Military Pay Calculator 2026
Estimate your monthly military take-home pay: 2026 basic pay for your grade and years of service, BAH looked up by duty station ZIP code, BAS, optional extra pays, then estimated federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, TSP and SGLI. It also shows your annual Regular Military Compensation. Looking for the civilian salary that matches your pay? Use the military to civilian pay calculator.
Maintained by Archie Chang · Rates and rules checked against DFAS, DoD, IRS, SSA and VA October 25, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Your military pay
DFAS bands are "over N": exactly 4 years is in "Over 3 to 4 years", and 4 years and 1 day is in "Over 4 to 6 years".
Married filing separately is not supported.
Extra pays are amounts you enter from your LES. Nothing is added automatically for combat zone tax exclusion; see the deployment pay calculator.
Example: E-5 over 4 years at San Diego 92101 with dependents
An E-5 with 5 years of service, filing single, with $3,975 BAH (DoD 2026 rate for 92101 with dependents), 5% traditional TSP and $500,000 of SGLI: $3,946.80 basic pay, $3,975.00 BAH and $476.95 BAS ($8,398.75 before deductions). Estimated deductions each month are $268.27 federal income tax, $244.70 Social Security, $57.23 Medicare, $197.34 TSP and $26.00 SGLI, leaving about $7,605.21 a month. BRS adds $197.34 a month to the TSP, which is not take-home pay.
An O-3 with 6 years of service, filing jointly, with $4,518 BAH, 5% traditional TSP and $500,000 of SGLI has $12,229.18 a month before deductions and takes home about $10,790.97. Both are estimates under the assumptions below.
How the estimate works
- Basic pay comes from the DFAS 2026 table (see the military pay chart). It is taxable.
- BAH comes from DoD's 2026 BAH files by ZIP code (see the BAH calculator). It is not taxed.
- BAS is $476.95 for enlisted and $328.48 for officers and warrant officers (see BAS rates). It is not taxed. BAS II is not modeled.
- Federal income tax is the 2026 bracket tax on annualized taxable pay after the standard deduction and any traditional TSP. It is an estimate from annual tax, not IRS Pub. 15-T withholding, and has no credits or itemized deductions.
- FICA is 6.2% Social Security up to $184,500 and 1.45% Medicare (0.9% more above the filing-status threshold) on basic pay and taxable extra pay.
- TSP is a percent of basic pay, capped at the 2026 limit (see TSP contribution limits).
- State income tax is not included. Check your state's rules.
Paydays are on the military pay dates page. Deployed? Use the deployment pay calculator.
Military pay calculator questions
How do I calculate my military pay?
Add basic pay (from the 2026 pay table for your grade and years of service), BAH (set by your duty station ZIP code, pay grade and dependents), BAS and any special pays. Basic pay and special pays are taxable. BAH and BAS are not. Then subtract federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, TSP and SGLI. An E-5 with 5 years of service (over 4 to 6) at a San Diego ZIP such as 92101 with dependents gets $3,946.80 basic pay, $3,975.00 BAH and $476.95 BAS, $8,398.75 a month before deductions.
How much is the take-home pay for an E-5 or an O-3?
Using this calculator's assumptions (2026 tables, San Diego 92101 BAH with dependents, 5% traditional TSP, BRS, $500,000 of SGLI, no state tax): an E-5 over 4 years filing single takes home about $7,605.21 a month, and an O-3 with 6 years filing jointly takes home about $10,790.97 a month. These are estimates, not your LES.
Is military pay taxed? Are BAH and BAS taxable?
Basic pay is taxable income. BAH and BAS are excluded from gross income (IRS Publication 3), so they are not in the federal income tax base here. Social Security (6.2% up to the $184,500 2026 wage base) and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% above $200,000 single or $250,000 joint) apply to basic pay and taxable special pays, not to BAH or BAS.
Does this show my exact withholding?
No. The federal income tax is an annual-tax-based estimate: it annualizes your taxable pay, subtracts traditional TSP and the 2026 standard deduction, and applies the 2026 brackets. DFAS withholds from your W-4 using IRS Publication 15-T methods, so your LES can differ. The estimate includes no tax credits, and it does not include state income tax. State income tax is not included; check your state's rules.
What is the difference between traditional and Roth TSP here?
Traditional TSP contributions are taken out before federal income tax is figured, which lowers the estimated tax, but Social Security and Medicare still apply. Roth contributions come from pay that has already been taxed, so they do not lower the estimated tax. Both reduce take-home pay by the same amount. Employee deferrals are capped at the 2026 limit of $24,500. The TSP contribution limits page has the limits and the BRS matching table.
How does BRS matching work in the calculator?
If you check Blended Retirement System, the calculator shows the government contribution by your years of service. Under 2 years you get only the 1% automatic contribution. After 2 years it adds a match of 100% on the first 3% you contribute and 50% on the next 2%, up to 5% in total. Both stop once you complete 26 years of service (5 U.S.C. 8440e). Matching follows your own contributions, so it stops if yours stop at the annual limit, while the automatic 1% continues. It goes into your TSP, so it is shown separately and is not part of take-home pay.
How much does SGLI cost?
VA's SGLI page lists a premium of 5 cents per $1,000 of coverage. With the maximum $500,000 of coverage, that is $25.00 a month, plus $1.00 a month for TSGLI, $26.00 in total. You can choose less coverage from $0 to $500,000 in $50,000 steps.
What is Regular Military Compensation (RMC)?
RMC is basic pay plus BAH plus BAS plus the federal tax advantage that comes from BAH and BAS not being taxed (37 U.S.C. 101(25)). DoD figures the advantage as the additional income a member would have to earn to keep the same take-home pay if the allowances were taxable (GAO-04-721R). For the E-5 example the annual figures are $47,362 basic pay, $47,700 BAH and $5,723 BAS, plus an estimated $12,615 tax advantage, for an RMC of about $113,400. The tax advantage is our calculation using the 2026 brackets and the standard deduction, not a DoD figure. With no BAH or BAS the allowance counts as $0 here; government quarters and meals are not valued. To compare RMC with a civilian job, use the military to civilian pay calculator.
Are special pays and deployment pay included?
Only if you enter them. Use the taxable and non-taxable extra pay boxes with amounts from your LES. The calculator does not apply the combat zone tax exclusion automatically. For hostile fire or imminent danger pay, family separation allowance and the combat zone exclusion, use the deployment pay calculator.
Is there a separate Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps pay calculator?
No. Every service uses the same DFAS basic pay table, BAS rates and DoD BAH rates, so one calculator covers all of them. Pick your pay grade (for example E-5 or O-3), years of service and your duty station ZIP code.
Why does my ZIP code show no BAH?
A few ZIP codes, such as Puerto Rico, have no CONUS BAH rate in DoD's files. Overseas members receive OHA or other allowances, so enter your amount from your LES with "I will enter my BAH". If the ZIP lookup cannot load, you can enter your BAH the same way.