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Army Compensation Calculator

US, 2026 tax year · figures follow that year's rules

Army compensation calculator works out Monthly basic pay and Annual basic pay from What this calculator answers, Pay year and Pay grade. The default figures on this page give total monthly pay and allowances of 5,879.95 USD/mo; change any entry and the result, the working and the sources update together.

Total monthly pay and allowances
5,879.95 USD/mo
Military Pay Calculator
Monthly basic pay
3,303.00 USD/mo
Annual basic pay
39,636.00 USD/yr
Pay table column used
E-4, over 2 years
Monthly BAH
2,100.00 USD/mo
Annual BAH
25,200.00 USD/yr
Monthly BAS
476.95 USD/mo
Annual BAS
5,723.40 USD/yr
Monthly special pays
0.00 USD/mo
Other monthly allowances
0.00 USD/mo
Taxable monthly pay
3,303.00 USD/mo
Non-taxable monthly allowances
2,576.95 USD/mo
Total annual pay and allowances
70,559.40 USD/yr
Pay per drill period
110.10 USD
Drill pay for the period entered
440.40 USD
Federal marginal rate used
12.00 %
Annual federal tax advantage on allowances
3,710.81 USD/yr
Regular Military Compensation (annual)
74,270.21 USD/yr
Post-9/11 GI Bill monthly housing allowance
2,100.00 USD/mo
GI Bill rate of pursuit after rounding
100 %
Service branch
Army
Worked out from DFAS, 2026 Basic Pay: Enlisted and 15 other sources.
Planning figures only. Your Leave and Earnings Statement, your finance office and the DFAS pay tables in force on the day govern what you are actually paid.

Your figures

Updates as you type
Chooses the headline figure. Every other figure is still returned alongside it.
Years for pay purposes. DFAS columns step at 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and then every two years.
Each drill period pays 1/30 of monthly basic pay. A standard drill weekend is 4 periods.
Look your rate up in the DTMO BAH Rate Lookup for your duty ZIP code, pay grade and dependency status. BAH is set per Military Housing Area and cannot be derived from a formula.
Flight pay, sea pay, hazardous duty pay and similar taxable monthly special pays.
Clothing allowance, family separation allowance, OHA and similar.
Used only to find the marginal rate behind the Regular Military Compensation tax advantage.
Credits taken divided by the school full-time load. VA rounds this to the nearest tenth.
Percentage of the maximum benefit earned by qualifying active service (100, 90, 80 ... 50).

How this is worked out

8 steps
  1. 2026 pay tables (Executive Order 14368 of December 18, 2025, Schedule 8).
  2. Army pay comes from the same Schedule 8 table as every other service; the branch changes no amount here.
  3. E-4 at 3 years falls in the "over 2 years" column: $3303.00 a month.
  4. Annual basic pay = 12 x 3303.00 = $39636.00.
  5. BAS (enlisted, 1 Jan 2026) = $476.95 a month.
  6. BAH entered for your Military Housing Area = $2100.00 a month.
  7. Taxable $3303.00 + non-taxable $2576.95 = $5879.95 a month.
  8. Tax advantage = $30923.40 of untaxed allowances x 12.0% marginal rate = $3710.81; RMC = basic pay + BAH + BAS + tax advantage.
Pay chart for this gradetable
bandyearsOfServiceFrommonthlyBasicPayannualBasicPay
2 years or less03,142.237,706.4
over 2 years23,30339,636
over 3 years33,482.441,788.8
over 4 years43,658.543,902
over 6 years63,815.445,784.8
over 8 years83,815.445,784.8
over 10 years103,815.445,784.8
over 12 years123,815.445,784.8
over 14 years143,815.445,784.8
over 16 years163,815.445,784.8
over 18 years183,815.445,784.8
over 20 years203,815.445,784.8
over 22 years223,815.445,784.8
over 24 years243,815.445,784.8
over 26 years263,815.445,784.8
over 28 years283,815.445,784.8
over 30 years303,815.445,784.8
over 32 years323,815.445,784.8
over 34 years343,815.445,784.8
over 36 years363,815.445,784.8
over 38 years383,815.445,784.8
over 40 years403,815.445,784.8
Monthly breakdowntable
itemmonthlytaxable
Basic pay3,303Yes
BAH2,100No
BAS476.95No
Special and incentive pay0Yes
Other allowances0No

Figures from US federal tax tables (IRS), 2026 rules and US military pay tables (DFAS), 2026 rules, checked 31 August 2026. Its 9 worked examples are re-run on every release, last on 15 September 2026. What changed · how reference data is kept current

Sources and references

16 sources
DFAS, 2026 Basic Pay: Enlisted
effective 2026-01-01, page updated 2026-01-12
DFAS, 2026 Basic Pay: Officers
effective 2026-01-01
DFAS, Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) rate history
rates effective 1 January of each listed year

Keep this result

Save it, change one figure, then compare the two

The calculation stays free. Save this scenario, adjust one assumption, save that too, and put them side by side to see exactly what the change costs you. A free account keeps 5 scenarios and 2 comparisons; Personal makes both unlimited and adds exports and private links. Nothing is saved unless you press Save.

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What the army compensation calculator calculates

Computes US military monthly and annual basic pay from the DFAS pay tables, adds BAH and BAS, prices reserve and National Guard drill pay, and derives Regular Military Compensation and the Post-9/11 GI Bill housing allowance.

How to use this army compensation calculator

Enter What this calculator answers, Pay year, Pay grade and Cumulative years of service. Monthly basic pay updates as you type. Change one figure at a time to see what drives the result.

How the result is worked out

Open “How this is worked out” beside the result for the step-by-step calculation behind Monthly basic pay, Annual basic pay and Pay table column used.

The method follows DFAS, 2026 Basic Pay: Enlisted, DFAS, 2026 Basic Pay: Officers, DFAS, 2026 Basic Pay: Officers with over 4 years active enlisted or warrant service (O-1E to O-3E), DFAS, 2026 Basic Pay: Warrant Officers and DFAS, 2025 Basic Pay tables (enlisted, officer, O-1E/O-2E/O-3E and warrant officer).

What you can compare

Change one input at a time to see how it affects Monthly basic pay, Annual basic pay and Pay table column used. The inputs you can vary are What this calculator answers, Pay year, Pay grade, Cumulative years of service, E-1 with under 4 months of active duty and Duty status.

Understanding Monthly basic pay, Annual basic pay and Pay table column used

Planning figures only. Your Leave and Earnings Statement, your finance office and the DFAS pay tables in force on the day govern what you are actually paid.

Results are general information, not financial, tax, legal, medical or engineering advice. Check any decision that matters with a qualified professional.

Embed this calculator on your website

Copy this code into any page. The calculator appears with the figures currently entered, sizes itself to fit, and a small credit line links back here. Free, no account, no ads inside it, no tracking of your readers. Set your own figures and fixed fields; Personal removes the credit line, sets your colour and shows you which sites use it.

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Frequently asked questions

How can I calculate my military pay for 2026?

Computes US military monthly and annual basic pay from the DFAS pay tables, adds BAH and BAS, prices reserve and National Guard drill pay. Open “How this is worked out” beside the result to see each step for your own figures.

How much is E7 pay with 20 years?

On the figures this page opens with — cumulative years of service 7 — the total monthly pay and allowances is 5,879.95 USD/mo. No single number fits everyone: change any figure above and the answer updates as you type, with each step of the arithmetic beside it.

What information do I need for the army compensation calculator?

You need What this calculator answers, Pay year, Pay grade, Cumulative years of service, E-1 with under 4 months of active duty, Duty status, Inactive-duty training periods (drills) and Monthly BAH rate. The page opens with default figures that give total monthly pay and allowances of 5,879.95 USD/mo, so you can see the scale before entering your own.

What does this army compensation calculator show?

It shows Monthly basic pay, Annual basic pay, Pay table column used, Monthly BAH, Annual BAH, Monthly BAS, Annual BAS and Monthly special pays, with the working and any warnings for your entries.

Can I check how the army compensation calculator result was calculated?

Yes. The “How this is worked out” section shows the calculation steps, and the sources section identifies the references used for the method.

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