Military Take-Home Pay: From Gross Pay to Your Bank Deposit

Most pay charts show gross numbers. What actually lands in your bank account is smaller, and the gap isn't the same for everyone. Here is every common deduction on an active duty paycheck in 2026, with a worked example you can follow line by line.

Start with the gross: pay plus allowances

Your monthly gross is basic pay plus any allowances and special pays you're entitled to. For most members that's three pieces: basic pay from the 2026 pay chart, the Basic Allowance for Housing if you live off base, and the Basic Allowance for Subsistence ($476.95 for enlisted members, $328.48 for officers). The deductions below apply to those amounts in very different ways, which is why two members with the same gross can take home different amounts.

The deductions, one by one

Social Security and Medicare (FICA)

Service members pay the same payroll taxes as civilians: 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare, a combined 7.65%. The key detail is what they apply to. FICA is charged on basic pay and other taxable pays, but not on BAH or BAS. Social Security tax stops once taxable earnings reach the 2026 wage base of $184,500; Medicare has no cap.

Federal income tax withholding

Federal income tax is withheld from taxable pay — again, basic pay and most special pays, not allowances. How much depends on the W-4 you filed, your filing status and any traditional TSP contributions, which reduce taxable income. For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and the first $12,400 of a single filer's taxable income is taxed at 10%, then 12% up to $50,400.

State income tax

State tax depends on your state of legal residence, not where you're stationed. Some states have no income tax, and several exempt all or part of active duty pay. If your legal residence is in a state that taxes military pay, withholding will appear on your LES.

SGLI

Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance is automatic at the maximum $500,000 unless you reduce or decline it. Since July 1, 2025 the premium is $0.05 per $1,000 of coverage, so full coverage costs $25, plus $1 for traumatic injury protection (TSGLI): $26.00 a month.

AFRH

Enlisted members and warrant officers contribute 50 cents a month to the Armed Forces Retirement Home Trust Fund. It's small, but it's a line you will see on every enlisted LES.

TSP contributions

Members who joined after October 1, 2020 are automatically enrolled to contribute 5% of basic pay. Traditional contributions come out before federal income tax is calculated; Roth contributions come out after. Either way, they reduce your deposit — and under the Blended Retirement System they unlock up to another 5% from the government that isn't part of your paycheck at all. See TSP matching explained.

Allotments and other items

Voluntary allotments (to savings, a car loan, or family), dental coverage for family members, dining facility charges and debt repayments also come out before your deposit. They vary too much to include in an example, but they are often the biggest surprise on a first paycheck.

Worked example: E-4, single, living off base near Fort Hood

Take an E-4 with over 2 years of service, no dependents, living off base near Fort Hood, Texas, contributing 5% to traditional TSP, with legal residence in a state without income tax. All pay figures come from the 2026 DFAS and DTMO tables.

The federal tax line is an estimate: $3,303.00 minus the TSP contribution, times 12, is $37,654 a year; after the $16,100 standard deduction, tax on the remaining $21,554 is about $2,339, or $194.88 a month. DFAS withholding tables and your W-4 choices will make the actual figure slightly different.

So of a $5,153.95 gross, about $4,514.74 — roughly 88% — reaches the bank, and it arrives in two deposits around the 1st and 15th. Notice that the tax lines are small relative to the gross, because $1,850.95 of it is tax-free allowances.

Why your deposit changes from month to month

• Mid-month vs. end-of-month. Pay is split between two paydays, but one-time items such as allotment changes or collections often land in just one of them.
• Leave and duty changes. Special pays start and stop with duty status, and hostile fire or hardship pays follow the months you qualify.
• Hitting the Social Security wage base. High earners — mostly senior officers — see Social Security tax stop late in the year once taxable pay passes $184,500.
• January. The annual pay raise, new BAH and BAS rates, and a new tax year all arrive together, so the first January LES often looks different in several places.

How to raise take-home pay without losing benefits

The easy moves are administrative: make sure your W-4 matches your situation, confirm your state of legal residence is correct, and check that BAH is paid at the right rate for your duty station and dependency status. Reducing SGLI coverage or TSP contributions also raises the deposit, but both have long-term costs — dropping below 5% under BRS gives up matching money — so treat those as deliberate choices, not quick fixes.

Sources

• SSA — 2026 COLA fact sheet (tax rates and wage base)
• IRS — 2026 tax inflation adjustments
• U.S. Army Benefits — SGLI premium reduction effective July 1, 2025
• Soldier for Life — Armed Forces Retirement Home (50-cent contribution)
• DFAS — 2026 military pay tables
• DTMO — BAH rate lookup

MilPayLab is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Department of Defense, DFAS, DTMO or the Department of Veterans Affairs. Figures are taken from published government rate tables and are provided for information only, not as financial, legal or tax advice. Your finance office, your LES and your VA decision letter are the final word on what you are paid.