Junior enlisted service members between the pay grades of E-1 and E-4 will see a 10% raise in base pay beginning April 1, 2025. The increase was a provision in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. (Paul Caffrey/Department of Homeland Security)
Junior enlisted service members will soon see a significant boost in their pay as the Pentagon rolls out a targeted raise aimed at improving quality of life for the military’s lowest-paid ranks.
The increase applies to active-duty members in the E-1 to E-4 pay grades and will appear beginning with the mid-month paycheck for April.
It amounts to an additional 10% raise on top of the 4.5% base pay increase that went into effect for all service members on Jan. 1.
An E-1 with more than four months but less than two years of service will see their monthly base pay increase by $211, while an E-4 with 10 years of service will earn $335 more per month under the new pay structure, according to updated pay charts published by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.
E-5s with less than 10 years of service will also receive a targeted raise ranging from 3% to 8%, depending on time in service. The adjustments were made to ensure that E-4s receiving the new 10% raise do not earn more than E-5s with comparable experience.
Troops with four years of service will now earn $3,081 per month as an E-3, $3,525 as an E-4, and $3,802 as an E-5, not including any eligible special pay, allowances for housing and location-based cost-of-living expenses.
The pay bump is part of a broader effort to address long-standing concerns over junior enlisted compensation and retention.
Military family advocates and independent reviews had noted that base pay had not kept pace with inflation, particularly for junior enlisted personnel.
A 2023 report from the Rand Corp. found that more than a quarter of junior enlisted troops had experienced food insecurity at some point during the previous year.
Also in 2023, a sweeping quality-of-life review was launched by the Defense Department. The pay raise was proposed the following year and was included in the most recent National Defense Authorization Act.
Service members can view updated pay charts on the Defense Finance and Accounting Service website.
