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Military.com | By Amanda Miller
Military pay will increase 5.2% for 2024, compared to 2023 levels. The military pay charts linked below apply to active members of the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and Space Force.
The tables below report 2024 monthly pay based on the 5.2% raise as published Dec. 26, 2023, in the Federal Register. The rates become effective Jan. 1, 2024.
Basic pay varies depending on your paygrade/rank, along with the number of years you have served.
For instance, in 2024, an enlisted service member with a paygrade of E-1 will receive $2,017.20 per month in basic pay. Meanwhile, a more senior enlisted person with a paygrade of E-6, who has more than a decade of service, will earn $4,387.80 monthly.
Officers are paid more. A new officer's basic pay begins at $3,826.20 in 2024, while a more senior officer with a paygrade of O-4, having served more than 10 years, will receive $8,684.10 monthly.
Basic pay is a service member's primary compensation. But your paycheck is also likely to contain several tax-free allowances as well as special pay based on your duty station, qualifications or military specialties. All of these things are part of normal military pay, salary or compensation.
Most allowances are non-taxable, so they can contribute to a significant portion of your paycheck. For example, the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is excluded from gross income for tax purposes.
Military pay automatically increases at the start of each calendar year, in January. Service members see the change reflected in the first pay period of the year.
The Army announced in July 2022 that all soldiers on long-term, active-duty orders would be paid semimonthly–on the first and 15th of each month–starting Oct. 1, 2022. Most soldiers were already on this pay schedule. The change, part of the service's new Integrated Personnel and Pay System, affected only about 11,000 people.
The military establishes an annual pay increase to roughly mirror the increase in private-sector wages and salaries nationwide.
This increase is determined by the Employment Cost Index, calculated several times a year by the Department of Labor. The military uses the October ECI year-over-year change to determine the percentage pay raise for the following year.
However, the president or Congress may supersede this automatic amount.
For 2024, the 5.2% automatic adjustment, calculated from the ECI, remained in place.
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The Leave and Earning Statement (LES) shows your entitlements, deductions, allotments and details about leave, tax withholding and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).
You can log on to myPay to view your most recent LES. You should verify and keep your LES every pay period.
The top of your LES will show identifying information, plus what pay period this statement covers.
Just below that is a row of boxes displaying a summary of your entitlements, deductions and allotments. It's important to note that the entitlements and deductions sections may reflect retroactive activity.
Related: How to Read a Military LES
Any overflow in these areas will be listed in the Remarks section.
Next to those, you'll see another box that summarizes the entitlements, deductions and allotments, and then shows the result: the actual amount in your paycheck.
Under your pay amount, you'll see DIEMS, which means the date you signed up for military service, and RETPLAN, your retirement plan.
On the bottom of your pay stub, smaller boxes display details of your leave days balance; and your federal tax information, including FICA, marital status and any exemptions.
Finally, you'll see Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) contributions.
If you have been tracking your LES and notice any change in your compensation that you don't understand, immediately contact your payroll or finance office.
If you need more help:
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