2027 Military Pay Raise: 7-6-5 vs 3.6%

This guide lays out both 2027 scenarios in dollars for every pay grade, explains who proposed what and why, and tells you what to watch for between now and your January paycheck. For how 2026 pay was set, see the 2026 military pay raise guide; for the current official rates, use the 2026 military pay chart.

The Two 2027 Pay Raise Scenarios

Scenario 1: The President's 7-6-5 tiered raise

The FY2027 budget request asked for “$5.8 billion for a 7-6-5 percent targeted military pay raise effective on January 1, 2027,” which the Defense Department says averages 6.2% across the force. The idea is to push the biggest increase to the most junior ranks, continuing the targeted junior-enlisted raise of April 2025. On August 26, 2026 the President made it official policy through an alternative pay plan under 37 U.S.C. §1009(e), which sets the 2027 increase at “7.0 percent for grades E1 to E5, 6.0 percent for grades E6 to O3, and 5.0 percent for grades O4 and above, subject to the caps established by 37 U.S.C. 203.”

• E-1 through E-5: +7%
• E-6 through O-3 (including warrant officers and prior-enlisted O-1E to O-3E): +6%
• O-4 and above: +5%, with general and flag officer pay still limited by the Executive Schedule caps

The House Armed Services Committee built its bill around this request, and the House passed H.R. 8800 on July 22, 2026 by a vote of 216–212. The House bill does not contain a section setting the raise percentage, so it does not override the President's plan; it funds it.

Scenario 2: A flat 3.6% for everyone

The Senate Armed Services Committee took the opposite view. Its bill, S. 4784, reported on June 15, 2026, contains a conventional pay-raise section (section 602): it waives the automatic §1009 adjustment and then states that “effective on January 1, 2027, the rates of monthly basic pay for members of the uniformed services are increased by 3.6 percent.” That is the same 3.6% the Employment Cost Index formula produces, so the Senate position is simply the standard formula applied to every grade.

The committee's reasoning, drawn from the Fourteenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, is that junior enlisted pay already sits well above comparable civilian earnings after the 2025 targeted raise, and that another tiered raise would compress the pay gap between junior and senior ranks. The Senate has not voted on the bill itself; a procedural vote to begin debate failed 50–46 on July 14, 2026.

What happens next

The House and Senate have to agree on one text. In most years that compromise is announced in December and signed before the holidays, and the pay raise section is one of the items negotiators settle. Three outcomes are possible:

1. Congress stays silent on the percentage (as the House bill does). The President's 7-6-5 plan takes effect January 1 under §1009(e). This is what happened in 2014, 2015 and 2016, when presidential alternative plans of 1.0% to 1.3% took effect without a pay-raise section in the NDAA.
2. Congress adopts the Senate language. Every grade gets 3.6% on January 1, 2027.
3. A compromise. Negotiators could land between the two, for example a smaller tiered raise or a flat raise above 3.6%. Any such figure would be new, so neither table below would match it exactly.

If the bill slips past January 1, pay still changes on January 1 under whichever rule is in force at the time, and DFAS makes a retroactive correction if the enacted figure differs. The FY2008 NDAA is the precedent: it was signed on January 28, 2008 and raised that year's increase from the 3.0% formula figure to 3.5%, effective January 1.

Projected 2027 Military Pay Chart: 7-6-5 Plan

Scenario 1 President's alternative pay plan of August 26, 2026, and the House-passed bill. Monthly basic pay, computed as the official 2026 rate × 1.07 (E-1 to E-5), × 1.06 (E-6 to O-3) or × 1.05 (O-4 and above), rounded to the nearest $0.10.

E-1 through E-5 at +7%, E-6 through E-9 at +6%. Pay at 28, 32, 36 and 40 years equals the preceding step shown for every grade.

The plan is written as grade ranges (“E6 to O3”). Warrant officers sit inside that range in the pay table, so they are projected at +6%. DFAS's official table will confirm the treatment.

O-1 through O-3 and prior-enlisted O-1E through O-3E at +6%; O-4 and above at +5%. ^† Held at the Executive Schedule cap under 37 U.S.C. §203: Level II ($18,999.90 a month) for O-7 to O-10 and Level V ($15,408.30) for O-6 and below, as printed in the 2026 DFAS table. The President's plan also freezes 2027 civilian pay, which holds the Executive Schedule and therefore these caps at 2026 levels; if Congress raises civilian pay instead, the capped cells rise with it.

Projected 2027 Military Pay Chart: Flat 3.6%

Scenario 2 Senate Armed Services Committee bill (S. 4784, section 602), which equals the 37 U.S.C. §1009(c) formula. Monthly basic pay, computed as the official 2026 rate × 1.036, rounded to the nearest $0.10.

^† Held at the Executive Schedule cap under 37 U.S.C. §203 (Level II, $18,999.90, for O-7 to O-10; Level V, $15,408.30, for O-6 and below), assuming the Executive Schedule stays at its 2026 level. Pay at 28, 32, 36 and 40 years equals the preceding step shown.

What Each Scenario Is Worth at Common Career Points

The table below compares the monthly and annual difference for typical rank and years-of-service combinations. The tiered plan is worth roughly twice the flat raise for junior enlisted members and about 40% more for a mid-grade officer.

Basic pay before taxes. Your total paycheck also includes BAH, BAS and any special pays, none of which move with this raise.

How Military Pay Raises Are Set

Three things can set the January raise, in order of precedence. First, the automatic formula in 37 U.S.C. §1009(c): basic pay rises by the increase in the Employment Cost Index for private-industry wages and salaries over the 12 months ending the previous September. For 2027 that window ended in September 2025, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the increase at 3.6%. Second, the President can submit an alternative pay plan before September 1 that supersedes the formula, which is what happened on August 26, 2026. Third, Congress can write a percentage into the NDAA, which supersedes both; that is what the Senate bill tries to do.

Longevity steps and promotions are separate from the annual raise and keep working on top of whichever percentage wins. Our guide on how military pay increases work walks through all three mechanisms with examples.

Recent annual raises

Year	Raise
2027	7% / 6% / 5% tiered, or 3.6% flat (pending)
2026	3.8%
2025	4.5%, plus a targeted junior-enlisted raise in April
2024	5.2%
2023	4.6%
2022	2.7%
2021	3.0%
2020	3.1%
2019	2.6%
2018	2.4%

Source: Congressional Research Service, Defense Primer: Military Pay Raise (IF10260), January 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the 2027 military pay raise?

It is not final. Two figures are on the table. The President's alternative pay plan, sent to Congress on August 26, 2026, sets a tiered raise of 7% for E-1 through E-5, 6% for E-6 through O-3, and 5% for O-4 and above, effective January 1, 2027. The Senate Armed Services Committee's NDAA bill (S. 4784, section 602) would instead give every grade a flat 3.6%, the figure produced by the Employment Cost Index formula. Unless Congress enacts a different number, the President's tiered plan is what takes effect on January 1.

Is the 2027 military pay raise official yet?

No. As of November 7, 2026, the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act has not been enacted. The House passed its version (H.R. 8800) on July 22, 2026, without a basic-pay provision, which leaves the President's 7-6-5 plan in place. The Senate has not passed its bill. DFAS has not published 2027 pay tables; the tables on this page are projections computed from the official 2026 table.

What is the 7-6-5 military pay raise?

7-6-5 is shorthand for the tiered raise in the President's FY2027 budget: 7% for pay grades E-1 to E-5, 6% for E-6 to O-3, and 5% for O-4 and above. The Defense Department priced it at $5.8 billion and said it averages 6.2% across the force. The President formally adopted it in an alternative pay plan under 37 U.S.C. 1009(e) on August 26, 2026, and the House-passed NDAA supports it.

What happens if Congress does not pass the NDAA before January 1, 2027?

Military pay still goes up on January 1. Under 37 U.S.C. 1009, a President's alternative pay plan supersedes the automatic Employment Cost Index adjustment, and an adjustment under that section has the force of law, so DFAS would implement the 7-6-5 raise on January 1, 2027. If Congress later enacts a different percentage effective January 1, pay would be corrected retroactively, as happened in 2008 when the NDAA signed on January 28 raised that year's increase from 3.0% to 3.5%.

Where does the 3.6% figure come from?

From the formula in 37 U.S.C. 1009(c): basic pay rises each January by the increase in the Employment Cost Index for private-industry wages and salaries over the 12 months ending the previous September. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that increase at 3.6% for the 12 months ending September 2025. The Senate bill writes the same 3.6% into law for all grades.

Does the 2027 raise apply to BAH, BAS, or retired pay?

No. The raise applies only to basic pay. BAH is set from local housing-cost surveys and BAS from food-cost data, and the 2027 rates for both are normally announced in December. Military retired pay is adjusted by the annual cost-of-living adjustment instead, which for December 2026 is 3.6%, the same figure as the Social Security COLA announced on October 14, 2026.

When will the official 2027 military pay chart be published?

DFAS normally posts the new year's pay tables in late December, once the raise is settled, and the new rates show up in the mid-January paycheck. This page will be replaced with the official 2027 table at that point.