What is the Military Raise for 2024?
The annual military basic pay raise, also known as the Military Pay Growth Rate, is a benefit that all uniformed paygrades receive from the Uniformed Services pay system of the United States. After a year of pandemic-related hardships, the Defense Department announced a boost in military basic pay hikes for 2024 in November 2023.
Contents
Economic Factors Driving the RAISE
The 4.81% military pay hike for Fiscal Year 2024 goes into effect January 1, 2024. This move is a deliberate attempt to keep up with increases in the civilian workforce over the past decade. Economic factors such as inflation concerns, the military’s commitment to retaining troops, as well as increased costs within the Defense Department, compelled the decision makers to deliver a substantial payroll boost for the services.
Changes in Military Compensation
From Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2014 and 2022, an average annualized growth trend of 14.63% compared to current pay rates illustrates the financial burden faced by the 2.9 million DoD personnel in the service. Total compensation accounts for 82% of the government’s pay and benefits.
**Annual Pay Trends**
| **Year** | **Pay Growth Rate (Annual Ratable Pay Increases)** | **Example Pay Impact** |
| ————- | ————- | **(E5, ASVAB Test Score/AFQT (Armed Forces Qualifying Test Results))**|
|| 2015 | 1% | $1,166.59 (E-5 equivalent)|
| **2016** | +1.2% | $1,166.59 × 101.2 = $1191.65|
|= 2019 | | $3,382.10 |
|=
| **2023** | | |
| *2025* | |
Tax Increase for Military Benefits
There is expected to be **a federal tax increase starting in CY2024 **, including a 9.63% increase for the *Military Basic Pay* section. **More than seven million Americans currently receive survivor benefits** based on disabled veterans’ wartime service*.
Future of Military Raise
Budget constraints would likely impact ongoing military benefit increases. Additionally, Defense Department officials forecast a return to **higher inflation as the economy heals** from the current pandemic-caused recession*.
A **2025 budget for the Department of Defense focuses on modernizing the Department’s capabilities to address and counter emerging global threats *, while also taking into accounts the needs and concerns that have been conveyed by key stakeholders, from the Office of the Director of **National Intelligence* to civilian and military officials*!.
Prior Changes in Military Raises
2023 represents the **17th fiscal year** **since peacetime service** during which the Uniformed Budget has been influenced by **the fiscal year funding**. An **end-of-year discretionary spending and budget reconciliation acts** signed into law late in April 2020, was the first peacetime budget to use the mechanism.
