Money · 1 of 4
What officers make in basic pay
Captain, entry
$66,409
Second Lieutenant, first year
$49,802
Captain, 8 years
$97,506
There is no wage survey for this job, because the armed forces sit outside it. The federal occupation profile says plainly that no data is collected on military occupations. Pay comes instead from the Department of Defense basic pay table, set by Congress, and depends only on your rank and your years of service. These are 2026 figures for basic pay alone, the same in every branch. Ranks above Captain pay more again.