The 2026 military pay chart by grade and years of service, and what base pay, BAH and BAS add up to at your installation: base pay is taxable, the allowances are not, and the difference is what a civilian offer has to beat.
Rates last verified August 2026 against the published source tables.
Base pay is the only taxable part of most military compensation. BAH and BAS are allowances, not income: they are not taxed federally or by any state, and they do not count toward gross income for tax credits. That makes a headline base-pay figure a poor comparison against a civilian salary — the same take-home requires a noticeably higher civilian gross, because the allowances arrive whole.
Base pay is set by pay grade and years of service and rises each January with the annual raise. BAH varies by duty station, so the same grade earns materially different total compensation at Fort Bliss and in San Diego. This calculator combines all three and shows what the untaxed portion is actually worth once the tax advantage is counted.
Nothing here is a claim. Basic pay, BAH and BAS are paid because you serve, not because you file. There is no voucher and no deadline — which means the failure mode is different: instead of an unclaimed entitlement, it is an incorrect one that nobody notices because it arrives on time every month.
The allowances stop when the condition does. BAH stops on entry to government quarters, and the untaxed portion of your compensation shrinks with it. A comparison against a civilian salary that assumes the allowances continue is a comparison of two different situations.
The government TSP contribution is not universal. Only members under the Blended Retirement System receive it. High-3 and CSB/REDUX members receive none, and a total-compensation figure that credits it to them overstates the package by the whole of it.
Read the LES against this page. Your Leave and Earnings Statement itemizes every line above. Compare the entitlement rows against the figures here for your grade and years of service — the most common differences are a stale dependency status and a housing area that did not update after a PCS.
A wrong figure is a finance transaction, not a claim. Where something does not match, the fix goes through your finance office or servicing personnel office rather than through a voucher. Bring the LES and the document that establishes the entitlement; corrections are usually made retroactively to the date the entitlement began.
Overpayments are recovered. An allowance paid after the entitlement ended is debt, and it is collected from future pay. If a change of quarters, dependency or station has not shown up on the LES within a couple of pay periods, raising it early is cheaper than being told later.
| Pay grade | Under 2 | Over 2 | Over 3 | Over 4 | Over 6 | Over 8 | Over 10 | Over 12 | Over 14 | Over 16 | Over 18 | Over 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-1 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 | $2,407 |
| E-2 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 | $2,698 |
| E-3 | $2,837 | $3,015 | $3,198 | $3,198 | $3,198 | $3,198 | $3,198 | $3,198 | $3,198 | $3,198 | $3,198 | $3,198 |
| E-4 | $3,142 | $3,303 | $3,482 | $3,659 | $3,815 | $3,815 | $3,815 | $3,815 | $3,815 | $3,815 | $3,815 | $3,815 |
| E-5 | $3,343 | $3,598 | $3,776 | $3,947 | $4,110 | $4,300 | $4,395 | $4,422 | $4,422 | $4,422 | $4,422 | $4,422 |
| E-6 | $3,401 | $3,743 | $3,908 | $4,069 | $4,236 | $4,613 | $4,760 | $5,043 | $5,130 | $5,194 | $5,268 | $5,268 |
| E-7 | $3,932 | $4,292 | $4,456 | $4,673 | $4,844 | $5,136 | $5,300 | $5,592 | $5,835 | $6,001 | $6,177 | $6,246 |
| E-8 | $5,657 | $5,657 | $5,657 | $5,657 | $5,657 | $5,657 | $5,907 | $6,062 | $6,247 | $6,448 | $6,811 | $6,995 |
| E-9 | $6,910 | $6,910 | $6,910 | $6,910 | $6,910 | $6,910 | $6,910 | $7,067 | $7,264 | $7,496 | $7,731 | $8,105 |
| W-1 | $4,057 | $4,494 | $4,611 | $4,859 | $5,152 | $5,584 | $5,786 | $6,069 | $6,347 | $6,565 | $6,766 | $7,010 |
| W-2 | $4,622 | $5,059 | $5,193 | $5,286 | $5,585 | $6,051 | $6,283 | $6,509 | $6,788 | $7,005 | $7,202 | $7,437 |
| W-3 | $5,223 | $5,441 | $5,664 | $5,737 | $5,971 | $6,431 | $6,911 | $7,136 | $7,398 | $7,666 | $8,150 | $8,477 |
| W-4 | $5,720 | $6,152 | $6,329 | $6,502 | $6,802 | $7,098 | $7,398 | $7,848 | $8,244 | $8,620 | $8,929 | $9,229 |
| W-5 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 | $10,170 |
| O-1 | $4,150 | $4,320 | $5,222 | $5,222 | $5,222 | $5,222 | $5,222 | $5,222 | $5,222 | $5,222 | $5,222 | $5,222 |
| O-2 | $4,782 | $5,446 | $6,272 | $6,485 | $6,618 | $6,618 | $6,618 | $6,618 | $6,618 | $6,618 | $6,618 | $6,618 |
| O-3 | $5,534 | $6,274 | $6,770 | $7,383 | $7,737 | $8,126 | $8,376 | $8,788 | $9,004 | $9,004 | $9,004 | $9,004 |
| O-4 | $6,295 | $7,286 | $7,774 | $7,881 | $8,332 | $8,816 | $9,420 | $9,888 | $10,214 | $10,402 | $10,510 | $10,510 |
| O-5 | $7,295 | $8,218 | $8,787 | $8,894 | $9,250 | $9,461 | $9,929 | $10,272 | $10,715 | $11,391 | $11,714 | $12,033 |
| O-6 | $8,751 | $9,614 | $10,245 | $10,245 | $10,284 | $10,725 | $10,784 | $10,784 | $11,396 | $12,480 | $13,115 | $13,751 |
| Who | Rate |
|---|---|
| Enlisted | $476.95 |
| Officer and warrant officer | $328.48 |
Comparing base pay alone understates military compensation substantially. A like-for-like comparison needs to add BAH and BAS — which are not taxed — plus the value of health coverage, retirement contributions and other benefits. Because allowances are tax-free, a military member's total package is worth more in pre-tax civilian salary terms than the raw numbers suggest, and the gap widens in high-cost housing areas where BAH is large. Look up your own rate with the BAH calculator.
BAH (housing) and BAS (subsistence) are allowances rather than wages, so they are excluded from federal taxable income and, in most states, from state taxable income. The practical effect is that every dollar of allowance is worth more than a dollar of civilian salary: to net the same amount, a civilian job must pay enough extra to cover the tax. The higher your marginal tax rate and the larger your BAH, the bigger that advantage becomes.
Your state of legal residence determines state income tax, not the state you are currently stationed in. Service members can retain a legal residence in a no-income-tax state while stationed elsewhere, under protections in the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Several states also fully or partially exempt military pay even when it is your state of residence. Confirm your situation with a tax professional or your installation's legal assistance office.
Base pay changes for two reasons: the annual pay raise, which takes effect on January 1 and applies to everyone, and longevity or promotion increases, which move you to a different cell in the pay table. Longevity steps occur at set years-of-service milestones rather than on your anniversary date, so a raise may land later than expected. BAH is updated separately, also effective January 1, and is based on your duty station's Military Housing Area. If you are weighing on-base against off-base living, the on-base savings calculator compares the commissary, Exchange and fuel side of that decision.