From 6,152 − 2,874 = 3,278 up to 1,000,000 − 384,275: these 4th grade subtraction worksheets open on 12 four-digit problems, and other sheets use 5-digit and 6-digit numbers, start from 50,000 or 100,000, or ask for an estimate first.
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What 4th grade subtraction covers
Common Core 4.NBT.4 asks for fluent subtraction of multi-digit whole numbers with the standard algorithm, and a footnote keeps grade 4 to numbers up to 1,000,000. Texas 4.4(A) adds decimals to the hundredths, which these sheets leave out. About 4 in 5 of all 4-digit minus 4-digit problems need regrouping.
Picking subtraction worksheets 4th grade pupils are ready for
If the opening sheet goes well, with problems like 8,243 − 3,568 = 4,675, move to 5-digit and 6-digit numbers, then the Zeros group, which ends on 1,000,000 − 384,275. If 4-digit answers go wrong, print Review: numbers up to 1,000, 40 to a page, or use the grade 3 page linked below.
In 100,000 − 37,245 = 62,755 each pair of digits adds to 9, and the last pair to 10.
An estimate catches place slips: 433 cannot be right when the estimate is 5,000.
100 less than 4,039 is 3,939: two digits change, because the hundreds digit was 0. Ask pupils why.
Questions and answers
How big are the numbers on subtraction worksheets for grade 4?
Mostly 4-digit and 5-digit. The opening sheet takes one 4-digit number from another, and other sheets use 5-digit and 6-digit numbers, up to 1,000,000 − 384,275 = 615,725. Two Review sheets go back to numbers up to 1,000 and up to 100.
Why do zeros make subtraction harder?
A zero has nothing to give, so the regrouping must reach further left. For 50,000 − 23,416 = 26,584 the top number becomes 4 ten thousands, 9 thousands, 9 hundreds, 9 tens and 10 ones. Zeros inside 4-digit numbers are on the regrouping page.
How do you check subtraction by adding?
Add the answer to the number taken away. If the total is the number started from, the subtraction is right: for 8,105 − 4,738 = 3,367 the check is 3,367 + 4,738 = 8,105. The answer key on page 2 settles the rest.
All 15 sheet types
The standard algorithm, 4 to 6 digits 3
4-digit minus 4-digit, regrouping as it comesThe grade 4 sheet: 12 stacked problems with two 4-digit numbers and commas printed. Nothing is fixed, so regrouping turns up as often as chance has it: of all 4-digit minus 4-digit problems about 4 in 5 need it, and 6,152 − 2,874 = 3,278 needs it three times. Common Core 4.NBT.4 asks for fluency with the standard algorithm.
5-digit minus 5-digit, with commasTwo 5-digit numbers, stacked, with a comma after the thousands. 52,316 − 27,849 = 24,467 regroups in every column except the ten thousands, which is common at this size: only about 1 in 10 of all 5-digit minus 5-digit problems needs no regrouping. Eight to a page leaves room for the working.
6-digit minus 6-digit, under 1,000,000Six digits is as far as grade 4 goes: the Common Core limits the grade to whole numbers up to 1,000,000. In 804,215 − 367,480 = 436,735 four columns in a row regroup, and the zero in the ten thousands place has to take from the 8. Six problems to a page.
Show all 15 sheet types (12 more)
Zeros in 5-digit and 6-digit numbers 3
From 100,000: take away a 5-digit numberEvery problem starts from 100,000 and takes away a 5-digit number: 100,000 − 37,245 = 62,755. The two numbers are a pair that makes 100,000, so the check is quick: 62,755 + 37,245 = 100,000. In this pair the digits add to 9 in every place but the last, where they add to 10.
From 1,000,000: the largest number in grade 4The top number is always 1,000,000 and the bottom number has 6 digits: 1,000,000 − 384,275 = 615,725. Six zeros regroup in one sweep. A pupil who takes 1 from both numbers first gets 999,999 − 384,274 = 615,725 with no regrouping at all.
From a whole ten thousand: 50,000 − 23,416 and the likeThe top number is a whole ten thousand, so all four columns below it regroup. For 50,000 − 23,416 = 26,584 the top number is rewritten as 4 ten thousands, 9 thousands, 9 hundreds, 9 tens and 10 ones, and after that no column runs short. Eight problems to a page.
Estimate first 3
Closer estimate: subtract after rounding to the nearest 100The same two lines, rounded to the nearest hundred, so the estimate lands nearer. For 5,862 − 3,147 = 2,715 it reads 5,900 − 3,100 = 2,800. Rounded to the nearest thousand the same problem gives 6,000 − 3,000 = 3,000.
Estimate a 5-digit subtraction to the nearest 1,000Five-digit numbers rounded to the nearest thousand: 48,215 − 19,680 = 28,535 is estimated as 48,000 − 20,000 = 28,000. Each rounding moves a number by 500 at most, so the estimate is never more than 1,000 from the answer. Common Core 4.NBT.3 has grade 4 round to any place.
Estimate to the nearest 1,000, then subtractEach box has a line for the estimate and a line for the exact answer. 6,748 − 2,315 = 4,433 is estimated as 7,000 − 2,000 = 5,000, rough but enough to catch an answer of 433. Texas 4.4(G) asks for rounding to the nearest 10, 100 or 1,000 to estimate.
Thousands and hundreds in your head 3
4-digit minus whole thousandsThe number taken away is a whole thousand, so only the thousands digit changes: 7,482 − 3,000 = 4,482. Twenty side by side, for the head and not for columns. A pupil who sets these out in columns has not yet seen what the zeros mean, and place value work may help more.
100 less or 1,000 less than a 4-digit numberTwenty numbers, each with the instruction 100 less or 1,000 less, to be done without writing a column. 4,309 − 1,000 = 3,309 changes one digit. 4,039 − 100 = 3,939 changes two, because the hundreds digit was 0.
Whole hundreds: 5,200 − 1,700 and the likeBoth numbers end in two zeros, so 5,200 − 1,700 = 3,500 is 52 − 17 = 35 counted in hundreds. Every problem crosses a thousand, as that one does. Twenty to a page, side by side, with the 2-digit fact nowhere printed: seeing it is the pupil's job.
Strip diagrams, letters and word problems 1
Strip diagram: the whole on top, the parts belowA strip diagram is a bar for the whole with shorter bars for its parts underneath. Here the whole and one part are labelled, 5,280 and 1,965, and the pupil writes 5,280 − 1,965 = 3,315 for the other part. Texas 4.5(A) asks grade 4 to represent problems with strip diagrams.
Review of grade 3 2
Review: numbers up to 100, 60 side by sideSixty problems side by side with both numbers 100 or less, such as 93 − 58 = 35, meant for the head and not for columns. Quick 2-digit differences are what the whole hundreds and whole thousands sheets lean on.
Review: numbers up to 1,000, 40 to a pageForty stacked problems with both numbers 1,000 or less and mixed lengths, such as 905 − 468 = 437 beside a 2-digit problem. It is grade 3 work printed as a long review before the 4-digit sheets.
How this list was compiled: Sheet types, wording and worked examples are own work; every worked example, regrouped form and check quoted in a description was computed on 2026-09-19. The shares of problems that need regrouping were counted the same day: a problem with two numbers of the same length needs no regrouping exactly when every digit of the top number is at least the digit under it, which gives 45 × 55 × 55 × 55 less the 9,000 equal pairs for 4-digit numbers (7,477,875 of 40,495,500 pairs, so 33,017,625 regroup) and 411,688,125 of 4,049,955,000 pairs for 5-digit numbers; the same formula was checked against a full listing of the 2-digit and 3-digit pairs. Standard numbers and wording were checked on 2026-09-19 against the full text of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (California Department of Education copy, https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/ccssmathstandardaug2013.pdf): 4.NBT.4 (fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm), the grade 4 footnote that limits the domain to whole numbers less than or equal to 1,000,000, 4.NBT.3 (round multi-digit whole numbers to any place), 4.OA.3 (multistep word problems, a letter standing for the unknown quantity, reasonableness by estimation including rounding) and 3.NBT.2; and against the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Mathematics, 19 TAC Chapter 111 Subchapter A (https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/ch111a.pdf): 4.4(A) (add and subtract whole numbers and decimals to the hundredths place using the standard algorithm), 4.4(G) (round to the nearest 10, 100, or 1,000 or use compatible numbers to estimate), 4.5(A) (strip diagrams and equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity) and 4.10(B) (calculate profit in a given situation). Licence: own work