Military Pay

When you don’t receive government-provided housing, you’ll be given a military housing allowance known as a Basic Allowance for Housing. This allowance is meant to offset the cost of housing. The amount you receive will change from place to place and year to year and is impacted by:

• The local rental market
• Your pay grade
• Yearly inflation
• Your dependency status or child support status

Use this online BAH calculator to find your specific BAH rate.

Historically, the military provided both housing and food as part of a service member’s compensation. As of 2002, all service members receive a Basic Allowance for Subsistence to pay for their meals per the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual food cost index.

For 2024, the monthly BAS rates are:

• Enlisted service members: $460.25 per month
• Officers: $316.98 per month

You may be eligible for other allowances depending on your situation, including:

• Basic Needs Allowance is a monthly allowance for active-duty service members with dependents whose gross household income falls below 200% of federal poverty guidelines.
• Clothing Allowance pays for uniform purchase and maintenance.
• Cost of Living Allowance for CONUS is a taxable allowance created to offset higher prices in the higher-cost CONUS locations.
• Dislocation Allowance allows for partial reimbursement of expenses due to PCS orders or other required moves.
• Family Separation Allowance provides for service members with dependents on an unaccompanied tour of duty.
• Family Supplemental Subsistence Allowance is a War Department program that supplements an eligible active service member’s household income if it’s below 130% of federal poverty guidelines (maximum payment is $1,100 per month). FSSA is only available for members with at least one dependent in their households who are serving overseas (not including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands or Guam).
• Overseas Cost of Living Allowance is a nontaxable allowance designed to offset the higher overseas prices of non-housing goods and services. It is not a fixed amount and may vary based on location, pay grade, years of service and number of dependents. OCOLA can fluctuate based on the exchange rate and should not be considered as part of your monthly budget. Learn more about OCOLA and the 2024 OCOLA adjustment process.

Hardship Duty Pay recognizes service members at locations where living conditions are substantially below CONUS.

Assignment Incentive Pay is paid to service members to encourage them to volunteer for difficult-to-fill or less desirable assignments, locations or units designated by and under conditions of service specified by the military department.

Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay is paid to service members who perform a duty that is inherently dangerous or risks physical injury.

Special Duty Assignment Pay recognizes service in assigned duties determined to be extremely demanding, requiring a greater than normal degree of responsibility or difficulty, or requiring special qualifications.

To find out how much money you have to work with, see the basic pay tables for active-duty service members and reserves, and log in to myPay to manage your pay and other financial accounts. Find out if you are eligible for the Basic Needs Allowance.

Entitlements show how much you were paid through your basic pay and various supplements.

Deductions list your deductions — including any taxes owed and Thrift Savings Plan contributions.

Summary lists how much money was deposited in your account after deductions and allotments were distributed.

Leave tallies the vacation time or leave you have available.

Cm Agcy Contr describes future changes or command notices.

Elect to save for retirement with the Thrift Savings Plan. Stash some money away in this defined contribution plan and consider increasing your savings with each pay increase. How much you receive when you retire depends on how much you put into your account during your working years, so it’s a good idea to funnel as much as you can into this plan.

Everyone has deductions for taxes, including Social Security and Medicare. You probably have a federal tax deduction, and you may have a state tax deduction, depending on your state of legal residence.

The government will withhold your federal and state taxes based on the instructions you provided on your W-4, Employees Withholding Certificate. You can make updates to your withholding using myPay.

Here are other deductions you may notice:

• Social Security deductions are 6.2% of your taxable military pays. Medicare taxes are 1.45% of your taxable military pays.
• The Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance program provides low-cost life insurance to military members. Every service member is automatically signed up for the maximum amount of SGLI coverage but can elect a lower amount if so desired. Members with SGLI coverage also have coverage under the SGLI Traumatic Injury Protection program.
• Every active-duty enlisted and warrant officer in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Space Force has an automatic, nonvoluntary deduction of 50 cents per month designated to fund the Armed Forces Retirement Homes.
• The Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance program offers low-cost life insurance to spouses and children of service members. Once registered in DEERS, spouses and eligible children are automatically enrolled in FSGLI. The service member may reduce or decline coverage using the SGLI Online Enrollment System. You can access the SOES through the MilConnect portal.
• Thrift Savings Plan contributions are listed as a deduction on your LES. The contribution is forwarded to the TSP board at the beginning of the following month and credited to your TSP account once it has been processed by the TSP agency.
• Various types of government debts are listed on your LES. These may include debt from an overpayment, advance pay or advance Basic Allowance for Housing loan.

Any active-duty service member can set up allotments or payroll deductions from their paycheck to pay or repay certain expenses. There are two types of allotments: discretionary and nondiscretionary.

• Discretionary allotments include Federal Employee Dental and Vision Insurance Program vision and dental premiums; commercial life insurance premiums; payments to dependents or other relatives; deposits to banks, credit unions or investment companies; and the payment of mortgage or rent and deposits into the War Department’s Savings Deposit Program.
• Nondiscretionary allotments include the purchase of savings bonds, repayments to military relief societies, charitable contributions to eligible organizations, court-ordered involuntary child and/or spousal support payments, government indebtedness, commercial debt, garnishments and delinquent Government Travel Card balances.

Allotments may be set up through myPay or by using DD Form 2558.

When you set up an allotment through myPay, you will see a “no later than” date listed before and after you set up the allotment. This lets you know whether the allotment will start this month or next month. It is important to watch your LES carefully until you see that an allotment has been successfully started.

With an allotment, half of the allotted amount is deducted from your mid-month pay, and that amount remains in the system until the other half is deducted from your end-of-month pay. At that time, the entire amount is submitted to the designated recipient.

You can have up to six discretionary allotments per month and any number of nondiscretionary allotments, but you may not have more than 15 allotments per month.

You may not use allotments to purchase, lease or rent personal property. For example, you may not use an allotment for a car payment or rental of furniture or appliances.

Members of the National Guard and reserves may set up allotments when they are called to active duty, active duty for training or full-time training duty under orders specifying extended active duty for more than 180 days.

Guards or reservists not on extended active duty may set up one allotment for insurance premiums, paid to a group life insurance program sponsored by their state Guard or the State Associations of the National Guard.