Basic Pay is the base salary for a service member on active duty and counts for part of total military income. Basic Pay is electronically distributed on the 1st and 15th of every month, similar to many civilian jobs. Basic Pay for a service member depends on length of service as well as rank (most enlisted airmen enter the Air Force as an Airman basic and Space Force as a Specialist 1).

Active duty service members are eligible for Basic Pay.

The 2025 basic pay tables reflect a 4.5% raise. Monthly Basic Pay rates for service members are shown on the Department of Defense Military Pay Tables:

• Commissioned Officers
• Commissioned Officers Credited with More Than 4 Years of Creditable Service
• Warrant Officers
• Enlisted Members 

NOTES:

• Basic pay for an O-7 to O-10 is limited by Level II of the Executive Schedule during calendar year 2025 ($18,808.20)
• Basic pay for O-6 and below is limited by Level V of the Executive Schedule in effect during calendar year 2025 ($15,258.30).
• Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force and Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Basic Pay for 2025 is $10,758.00
• Creditable service to be taken into account for purposes of this table is active service as an enlisted member or as a warrant officer or as both an enlisted member and a warrant officer, in the case of a commissioned officer on active duty who is paid from funds appropriated for active-duty personnel; or a commissioned officer on active Guard and Reserve duty. Effective November 24, 2003, creditable service to be taken into account for purposes of this table in the case of a commissioned officer is service as an enlisted member or as a warrant officer, or as both an enlisted member and a warrant officer, for which more than 1,460 points have been credited to the officer for the purposes of title 10, U.S.C. § 12732(a)(2). See DoD Financial Management Regulation for more detailed explanation on who is eligible for this special basic pay rate.

For more information, please visit the Military Members webpage maintained by Defense Finance and Accounting Services:
https://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/

or the Department of Defense Financial Management Regulations:
https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/Vol ume_07a.pdf

2025 Military Pay Charts:
https://www.dfas.mil/MilitaryMembers/payentitlements/Pay-Tables/

Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military Compensation website:
https://militarypay.defense.gov/