Name: ______________________ Date: __________ Partner: ______________________
This pay stub is made up for class. The bagel shop, the worker, and the numbers are fictional. The hourly rate is the Long Island minimum wage for 2026.
The pay stub
HARBOR BAGEL SHOP, 2140 Montauk Highway, Bay Shore, NY 11706
EARNINGS STATEMENT
| Employee | Pay period | Pay date | Check number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dana Rivera | Sept 14 to Sept 27, 2026 | Oct 2, 2026 | 10488 |
| Line | Earnings | Hours | Rate | This period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regular pay | 24.00 | $17.00 | $408.00 |
| GROSS PAY | $408.00 |
| Line | Deductions (what came out) | This period |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Federal income tax | $24.48 |
| 3 | New York State income tax | $12.24 |
| 4 | Social Security (6.2 percent) | $25.30 |
| 5 | Medicare (1.45 percent) | $5.92 |
| TOTAL DEDUCTIONS | $67.94 |
| Line | This period | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | NET PAY (what you keep) | $340.06 |
Paid by direct deposit to checking account ending in 4471.
Plain-words guide: Line 1 is what Dana earned. Lines 2 to 5 are what came out. Line 6 is what landed in her bank account.
Part A: Sources of income
List six ways a person can get money. Mark each one E (earned: you did work for it) or N (not earned: it came to you another way).
| # | Source of income | E or N |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 |
Part B: The four deductions (copy from the slides)
| Deduction | What it pays for | Fixed percent? |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | no | |
| New York State income tax | no | |
| Social Security | yes: ______ percent | |
| Medicare | yes: ______ percent |
Part C: Be the detective
Show your math in the boxes.
- Gross pay. Hours x rate = gross.
______ hours x $______ = $______ Does it match line 1? yes / no
- Total deductions. Add lines 2, 3, 4, and 5.
$______ + $______ + $______ + $______ = $______
- Net pay. Gross minus total deductions.
$______ minus $______ = $______ Does it match line 6? yes / no
- Percent taken out. Total deductions divided by gross, times 100. Round to a whole number.
$______ divided by $______ = ______ x 100 = ______ percent
(Grade 6 short version: do items 1, 2, and 3 and questions 5 and 6 only.)
Detective questions
- Which deduction is the largest? _________________________ How do you know? ______________________
- Dana gets 26 of these paychecks in a year. What is her net pay for the year? Show the math.
26 x $______ = $______
- Dana pays her own phone plan, $35 a month, and a monthly bus pass, $60. She gets two paychecks a month. Does her take-home cover those two needs? Write two sentences with the numbers.
- Dana's friend earns the same $17 an hour but works 30 hours in two weeks. Without doing all the math, will the friend's Social Security deduction be larger, smaller, or the same? Why?
Grade 8 stretch
- Check the stub for errors. 6.2 percent of $408 = $______. 1.45 percent of $408 = $______. Do lines 4 and 5 match?
- About 17 percent comes out of every paycheck. What gross pay does Dana need in two weeks to take home $500? (Hint: net is 83 percent of gross.)
$500 divided by 0.83 = $______
- A job posting says "$52,000 a year, paid every two weeks." What is the gross pay per paycheck? $52,000 divided by ______ paychecks = $______
Exit card (3-2-1)
3 sources of income I could have in the next two years: ________________, ________________, ________________
2 deductions that come out of every paycheck in the country: ________________, ________________
1 sentence: "Net" means ________________________________________________________