How the ranks are read and the pay computed

Every tool and page reads three data files: one for the ranks of the six services by pay grade, one for the 2026 basic pay tables, and one for the sources with the date they were read (November 1, 2026). No title, abbreviation or rate is typed into a page. Automated tests check the pay logic against cells of the DFAS tables read by hand.

1. Ranks and insignia

Titles, abbreviations, the grouping of positions at one grade (such as first sergeant beside master sergeant) and the notes come from the Department of War rank chart. Each rank is stored under its pay grade and service, in the chart's order. Insignia images are the chart's own, works of the federal government under 17 U.S.C. 105; they were trimmed and converted to a lighter format without other change. Three gaps are left visible rather than filled: the chart shows no E-1 insignia; it gives no Coast Guard warrant officer images; and it still states that the Air Force has no warrant officers, although af.mil reported the first 30 graduates on December 6, 2024. Air Force warrant grades are therefore shown without titles. The Space Force officer insignia are those of the Air Force, as on the chart. The Army's E-1 abbreviation, PV1, comes from army.mil.

2. Basic pay

The rates are the DFAS monthly basic pay tables effective January 1, 2026, for enlisted members, warrant officers and commissioned officers. A table has 22 columns of cumulative years of service: "2 or less", "over 2", "over 3", "over 4", then every two years to "over 40". The calculator places a number of completed years in the last column it reaches: 4 and 5 completed years both fall under "over 4". Blank cells stay blank: an E-9 has no rate before "over 10". The DFAS notes are applied as written: the E-1 rate under four months of service, the single rate of the senior enlisted leaders, and the caps on officer pay at levels V and II of the Executive Schedule. Annual figures are twelve times the monthly rate. Allowances, special pays, taxes and deductions are not computed.

3. History and 2027

The raises since 2004 come from Table 1 of the Congressional Research Service report IF10260. The three 2027 proposals come from CRS report IN12706, and the status of each bill from congress.gov. A 2027 amount is the 2026 rate raised by a proposal's percentage, always labeled an estimate; it is not computed for rates at a cap, because the 2027 cap depends on the 2027 Executive Schedule, nor for warrant grades under the tiered proposal, which the CRS summary does not place.

4. Pages read through archived copies

The .mil sites of the Department of War, DFAS and several services refuse automated reading. Those pages were read through copies held by the Internet Archive: the rank chart in its copy of October 3, 2026, and the DFAS tables in their copies after the update of January 12, 2026. Each fact on the site links to the official page itself, so that a reader can check it at the source. When those pages change, the data files are read again.

5. Pages read

6. What the site does not do

• It does not compute total compensation, allowances, taxes or retirement pay.
• It does not predict promotions: time-in-grade figures are the Army's own minimums.
• It keeps nothing you enter: the tools run in your browser.

Method version of November 1, 2026. A figure that looks wrong: contact.