Below is the 2008 Average Annual Salary Chart for military enlisted personnel with 20 or less years of military service (for enlisted personnel with more than 20 years of service, see this chart).

It's really impossible to produce an actual annual salary chart. This is because there are many variables to military pay.

Some jobs are entitled to flight pay, continuation bonuses and special pay, and some jobs are not.


Some people live in free on-base government quarters (barracks or base housing) and others live off-base and receive a housing allowance. The amount of the housing allowance depends on the person's location, and whether or not they have dependents.

The below chart shows average annual military salary for enlisted members, to include base pay, average housing allowance, monetary food allowance, and the "tax advantage" of untaxed allowances. The charts do not include items such as overseas housing allowance, overseas COLA (cost of living allowance), enlistment or reenlistment bonuses, or other bonuses and allowances that many servicemembers are entitled to.

For more information about pay and benefit changes for 2008, see FY 2008 Military Authorization Act.

Military pay is based upon grade (rank) and years of service:

Annual Salary

Paygrade	<2	2	3	4	6	8
E-9	-	-	-	-	-	-
E-8	-	-	-	-	-	-
E-7	-	-	-	59,089.87	60,415.66	62,692.26
E-6	47,975.87	50,733.24	52,062.74	53,341.55	54,678.66	57,670.71
E-5	43,361.16	45,053.17	46,351.01	47,678.08	49,741.65	51,897.32
E-4	39,321.22	40,449.68	41,681.86	42,906.85	44,059.40	44,059.40
E-3	37,555.17	38,790.73	40,052.98	40,052.98	40,052.98	40,052.98
E-2	36,174.97	36,174.97	36,174.97	36,174.97	36,174.97	36,174.97
E-1	33,870.55	33,870.55	33,870.55	33,870.55	33,870.55	33,870.55
E-1 w/less than 4 months	32,567.87
Paygrade	10	12	14	16	18	20
E-9	-	-	-	83,347.80	85,110.09	87,989.89
E-8	-	70,895.91	72,274.95	73,766.20	76,449.87	77,807.07
E-7	63,962.78	66,218.31	68,041.68	69,284.75	70,596.46	71,106.93
E-6	58,819.55	61,040.91	61,718.83	62,209.58	62,783.37	62,783.37
E-5	53,648.61	53,866.54	53,866.54	53,866.54	53,866.54	53,866.54
E-4	44,059.40	44,059.40	44,059.40	44,059.40	44,059.40	-
E-3	40,052.98	-	-	-	-	-
E-2	36,174.97	-	-	-	-	-
E-1	33,870.55	-	-	-	-	-