Money · 1 of 5
What basic pay looks like
Specialist, 4 years
$43,902
Private, first year
$28,886
Staff Sergeant, 8 years
$55,354
There is no wage survey for this job, because the armed forces are outside it. Pay comes from the Department of Defense basic pay table, set by Congress, and it depends only on your rank and your years of service. Two people doing completely different jobs in different branches are paid exactly the same. These are the 2026 figures for basic pay alone, before allowances, a year at the monthly rate: a private after the first four months, the others over 4 and over 8 years of service. The table rises most Januarys.