Pay · calculator
Military pay calculator 2026
Choose a grade, your years of service and the ZIP code of your duty station: the calculator adds basic pay, the housing allowance and the subsistence allowance.
Regular military compensation, per month
$6,853.75
$82,245 a year; BAH and BAS are not taxed.
| Basic pay (taxable) | $3,946.80 |
| BAH, Norfolk/Portsmouth, VA | $2,430 |
| BAS | $476.95 |
| Taxable share | 58% |
Basic pay (DFAS, January 1, 2026), BAH 2026 of the duty station (DTMO), BAS 2026. Special and incentive pays, COLA and tax withholding are not included. How this is calculated.
A married E-5 with four years of service stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, receives $3,946.80 of basic pay, $2,430 of BAH and $476.95 of BAS in 2026, about $6,854 a month before taxes. Those three amounts make up what the Department of Defense calls regular military compensation, the core of a service member's income. Basic pay comes from the DFAS table effective January 1, 2026, after a 3.8% raise. BAH depends on the ZIP code of the permanent duty station, the grade and whether the member has dependents, and comes from the 2026 file of the Defense Travel Management Office for 40,959 ZIP codes. BAS is a flat amount, $476.95 for enlisted members and $328.48 for officers. Only basic pay is taxed, so the gross figure goes further than a civilian salary of the same size.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Six members, six totals
| Member | Basic pay | BAH | BAS | Total per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-3, 2 years, single, Fort Hood | $3,015 | $1,374 | $476.95 | $4,866 |
| E-5, 4 years, married, Norfolk | $3,946.80 | $2,430 | $476.95 | $6,854 |
| E-7, 14 years, married, San Antonio | $5,835 | $2,112 | $476.95 | $8,424 |
| O-3, 6 years, married, Colorado Springs | $7,737 | $2,595 | $328.48 | $10,660 |
| W-2, 8 years, single, Tacoma | $6,051 | $2,631 | $328.48 | $9,010 |
| O-5, 18 years, married, Washington DC | $11,713.80 | $4,692 | $328.48 | $16,734 |
The table shows how much of a member's income depends on the station. Between the single E-3 at Fort Hood and the O-5 in Washington, basic pay explains most of the gap, but BAH alone runs from $1,374 to $4,692 a month.
What the calculator adds, and what it leaves out
The calculator reads the basic pay of your grade and column, finds the military housing area of the ZIP code in the DTMO file and the BAH for your grade and dependency status, and adds BAS. It does not compute taxes, because withholding depends on your W-4, your state of legal residence and other income; remember only that the allowances are excluded. It does not include the TSP contribution, which is taken from basic pay, or special pays, which you can add from your orders. For BAH, the ZIP code to use is that of your permanent duty station, not your home; the BAH calculator shows the rates of all grades for that area.
From pay to retirement
Basic pay is also the base of the retirement systems: High-3 and BRS pensions are computed on the average basic pay of the highest 36 months, without the allowances. The retirement calculator starts from the same table, and the TSP calculator shows what a percentage of basic pay grows into with the BRS match. The full tables are on the 2026 pay chart.
Why the duty station changes everything
Two members with the same grade and years can differ by more than a thousand dollars a month because of BAH alone. An O-3 with a family receives $2,175 at Fort Bragg and $4,518 in San Diego in 2026; a married E-6 receives $1,920 at Fort Hood and $3,759 in the Washington area. The allowance follows the cost of renting a home of the standard set for each grade, so it is not a raise but a compensation for local prices. Still, it decides what is left at the end of the month: housing near Fort Hood often costs less than the allowance for members who choose a modest home, while in high-cost areas the allowance is designed to cover a typical home, not any home.
Moving to a new station
BAH changes with the permanent change of station: the new rate applies from the date you report, with special rules during travel and while the family stays at the old location. Use the calculator with the ZIP code of the new duty station to see the difference before you move, and remember that BAH is set by the station's ZIP code even if you choose to live across a state line. Overseas, BAH is replaced by the overseas housing allowance, which this calculator does not cover.