Proposed 2020 Military Pay Charts – Officer & Enlisted Pay Scales (3.1% Raise)

This is the first look at the proposed 2020 military pay charts. President Trump’s $750 billion defense bill includes a 3.1 percent cost-of-living pay increase for military members, the largest increase in 10 years. Until the bill gets House and Senate approval and the president’s signature, the pay increase is just a proposal.

But assuming the bill gets signed into law, active duty enlisted members, officers, and warrant officers will see the 3.1 percent pay increase in their first checks of 2020.

2020 Military Pay Raise – 3.1%

Note about these numbers: Please note these pay levels are not yet official. This is an estimate based on adding a 3.1% raise on the 2019 military pay charts. These numbers are not the official DoD pay scale numbers – those will be released at the end of Dec. 2019, or at the beginning of 2020 after they become official.

How accurate are these numbers? Most likely within $0.10 or less of the final numbers. The DoD rounds the pay to the nearest 10 cents. We simply took the 2019 pay charts and multiplied them by 1.031 to get the numbers found on this page. The official pay charts will likely round these numbers up or down accordingly. So the numbers you see here should be within a few cents of the actual numbers the DoD releases.

We will update these charts as soon as the official charts have been released.

Here are the proposed pay scales listed in dollars per month for enlistees, officers, and warrant officers.

2020 Military Pay Scale – Officers, Prior Enlisted Officers, & Warrant Officers

Commissioned officers are on the pay grades from O-1 through O-10, Prior-Enlisted Officers are O-1E through O-3E, and Warrant Officers are W-1 through W-5.

2020 Officer & Warrant Officer Pay Charts – 0 Years – 10 Years

2020 Officer & Warrant Officer Pay Charts – 12 Years – 26 Years

2020 Officer & Warrant Officer Pay Charts – 28 Years – 40 Years

Officer Pay Notes

Prior enlisted officers may be eligible for a higher pay rate based on time in service and other criteria. The pay scale offers the following note:

*Applicable to O-1 to O-3 with at least four years & one day of active duty or more than 1460 points as a warrant and/or enlisted member. See Department of Defense Financial Management Regulations (DoDFMR) for more detailed explanation on who is eligible for this special basic pay rate.

2020 Pay Scale – Enlisted Members

Enlisted members are in the pay grades from E-1 through E-9.

2020 Enlisted Pay Charts – 0 Years – 10 Years

2020 Enlisted Pay Charts – 12 Years – 26 Years

2020 Enlisted Pay Charts – 28 Years – 40 Years

Enlisted Pay Notes

The senior enlisted advisors for each branch of the service may be eligible for a higher pay rating than the E-9 scale for their respective years in service. These positions include, the Sergeant Major of the Army Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, Senior Enlisted Advisor of the JCS, or Senior Enlisted Advisor Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. These rates will be released with the official DoD pay charts in 2020.

Military Pay FAQ:

When Do I Get Paid?

Members are generally paid on the 1st and 15th of the month, unless that day falls on a weekend or holiday. If so, members are generally paid the preceding business day. The following links will take you to the current military pay dates:

• Military Pay Dates
• Retired Military Pay Dates

When Will I Get a Raise?

Assuming the defense budget gets signed into law this year, you should see a pay increase on your Jan. 15, 2020, check. The Jan. 1, 2020, check will come from the final pay period of 2019 so it won’t include a pay increase.

Also, please note the above numbers are not official numbers from the Pentagon. Instead, the tables show the 2019 military pay rates with the proposed 3.1 percent increase applied.

What About Drill Pay?

The 2020 military budget’s 3.1 percent pay increase also applies to members of the Reserves and National Guard.

Why a 3.1 Percent Increase?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 3.1 percent employment cost index across the national workforce, and the Defense spending bill reflects this data. In 2019, military pay increased by 2.6 percent.

Ten years ago, in 2010, pay increased by 3.4 percent. Pay increases have been as small as 1 percent over the past decade.

Will the Bill Become Law?

Typically, defense spending bills transcend partisan politics. The overall defense bill will be debated and tweaked as it passes through committees in Congress.

For example, a House committee in June favored a $733 billion version of the bill rather than the $750 billion the president proposed. But it’s less likely elected officials will suggest cutting the proposed 3.1 percent pay increase.

You can keep up with the bill’s progress by searching for DOD FY2020 on the U.S. House’s Web site.