MMilitaryCalc

Methodology

Every number on this site is read from a published government table. Nothing is smoothed, modeled, or copied from another calculator. This page names the source behind each one so you can check it yourself.

Who maintains it

Owen Barrett builds and maintains MilitaryCalc. His background is software and personal finance rather than military service, which is why nothing on this site is estimated or modeled: every figure is read straight from a published DoD, DFAS or VA table, and the methodology page names the exact source file behind each calculator. Corrections go to the contact page and a wrong rate is fixed the same week it is reported.

Sources, calculator by calculator

BAH

Each December, when DTMO publishes the next year
DoD Defense Travel Management Office, BAH-ASCII rate files

339 housing areas, 27 paygrades, with and without dependents, 2023 through 2026. Parsed from the published ASCII files, never retyped.

BAH by ZIP

With the annual BAH release
DTMO ZIP-to-MHA crosswalk

40,959 ZIP codes resolved to a military housing area in the browser, so nothing about your location is sent anywhere.

Base pay

January, after the annual pay raise takes effect
DFAS military pay tables

Monthly basic pay by paygrade and years of service.

BAS

January
DFAS subsistence allowance tables

Separate enlisted and officer rates.

GI Bill

Checked automatically every day; the site rebuilds when VA changes a figure
VA.gov Post-9/11 (Chapter 33) rate page

Tuition caps, book stipend and monthly housing allowance for the current academic year.

VA disability

Each December, with the COLA announcement
VA.gov compensation rate tables

Every rating from 10% to 100% by dependent status, including the 2026 COLA.

VA loan

When VA revises the schedule
VA funding fee schedule

Funding fee by down payment, service type and first or subsequent use.

TSP

Each November, with the IRS limit announcement
TSP.gov contribution limits and the BRS match schedule

Elective deferral and catch-up limits, agency match tiers.

Retirement

When DoD revises a formula
militarypay.defense.gov retirement formulas

High-3 and Blended Retirement System multipliers, including the BRS lump-sum options.

Overseas COLA

DTMO posts a new index for the 1st and 16th of each month. The site checks DTMO daily and publishes the new period the day it appears; the calculator shows which period it uses
DTMO annual compensation, spendable income and COLA index tables

The three tables FMR Vol 7A Ch.68 names, read straight from the DTMO files, for 656 localities. On the September 2026 tables it matched DTMO's own calculator on three cases to the fifth decimal of the daily rate. Index history kept for every pay period since January 2025.

CONUS COLA

DTMO publishes a new table each January 1, with occasional April revisions; the calculator names the year it uses
DTMO CONUS COLA ASCII files: the ZIP list with each area's index points, and the with- and without-dependents rate tables, 2016 onward

Monthly COLA is the rate for grade, years of service and dependents times the area's points, the formula in DTMO's file notes. It matched DTMO's own rate lookup for three test cases (Oakland, New York City, Seattle).

Combat pay

With each DoD publication
DoD special and incentive pay schedule

Hostile fire and imminent danger pay.

How the tables get here

The DoD publishes BAH as fixed-width ASCII files. A parser in this repository reads those files directly into the site's data, so a rate cannot be mistyped on the way in. The GI Bill rates are re-read from VA.gov once a day by an automated job, and the site rebuilds itself if a figure has changed.

When a year is superseded the old tables stay on the site rather than being deleted, which is why each housing area shows a four-year history instead of only the current rate.

What this site is not

More on the project in About.