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Base pay in the military
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -- In the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard base pay is just the beginning of the paycheck story. Servicemen and woman also get "allowances" for clothing, food and housing. The amounts of those allowances can depend on rank, where the serviceman is based and how many dependents he or she is supporting. Some allowances, like the "Basic Allowance for Subsistence" are actually lower for higher ranks for which the base pay is higher. The "Basic Allowance for Housing" is set according to location, rank and dependents.

For more on military pay, see our story.

To see what military ranks these pay grades correspond to in other armed service branches, see the Department of Defense Rank Insignia page.

Grade Army Rank Min. years Starting
base pay
After 10
years
After 26
years
E1 Private More than 4 mos. $13,809.60 N/A N/A
E2 Private 2 years or less $15,480.00 N/A N/A
E3 Private 1st Class 2 years or less $16,282.80 N/A N/A
E4 Corporal or Specialist 4 2 years or less $18,032.40 N/A N/A
E5 Sergeant 2 years or less $19,504.80 $26,841.60 $27,399.60
E6 Staff Sergeant 2 years or less $21,247.20 $29,728.80 $32,515.20
E7 Sergeant 1st Class 2 years or less $24,822.00 $33,040.80 $44,056.80
E8 Master Sergeant or 1st Sergeant 8 years $35,704.80 $36,734.40 $49,190.40
E9 Sergeant Major 10 years $42,771.60 $42,771.60 $57,088.80
W1 Warrant Officer 2 years or less $25,606.80 $34,660.80 $40,914.00
W2 Warrant Officer - 2 2 years or less $28,998.00 $37,782.00 $47,487.60
W3 Warrant Officer - 3 2 years or less $32,965.20 $41,608.80 $54,576.00
W4 Chief Warrant Officer - 4 2 years or less $36,097.20 $46,692.00 $61,650.00
W5 Chief Warrant Officer - 5 N/A N/A N/A $68,439.60
O1 2nd Lieutenant 2 years or less $26,204.40 $32,961.60 $32,961.60
O2 1st Lieutenant 2 years or less $30,182.40 $41,774.40 $41,774.40
O3 Captain 2 years or less $34,934.40 $52,869.60 $56,833.20
O4 Major 2 years or less $39,733.20 $59,454.00 $66,340.80
O5 Lieutenant Colonel 2 years or less $46,051.20 $62,672.40 $78,235.20
O6 Colonel 2 years or less $55,238.40 $68,065.20 $95,878.80
O7 Brigadier General 2 years or less $74,530.80 $88,084.80 $109,162.80
O8 Major General 2 years or less $89,694.00 $102,567.60 $123,069.60
O9 Lieutenant General 20 years $126,763.20 N/A $135,835.20
O10 General 20 years $144,932.40 N/A $153,950.40


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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.