Military basic pay goes up every January 1. The size of the raise changes from year to year, and over a full career those changes add up to thousands of dollars. Here is every raise of the last eleven years, why some years were bigger than others, and what they mean in real money.
The raises, year by year
| Year | Raise |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 1.3% |
| 2017 | 2.1% |
| 2018 | 2.4% |
| 2019 | 2.6% |
| 2020 | 3.1% |
| 2021 | 3.0% |
| 2022 | 2.7% |
| 2023 | 4.6% |
| 2024 | 5.2% |
| 2025 | 4.5%, plus an extra 10% for E-1 to E-4 from April 1 |
| 2026 | 3.8% |
Every one of these took effect on January 1 and applied to all ranks equally. The one exception was 2025, when Congress added a second raise of 10% for junior enlisted members, grades E-1 through E-4, on top of the 4.5% everyone received.
How the raise is set
The starting point is a formula written into federal law. The raise equals the growth in the Employment Cost Index, a government measure of private-sector wages, over a twelve-month period ending about fifteen months before the raise takes effect. If civilian paychecks grew 3.8%, the formula says military pay should too.
The formula is only a default. Congress and the President can choose a different number through the annual defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act. In the mid-2010s, budget limits pushed raises below the formula, which is why 2016 was only 1.3%. In recent years the raises have generally matched the formula. The big raises of 2023 and 2024 were simply the formula catching up with fast civilian wage growth after 2021.
What the raises add up to
Raises compound, because each one is a percentage of the previous year’s pay. The seven raises from 2020 through 2026 together lifted basic pay by about 30%. Going back to 2016, pay is about 41% higher across the board.
Here is what that looks like at one rank. An E-5 with over 6 years of service earns $4,110.00 a month in 2026. Take away the seven raises since 2020 and the same E-5 slot would have paid about $3,157 a month in 2019. That is close to $950 more every month, or around $11,400 a year, without a promotion.
Junior enlisted members gained even more because of the extra 10% in 2025. A brand-new E-1 now earns $2,407.20 a month in basic pay, and the separate food allowance, BAS, adds $476.95 on top of that.
Raises versus prices
A raise only helps if it beats inflation. In 2022, consumer prices rose much faster than the 2.7% raise, so many households fell behind for a year. The formula catches up later, because it follows wage growth with a delay. That explains the 4.6% and 5.2% raises that followed. Over the full decade, basic pay has roughly kept pace with prices, with some lean years in between.
Allowances change separately. BAH is reset every January from local rent surveys, and BAS follows the cost of food, so your total pay can rise faster or slower than the basic pay raise in any year.
What comes next
The 2027 raise is not final. The formula number is 3.6%. The White House has proposed targeted raises of 5% to 7% depending on rank, and the final figure will come with the defense bill, usually in December. We update every pay chart and calculator on this site the day the new table is published.
Common questions
Does the raise apply to the Guard and Reserve? Yes. Drill pay is calculated from the same basic pay table, so it rises by the same percentage.
Are raises ever cut or skipped? Basic pay has not been cut in modern times. Raises have been held below the formula in some years, but there has been a raise every single year in modern times.
Does the raise affect retirement pay? Military retired pay is adjusted by a cost-of-living formula, not by the active-duty raise. But a higher basic pay table raises the retirement of anyone who retires afterward, because retirement is based on basic pay.
When does the new pay show up? The raise is effective January 1, so it first appears in the mid-January paycheck.
Use the total pay calculator to see how a 3.6% or 5% raise would change your own monthly total.