Military vs Civilian Pay

What would you have to earn as a civilian to take home what you take home now?

Sets your BAH.
Used for both sides of the comparison, so the civilian figure is priced in the same tax environment.
Enter a real offer and the answer says whether it beats what you have.

Fill in your grade, duty station and state, then press Compare.

Why the comparison is not a comparison of salaries

Your LES shows three numbers, and only one of them is taxable. BAH and BAS are excluded from gross income entirely — a civilian earning the same face-value total keeps materially less of it.

The method here is straightforward: work out your actual after-tax income today, then solve for the civilian salary that produces the same after-tax income under the same filing status and state. That number is almost always higher than the face value of the military package, and often by 20–30%.

It is a floor, not a full accounting — TRICARE, the retirement benefit and every allowance not modeled here sit on top of it.

Estimates only, at the 2026 pay, tax and allowance tables. The civilian figure is the salary that produces the same after-tax income under the same filing status and state, ignoring employer benefits, 401(k) matching and payroll-tax differences beyond FICA. It excludes military COLA, special and incentive pays, bonuses, TRICARE, the retirement benefit, commissary and exchange access and the GI Bill — each of which would raise the figure further. State tax uses a single effective rate and ignores state military-pay exemptions. Not tax or financial advice.