The Leave and Earnings Statement shows gross pay, tax-free allowances, deductions, leave balances, and the net amount that lands in your account. Base Pay sits under taxable earnings and is set by rank and years of service. BAH appears as a separate allowance for housing, and BAS appears as a separate allowance for meals.
Read the statement from left to right and top to bottom only after you separate those parts. The dollar figure in the middle of the page is rarely the number you spend, because taxable pay, tax-free allowances, allotments, and deductions all move the final total in different directions.
What the Leave and Earnings Statement shows
The LES is the official military pay stub for each pay period. It records what you earned, what was withheld, what was sent to an allotment, and how much leave you have on the books. Service members access it through myPay, and every line on it exists so pay can be audited against rank, duty status, family status, and election choices.
The layout groups the statement into entitlements, deductions, allotments, and leave. Entitlements are the money side of the statement, deductions are the money leaving your pay, allotments are voluntary splits of your pay, and leave shows accrued and used days. If a number looks wrong, the LES is the document you use to find the source of the error.
Entitlements, deductions, allotments, and leave on the LES
Entitlements list the pay and allowances added to your gross military compensation. Deductions list taxes and other withholdings that reduce that gross amount. Allotments show recurring voluntary payments, such as savings transfers, insurance premiums, or loan payments. Leave balance shows earned leave, used leave, and the running total.
The section order matters because it tells you which parts of your compensation are taxable and which parts are not. Base Pay is taxable. BAH and BAS are not. That difference changes both the gross figure and the taxable figure, so the LES must be read in layers rather than as a single bottom-line number.
| Pay Grade | Years of Service | Base Pay | BAH (with dependents) | BAS (Enlisted) | BAS (Officers) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-1 | Less than 2 | $1,917.60 | $1,500.00 | $465.77 | $320.78 |
| E-5 | Over 6 | $2,944.80 | $1,800.00 | $465.77 | $320.78 |
| O-3 | Over 6 | $5,778.00 | $2,400.00 | $465.77 | $320.78 |
Source: 2026 Military Pay Tables & Information
Base Pay: the foundation of military compensation
Base Pay is the salary tied to your pay grade and years of service. It is the starting point for most compensation calculations and the part of the LES that follows the standard military pay tables. Federal income tax and FICA apply to Base Pay, which means the number on the earnings side is not the number that reaches your bank account.
The table below shows how pay moves with rank and time in service. An E-1 with less than two years of service sits at $1,917.60 in Base Pay, an E-5 over six years earns $2,944.80, and an O-3 over six years earns $5,778.00. Those figures sit beside allowances, but they do not replace them.
The LES separates this figure from allowances so you can see the difference between taxable compensation and tax-free benefits. The Base pay chart matches the pay grade and years-of-service pattern, which is the first check if your statement does not align with your rank.
Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH): offsetting housing costs
BAH pays for housing outside government quarters and appears as a tax-free entitlement. The amount depends on duty station, pay grade, and dependent status, so two service members at the same rank do not receive the same housing allowance if they are assigned to different places or have different family statuses.
Location is the biggest driver. A service member stationed in San Diego receives a higher housing allowance than one at Fort Leonard Wood because the local rental market is more expensive. Dependent status changes the rate as well, and the LES records that status through the housing entitlement line rather than hiding it inside Base Pay.
How BAH shows up on the LES
BAH appears in the entitlements section as a separate line item, and the amount is excluded from federal income tax. The line should match your duty station and dependency category. If the amount does not match the assignment or your family status, the LES gives you the paper trail needed to start a correction.
- Pay grade and years of service shape the allowance through the standard military pay structure.
- Duty station drives the local rate, because housing costs vary by market.
- Dependency status sets whether the statement uses the with-dependents or without-dependents rate.
San Diego, CA lists BAH at $2,400.00 with dependents and $1,800.00 without dependents. Fort Leonard Wood, MO lists BAH at $1,500.00 with dependents and $1,200.00 without dependents. Those numbers show the range a duty station creates before any other pay line is added.
| Duty Station | BAH (with dependents) | BAH (without dependents) |
|---|---|---|
| San Diego, CA | $2,400.00 | $1,800.00 |
| Fort Leonard Wood, MO | $1,500.00 | $1,200.00 |
Source: Basic Allowance for Housing
For the latest pay tables, the current Pay tables show that BAH rates moved up in line with housing costs. The latest data available shows an average increase of 5.4% over the prior year, which is the kind of change you should expect to see reflected in the entitlement section of the LES.
Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS): meal expense compensation
BAS covers meal costs and is also tax-free. The LES lists it separately from BAH because one allowance offsets food and the other offsets housing. Enlisted members and officers receive different BAS rates, and the statement shows the correct category rather than blending the two into Base Pay.
The 2026 values in the pay tables show BAS at $465.77 for enlisted members and $320.78 for officers. Those amounts do not change your taxable salary, but they do change gross compensation and net cash flow. If a dining facility assignment or other duty status changes the allowance structure, the LES records that shift on the entitlement side.
Deductions and allotments on the LES
Deductions cover federal income tax, state income tax where applicable, and FICA withholding for Social Security and Medicare. These are mandatory reductions taken from taxable pay. Allotments are different: they are voluntary instructions to send money to savings, insurance, charities, or debt payments.
Each deduction line should be checked against your elections and your status. A tax withholding error changes your take-home pay immediately. An allotment error changes it too, but the fix usually starts with the election you set rather than the pay table itself. The LES lets you see both kinds of movement in one place.
Keep an eye on changes after reenlistment, promotion, marriage, divorce, moves, or a new allotment request. Those events change the numbers that feed the statement, and the LES is the first place the mismatch appears. If the entitlement is correct and the deduction is wrong, the remedy is different from a base-pay correction.
Regular review of the LES keeps pay accurate
Every pay period should end with a quick comparison between the LES and your own records. Rank, years of service, duty station, dependency status, leave balance, and any allotments should match the orders and forms that created them. A mismatch in any one of those lines changes the total compensation picture.
Leave balance deserves the same attention as the money lines. Earned leave accrues over time, used leave reduces the balance, and the LES keeps the official count. The same statement that shows whether BAH is correct also shows whether your leave history is correct.
Reviewing the LES promptly protects the next pay period, not just the current one. Once an error compounds across multiple statements, it takes longer to sort out and the trail is harder to follow. The cleanest habit is to compare the statement as soon as it posts, then file questions while the entries are still fresh.
Gross pay is not the final answer, and net pay is not the full story. Base Pay, BAH, BAS, deductions, and allotments all serve different purposes, and the LES places them side by side so you can see exactly where your money comes from and where it goes.
FAQs
What is the Leave and Earnings Statement (LES)?
The LES is the official military pay stub, and it lists earnings, deductions, allotments, and leave balances for each pay period. It is the document used to verify military compensation and to spot errors before they spread into later pay periods.
How is Base Pay determined in the military?
Base Pay is determined by rank and years of service. It is the taxable salary line on the LES, and federal income tax plus FICA reduce it before the money reaches your account.
What is the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)?
BAH is a tax-free allowance that offsets housing costs for service members living off base. The amount depends on duty station, pay grade, and dependent status, and the LES lists it as a separate entitlement from Base Pay.
How often should I review my LES?
Review it every pay period. That keeps rank changes, duty station moves, dependency updates, allotments, deductions, and leave balances aligned with your actual status before an error gets carried forward.
A military pay stub tells the whole compensation story only when you read it line by line. Base Pay shows the taxable foundation, BAH and BAS show the tax-free allowances, and the deductions section shows what leaves before the deposit hits your account. A correct LES gives you the number to trust; an incorrect one gives you the exact line to fix.
