While the final figure won’t be known for a few months, recent employment data points to a 2026 pay increase for uniformed servicemembers slightly below what they’ll get in 2025.

For nearly a decade, the increase has matched the third quarter Employment Cost Index (ECI) increase for private industry wages and salaries, following federal statute. First-quarter ECI figures, released last month, stood at 4.3%. That’s lower than the 4.5% ECI that resulted in the planned 2025 pay increase, and also down nearly a percentage point from the first-quarter figure last year (5.1%).

[MORE FINANCIAL UPDATES: MOAA's COLA Watch]

MOAA tracks the ECI as part of its work to ensure servicemembers receive the compensation they deserve. A fair pay increase linked to this metric has been in place since the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but for three years before that, the increase lagged the ECI by as much as a percentage point per year.

Overall Quality of Life

While competitive pay remains critical to the health of the all-volunteer force, it’s far from the only tool available to lawmakers as they look to improve the lives of those who serve and their families. The recent report from the House Armed Services Committee’s Quality of Life Panel recommends several changes that could boost servicemembers’ finances, to include:

• A 15% basic pay increase for junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4).
• A restoration of the Basic Allowance for Housing to cover 100% of housing and rental costs, up from 95%. MOAA has championed this change in recent years as part of our annual Advocacy in Action event, and in our discussions with (and testimony in front of) Quality of Life Panel members.

[RELATED: Ask Your Lawmakers to Restore the Basic Allowance for Housing]

• An expansion of Basic Needs Allowance eligibility to cover servicemembers with a gross household income at or below 200% of federal poverty guidelines, up from 150%.
• Better calculation methods for the Basic Allowance for Subsistence (to include location and number of dependents) and for cost-of-living allowances (to factor in costs like tolls and food prices that may vary by location).

MOAA has supported this bipartisan panel’s work since before its inception and was grateful to see much of the report reflected in the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement Act, which will serve as the base legislation for the upcoming NDAA. Focusing on the needs of those in uniform at the onset of this legislative process sets a benchmark lawmakers must see through to the end – one that gives these issues the national security priority they deserve.

Keep up with future pay updates and the NDAA process by visiting MOAA’s Advocacy News page. And register for our Legislative Action Center, which will allow you to easily send customizable messages to your lawmakers in support of our legislative priorities.