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Civilian Pay to Equal Military Take-Home Pay Calculator

Enter your military pay

2026 federal tax rules

$/ month

Taxable. Find your rate in the current military pay tables on dfas.mil or on your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES).

$/ month

Tax-free housing allowance. Look up your rate with the BAH calculator on defensetravel.dod.mil.

$/ month

Tax-free food allowance. Rates are on dfas.mil or your LES.

%

Many states exempt military pay or have no income tax. Use 0 if yours does.

%

A flat average rate where you would work as a civilian.

More options
$/ month

Flight, sea, hazardous duty and similar pays. Leave out anything earned in a combat zone, which is usually tax-free.

Civilian salary to match

Civilian salary needed per year

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Military take-home per year

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Extra salary to cover the tax difference

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Military pay and allowances per year–
Tax-free allowances per year–
Military take-home per month–
Civilian hourly equivalent at 40 hours a week–

Compares cash pay only. Military health care, retirement, the TSP match and other benefits are not valued, and pre-tax TSP or 401(k) contributions are left out of both sides.

Military and civilian pay side by side

Yearly figures. BAH and BAS are not subject to federal income tax or Social Security and Medicare, so the civilian salary has to be higher to leave the same amount after tax.

ItemMilitaryCivilian

Results are estimates for educational purposes and are not financial, tax or legal advice.

Enter your basic pay, BAH and BAS to see the civilian salary you would need to take home the same amount after 2026 federal, FICA and state taxes. The salary increase calculator uses the same plain-English approach, so you can compare results side by side.