US Military Historical Basic Pay Chart Archive
The United States military historical basic pay scales with corresponding raise percentage indicated below the year. Each chart contains the news relevant to the corresponding raise.
Congress and the President have the ability to write new legislation as they deem necessary to affect change in military pay; otherwise, since September 1962, Title 37 of the United States Code has dictated how military pay will be calculated.
| The 1950's | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949-1951 | 1952-1954 | 1955-1957 | 1958-1962 | ||||||
| 0 to 4% | 0 to 9% | 0 to 13% | |||||||
| The 1960's | |||||||||
| 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | |||
| 12.6% | 2.5% to 8.5% | E:11% O:6% | 3.2% | 5.6% | 6.8% | 12.6% | |||
| The 1970's | |||||||||
| 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
| 8.1% | 7.9% | 7.2% | 6.7% | 6.2% | 5.52% | 5% | 3.6% | 6.2% | 5.5% |
| The 1980's | |||||||||
| 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| 7% | 11.7 | 10 to 16.5% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 4.1% |
| The 1990's | |||||||||
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
| 3.6% | 4.1% | 4.2% | 3.7% | 2.2% | 2.6% | 2.4% | 3% | 2.8% | 3.6% |
| The 2000's | |||||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| 4.8%¹ | 3.7%² | 1 to 12% | 4.7% | 3.7 to 5.7% | 3.5% | 3.1% | 4.6%³ | 3.5% | 3.9% |
| The 2010's | |||||||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 3.4% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 1.7%P* | 2.0%Es* | 0.5%Es* | 1.0%Es* | 1.5%Es* | ||
Es = Estimated. P = Proposed. E =Enlisted. O = Officer.
Note 1: Targeted basic pay raises effective July 1, 2000 beyond the approved January 1, 2000 increase of 4.8%.
Note 2: Targeted increases, effective July 1, 2001, the basic pay amounts for enlisted personnel in grades E-5 through E-7.
Note 3: Additional targeted increase totalling 4.6% for various paygrades effective April 1, 2007. Added longevity raises at the 30, 34 and 38 year mark for only the most senior enlisted and officer paygrades.
Latest page update was completed on March 4, 2012.