Historical Military Pay Rates

Military.com
 | By Jim Absher
Updated | Published

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) maintains an archive of historical pay charts dating back to Oct. 1, 1949. You may find it interesting to see how the current military pay compares to what service members made in the past.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) maintains an archive of historical pay charts dating back to Oct. 1, 1949. You may find it interesting to see how the current military pay compares to what service members made in the past.

The dates below reflect effective dates for the military basic pay rates, which may differ from the effective dates for the various allowances and other pay entitlements. These charts are intended for reference only and are not for official pay purposes. These charts are all in PDF format.

1949-1979 1980-1999 2000-2019 2020-Present
Oct. 1, 1949 Oct. 1, 1980 Jan. 1, 2000 Jan. 1, 2020
May 1, 1952 Oct. 1, 1981 Jul. 1, 2000 Jan. 1, 2021
Apr. 1, 1955 Oct. 1, 1982 Jan. 1, 2001 Jan. 1, 2022
Jun. 1, 1958 Jan. 1, 1984 Jul. 1, 2001 Jan. 1, 2023
Oct. 1, 1963 Jan. 1, 1985 Jan. 1, 2002  
Sep. 1, 1964 Jan. 1, 1987 Jan. 1, 2003  
Sep. 1, 1965 Jan. 1, 1988 Jan. 1, 2004  
Jul .1, 1966 Jan. 1, 1989 Jan. 1, 2005  
Oct. 1, 1967 Jan. 1, 1990 Jan. 1, 2006  
Jul. 1, 1968 Jan. 1, 1991 Jan. 1, 2007  
Jul. 1, 1969 Jan. 1, 1992 Apr. 1, 2007  
Jan. 1, 1970 Jan. 1, 1993 Jan. 1, 2008  
Jan. 1, 1971 Jan. 1, 1994 Jan. 1, 2009  
Oct. 1, 1971 Jan. 1, 1995 Jan. 1, 2010  
Jan. 1, 1972 Jan. 1, 1996 Jan. 1, 2011  
Oct. 1, 1972 Jan. 1, 1997 Jan. 1, 2012  
Oct. 1, 1973 Jan. 1, 1998 Jan. 1, 2013  
Oct. 1, 1974 Jan. 1, 1999 Jan. 1, 2014  
Oct. 1, 1975   Jan. 1, 2015  
Oct. 1, 1976   Jan. 1, 2016  
Oct. 1, 1977   Jan. 1, 2017  
Oct. 1, 1978   Jan. 1, 2018  
Oct. 1, 1979   Jan. 1, 2019  

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Jim Absher

Jim Absher is Military.com's former benefits editor and columnist. He joined the Navy to see the world and later realized the world is two-thirds water. He also worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs in field offices and Washington, D.C. before coming to Military.com in 2015. Read Full Bio

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