pay stub or never received one and need a copy for a lease, loan or application.
7. Remote and cash-paid workers who want consistent records of their earnings.

What to look for in a pay stub generator

1. Tax calculations that follow the IRS withholding tables, not rough percentages.
2. Support for your state, including its specific withholding rules.
3. Year-to-date totals that carry forward correctly from one stub to the next.
4. A full preview before you pay, so you can check the numbers first.
5. A clear price, with no account or subscription needed for a one-time stub.

From gross pay to net pay

Start with gross pay, then take out pre-tax deductions, taxes and post-tax deductions. What remains is net pay, the amount you take home.

1. Gross pay: hours x hourly rate, plus overtime, bonuses and tips, or your salary for the period.
2. Pre-tax deductions: items such as 401(k) contributions and some health insurance premiums. These lower the wages that income tax is figured on.
3. Taxes: federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%) and state income tax where your state has one.
4. Post-tax deductions: items such as Roth contributions or wage garnishments, taken after taxes.
5. Net pay: gross pay minus everything above.

Worked example: $2,000 biweekly in Texas

Take a single filer paid $2,000 every two weeks in a state with no income tax, such as Texas. Social Security is 6.2% of $2,000, which is $124.00. Medicare is 1.45%, which is $29.00. Federal income tax withholding comes to about $156.15 under the IRS withholding tables for that filing status. That leaves net pay of about $1,690.85.

Your own figures depend on your filing status, any W-4 adjustments, your state and your deductions, which is why the generator asks for them.

How often you are paid changes the numbers

The same yearly salary produces a different paycheck depending on how often you are paid. Weekly means 52 paychecks a year, biweekly means 26, semi-monthly means 24 and monthly means 12. Withholding is calculated per pay period, so the pay frequency you choose changes each stub's tax amounts as well as the gross pay.

States with no income tax on wages

Nine states do not tax wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. On a pay stub from those states there is no state income tax line. Every other state withholds from wages, and some also have payroll items such as state disability or family leave contributions. Local taxes in some cities and counties can apply on top of that.

What year-to-date totals tell you

Year-to-date (YTD) totals add up each figure from January 1 through the current pay period. They let a lender, landlord or accountant see your income over time at a glance, and they should grow from one stub to the next. If YTD gross on a stub does not match the sum of your earlier stubs, one of them has a mistake.

Common pay stub mistakes

1. Using the wrong pay frequency, which throws off every tax amount.
2. Forgetting a pre-tax deduction, so taxable wages are overstated.
3. YTD totals that do not add up from stub to stub.
4. A pay date that does not fall inside or just after the pay period.
5. Using the wrong state, or a state that does not match where the work is done.

Pay and tax options

1. Hourly or salaried pay, plus overtime, bonuses, tips and commission as separate earnings lines.
2. Weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly or monthly pay frequency.
3. Federal filing status, dependents and other W-4 adjustments.
4. All 50 states, with state withholding and payroll items such as SDI calculated where they apply.
5. Pre-tax deductions such as a 401(k) or health insurance, and post-tax or custom deductions such as union dues.
6. Year-to-date totals that carry forward across multiple stubs.

Look and delivery

1. 10 designs: five full-page layouts and five check-stub size layouts.
2. Your own company logo.
3. A different pay date, hours and check number for each stub in a series.
4. A free live preview, then an instant PDF download. See samples on our pay stub examples page.

Why they matter

1. They let you check that you were paid correctly and that taxes were withheld accurately.
2. Lenders, landlords and agencies often ask for recent stubs to see your income.
3. They make filing your tax return easier, since they show what was withheld.
4. They give small employers a clean record of every payroll they run.
5. Many states require employers to give workers a statement of earnings.

Pros and cons of making your own

Pros: it is fast, inexpensive, and useful when no employer issues a stub, such as for contractors, gig workers and household employers. Cons: a self-made stub is only as accurate as the figures you enter, and it is not a substitute for payroll filings or tax deposits where those are required. Always use real pay, and never use a stub to misrepresent income.

Free pay stub maker, paid generator or blank template?

1. Free makers usually add a watermark or charge at download, and often do not calculate taxes.
2. A blank template is free but you do the tax math and formatting yourself, which is where mistakes creep in.
3. A paid generator like this one calculates federal, FICA and state tax for you and gives a clean PDF. You can preview for free first, and your first watermarked sample is free.