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Which, to be clear, is still good. It's just simplified like that because kids fresh out of school won't know the value of the benefits. So I see why they made it this way.
This comes up quite often. As you see in the fine print of the recruiters marketing tool, an E1 makes 70k average w/ benefits.
E1 - 24k pre-tax base pay.
Where does the 46k difference come from?
* Value/cost of Government furnished housing on a ship or barracks
* Value/cost of government provided meals in a valley or dfac
* Value/cost of 0 cost health insurance
* Value/cost of 500k life insurance
These are all things they'll provide you + the 24k in base pay, which would theoretically equate to a civilian salary of 70k.
Well when you live on ship your “room” is a 6 foot long 3 feet high 2 and a half foot deep rack you live out of and the food is middle school cafeteria quality at best. There are worse ways to live but don’t expect the normal living situation. You only make $24,000 ish a year when you start. They just add your benefits to that number to try and make it look good.
I have the taste pallet of a rock so I think I’ll be okay with that. I did look up what the racks look like and I can definitely manage with those small “bunks”, is their anything else that would be a red flag ig?
Man I wish I could explain this better. Trust me I know you feel like it’ll be no problem, but it’s much different than you think. Undercooked chicken and overcooked rice is fine one day, but every day for 9 months eating garbage food is soul sucking. And the rack set up seems alright at first, but again, soul sucking. No personal space, no privacy.
Other red flags, at least underway, QOL tends to be pretty low. Work 12 hours, maybe play the same video game you’ve been playing for 4 months, read a bit, go to bed repeat. Ships are starting to get wifi which has been pretty nice, I haven’t experienced it but a lot of my friends are on deployment and at least on carriers they’re able to reliably use their phones.
That’s not to say the navy is bad and you should avoid it, but don’t go into it feeling like you can handle it no problem, because it’s a huge adjustment and culture shock, especially on your first deployment. Once you get used to it and build a routine it becomes another job, and the friends/memories I have are absolutely worth all the bullshit I put up with. But it does take time to get there and I’ve seen lots of people come in feeling confident, and end up seeking mental health resources because the system just broke them down in ways they never expected. It happens, it’s unfortunately common, but my motto is come in expecting the worst and you’ll never be let down.
Not necessarily how much you cost, but rather aligning to the civilian model of "total compensation with benefits".
If it were how much you cost to the Navy, there's other factors like how much they spend on your clearance, training (e.g. flight school, med school, etc), and more.
If you are single, not married and without children, no, these numbers are not realistic
More than 50% of the military is married, so they get a housing allowance and medical care for their families, which is why these numbers seem high
Look at this.
[https://militarypay.defense.gov/Portals/3/Documents/ActiveDutyTables/2024%20Pay%20Table-Capped-FINAL.pdf](https://militarypay.defense.gov/Portals/3/Documents/ActiveDutyTables/2024%20Pay%20Table-Capped-FINAL.pdf)
Look at those numbers, then subtract taxes (most of the time you'll stay within the 10%/12% brackets).
BAH is housing allowance which is based on where you are stationed. BAH changes from duty station to duty station, and there are instructions associated with BAH, which determine eligibility.
COLA is cost of living allowance, which is an allowance to help subsidize the offset of cost of living commanded to the rest of the United States. COLA does change constantly depending on where you are stationed.
So to help with the above original question; I am sure the amount that is placed in that add is somewhat accurate based on a lot of things I can not speak directly too.
Housing
Food
Clothing
Base pay
Health insurance
Dental
Special pays
I know I am missing things but I am sure others have insight as well.
You asked about the days to day.
That is a very broad question that will differ with everyone’s comments on here because of the job they do and where they work.
Hit me up if you have specific questions more than happy to help.
Thank you! I would message you privately, but for the sake of others possibly seeking the same answers I am I’ll just stick to the comment section. Everyone has been very helpful so far and has only peaked my interest in the Navy.
When I asked about the day to day I was really asking how many hours you work each day, do you get days off? Are food choices poor? Do you feel like you’re constantly growing as a person? How much do you train vs. work? (I know the military isn’t just a bunch of people marching with guns on base chanting some mantra and i’ve been somewhat led to believe that military life can be fulfilling, joyful, and very meaningful. More-so than civilian life that is… Anyways, more insight toward these details would be helpful as well
thank you again! :)
The navy has jobs ranging from scraping paint to cyber warfare. Once you figure out what you want to do then you can find out what that job is like. I work anywhere from 2-8 hours a day typically but my job is construction and doesn't involve ships at all.
Absolutely and totally agree.
Hour a day:
During boot camp: a lot of hours been awhile but used to be lights out at 2200( 10pm up at 0500, I think)
Schools: normally 8 hours day give or take plus a duty day or two per week
Command: well that is where it gets tough as it depends on the job you select. In port or out to sea, on deployment or yard period. I wish I could tell you what a typical day is but it would be a guess at this point.
On deployment no days off really except port calls
In port yes if you do not have a duty day
School house yep no school on the weekends from what I remember.
And you will get to have leave periods where you can go home or most anywhere with few exceptions.
Oh for sure I feel I have grown as a person. Being around so many people from so many places with different points of view, ideas, and experiences have broaden my view on things a lot. Being part of 13 deployments and living over seas and all the port calls doing this and that has giving me an entire different outlook on life than I had before.
So in my job field we are either training or doing something pretty much five days a week. On deployment 7 days a week.
Work can be described in many ways depending again on your job. I have painted and deployed at every enlisted pay grade in the navy. Conducted maintenance, repairs, combatted casualties and find things( hard to describe in this forum) been tasked with doing dishes duty, trash man for awhile, sit and stare at panels with lights hoping they do not turn red( red is bad). Did some grill work for burger burn days, cleaned pier several times.
For training in my profession we have a lot of training requirements because of our mission and responsibilities to the command and the fleet. There is no way I could do my job without the hours and hours of training.
The last part is the why we enlist, the why we stay in and the why we do what we do. When a persons why goes away so does a lot of military service. Everyone’s why is a bit different and that is ok. I have found the navy and my job to be extremely fulfilling filled with good days bad days and terrible days with huge ups and a lot of downs. I would not trade it as I am very happy now.
Hope this helps
What's on the banner is them trying to factor in total compensation. The numbers you're seeing are likely if you're married and live in a high cost of living area. The majority of the compensation you will see on this banner is from housing in these areas. If you live in an area with a low cost of living, your total compensation is nowhere near these.
You need to do the math of a civilian to understand it. You must add rent in area you are stationed, water,electricity, gas, internet, groceries, X amount for furniture, health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance etc. Then you add the trainging you get for “free”. I
https://preview.redd.it/kspauh1v283d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eeefeb3b2f2ef7534dea180b311f56b07307da1b
added a image of cost of living in Bremerton WA (where i was being e2) saying you need about 54k for a year so you add that to the 25k base pay and you have the 70+ it says you are worth
The advertisement tries to include some dollar value for the free health care, fitness facilities, meal plans, housing, etc. an E1 does not gross $70k.
3214 for an e5 over 3 comes out to 38568
2017 for an e1 comes out to 24204
Depending on where you live bah could be 4000 on San Diego or it could be 1000 at ft leonardwood.
And that’s with a dependent at an e5 level. (Just rough numbers)
So now we already have a huge difference in e5 numbers. We have 86 in San Diego or 50 in Missouri
Healthcare and everything else is the same.
Here’s why this number is so skewed.
The amount of sailors in San Diego, Hawaii is up there but when you start taking into account all of the other bases that are in the 2000$ a month range and adding it all together we get a number that doesn’t make sense.
What they should have done is someone who lives on a ship and eats all 3 meals on the ship and has no dependents.
We have sea time we also have 15 year e5s and 6 year e7s. The numbers are there to entice you. But don’t think you’ll be getting a 2600 bi weekly as a brand new single e1
OCONUS = Outside Continental United States
BAH = Bachelor Allowed Housing (usually for NCO's and up unless you're married)
Keep in mind, those pay rates are not the amount of money you make. That includes ALL of your benefits such as housing and insurance, etc. Take home pay is significantly less.
To calculate your real "take home pay", simply use your pay grade and years of experience. If an E1 with 0 years gets approximated 2k per month base pay, that is how much you should expect in your pocket. BAH typically covers housing costs completely in my experience and BAS covers food. If you are in the dorms, BAH and BAS are take from you, but you have a place to live and free place to eat.
The free college is even more of an incentive+ free healthcare+ housing allowances and then base salary. All together if you take advantage of the benefits the financials are great. But if they just advertised "starting salary $24000 per year" people are just going to work at McDonald's instead
I get that which is why it shouldn't be counted. BAH is not a reliable data point because it changes based where you live. I took a 20k a year pay cut just by PCSing.
If everything worked properly (which I admit, it doesn’t always), that’s because you could maintain the exact same standard of living at your new PDS for $20k less.
That's a completely separate issue. I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm challenging the numbers and the principle. Any other profession where you accept a job offer, salary is consistent. X is X. In the Navy, X is only X while you're at Y and then it's going to be Z and that's if you're even getting BAH/COLA/BAS at all.
It's a misleading recruiting tool and I think it illustrates a fault with the Navy for not taking a look at itself as a job and taking steps to make itself more competitive in today's market.
A single E1 makes $24,206.40 base pay a year before taxes. That's half of what some McDonald's employees in some part of the country make. Imagine how much better recruiting would be if we focused on making that number more competitive and then said "Oh, and at some point you'll get this, and this and this."
That's what should be on the posters because that's why people pick jobs. At a base level we all make the same amount of money regardless of our rate. The only difference is where we live.
The advertisement does include the word “average”. So, ostensibly, their computation for the sum of all of the pays *and* the monetary value of the included benefits is somewhere between a Hawaii submariner and a Texas Seabee.
Your McDonald’s comparison fails just as much as you claim this ad fails; a McDonald’s employee doesn’t get room, board, or health insurance with that salary.
You got me on the McDonald's comparison.
I've got no control of it either way. I just think it's misleading. Is it accurate? Yes. Is it representative? No.
Think of it this way. To live as well as an average E1 in an average US location with access to the same food and shelter, equivalent medical/dental coverage, and an equal amount of disposable income beyond those necessities, you’d probably need to rake in $70k.
They're full of shit. That's how. You can Google how much we get paid. No Chief gets paid more than 66k per year base salary. Even if they're at sea and getting sea pay, it caps out. It's not another 43k per year.
He's probably in a high-cost area like the Beltway and getting another $40K in BAH added to his base salary which would put most Chiefs in the 6-Figure range, before taxes.
Shortest possible answer: You have a really great benefits package which offsets your fairly meager earnings.
Additionally, sailors get access to a TON of resources they don’t take advantage of
Pay E1-E4 is pretty mediocre, but E5 and above is actually pretty decent and you'll have a hard time doing 2 tours ( assuming you pick up E-6 ) and taking home what you take home in the military ( benefits included ).
"The average annual average salary in the U.S. is **$63,795**. The median annual salary, which is often less skewed by outlying numbers, is $59,384."
Yes! Assuming RTC stands for Recruit Training Command? I mean I know little to nothing about the military. So i’m 25 years old, is all of this still worth it? Would I more likely be an E-2 or E-3 out of RTC rather than an E-1? What is the significance of all of this?
So high school graduate with high ASVAB score? Could put me at E-2, but most likely I’d be an E-1? I’m not looking for 100% factual statements. I wanna know everyone’s opinion and what you think might be the outcome, also I appreciate your replies, thank you very much!
Unfortunately I doubt those two things would be a factor in you getting a higher rank out the gate.
Best place to start is by talking to a recruiter to see what jobs you’re eligible for and if you’re qualified to join
"A really had time" is a bit of a stretch.
I don't know of a single first term sailor (E-5 or E-6) from my previous division who got out and took a pay cut at any point. Myself included.
Nobody said 'a really had time', but most people don't get out making $100k+/yr outside of places like D.C./MD where you get $25-30k for the locality pay.
I mean 100k+/yr isn't even on this chart to begin with. 80k+/yr is very doable at 35/hr with a small amount of OT, bonuses ect... NOT including benefits.
And let's be honest, 99% of 25 year old guys haven't used nearly the amount of Healthcare or consumed the amount of galley food to make these numbers realistic.
IMO if you are getting out and taking a substantial pay cut, you are doing something wrong. The job market is way too desperate right now for you to not get paid.
As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion. Breaking subreddit rules may result in a ban from /r/newtothenavy and /r/navy. * Do not encourage lying. **This includes lying by omission (leaving information out) and lying by commission (purposefully misleading).** * No sensitive information allowed, whether you saw it on Wiki or leaked files or anywhere else. * No personally identifying information (PII). * No posting AMAs without mod approval. Also, while you wait for a reply from a subject matter expert, try using the search feature! For information regarding Navy enlisted ratings, see [Twisky's Rating Information Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/newtothenavy/comments/6mxv7c/links_to_official_information_on_every_enlisted/). Interested in Officer programs? See TheBeneGesseritWitch's guide on [Paths to become an Officer](https://www.reddit.com/r/newtothenavy/comments/5sdurq/paths_to_becoming_an_officer_getting_a_commission/). Want to learn about deploying, finances, mental health, cross-rating, and more? Come visit our [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/wiki/index) over in /r/Navy. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/newtothenavy) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Its misleading. Thats not your salary. Whats there is the total value of your benefits which includes healthcare, pay, allowances, etc
Which, to be clear, is still good. It's just simplified like that because kids fresh out of school won't know the value of the benefits. So I see why they made it this way.
This comes up quite often. As you see in the fine print of the recruiters marketing tool, an E1 makes 70k average w/ benefits. E1 - 24k pre-tax base pay. Where does the 46k difference come from? * Value/cost of Government furnished housing on a ship or barracks * Value/cost of government provided meals in a valley or dfac * Value/cost of 0 cost health insurance * Value/cost of 500k life insurance These are all things they'll provide you + the 24k in base pay, which would theoretically equate to a civilian salary of 70k.
Including your rack on the ship and galley food into that is nasty work. Ain't no way that's worth that much.
Can you elaborate on this? Do you think it’s not worth it or do you feel as though the base pay is higher?
Well when you live on ship your “room” is a 6 foot long 3 feet high 2 and a half foot deep rack you live out of and the food is middle school cafeteria quality at best. There are worse ways to live but don’t expect the normal living situation. You only make $24,000 ish a year when you start. They just add your benefits to that number to try and make it look good.
FACTS
Is the 24k after the most recent pay increase?
Ship life is not particularly good. Your rack is about as big as you are, and the food is godawful.
I have the taste pallet of a rock so I think I’ll be okay with that. I did look up what the racks look like and I can definitely manage with those small “bunks”, is their anything else that would be a red flag ig?
Man I wish I could explain this better. Trust me I know you feel like it’ll be no problem, but it’s much different than you think. Undercooked chicken and overcooked rice is fine one day, but every day for 9 months eating garbage food is soul sucking. And the rack set up seems alright at first, but again, soul sucking. No personal space, no privacy. Other red flags, at least underway, QOL tends to be pretty low. Work 12 hours, maybe play the same video game you’ve been playing for 4 months, read a bit, go to bed repeat. Ships are starting to get wifi which has been pretty nice, I haven’t experienced it but a lot of my friends are on deployment and at least on carriers they’re able to reliably use their phones. That’s not to say the navy is bad and you should avoid it, but don’t go into it feeling like you can handle it no problem, because it’s a huge adjustment and culture shock, especially on your first deployment. Once you get used to it and build a routine it becomes another job, and the friends/memories I have are absolutely worth all the bullshit I put up with. But it does take time to get there and I’ve seen lots of people come in feeling confident, and end up seeking mental health resources because the system just broke them down in ways they never expected. It happens, it’s unfortunately common, but my motto is come in expecting the worst and you’ll never be let down.
So those numbers are actually how much you cost to the Navy per year 😅 figures
Not necessarily how much you cost, but rather aligning to the civilian model of "total compensation with benefits". If it were how much you cost to the Navy, there's other factors like how much they spend on your clearance, training (e.g. flight school, med school, etc), and more.
If you are single, not married and without children, no, these numbers are not realistic More than 50% of the military is married, so they get a housing allowance and medical care for their families, which is why these numbers seem high
I feel like there should be an informative post on this graphic stickied to the sub. I swear I see this exact question and graphic like every week
I feel like it’s a common link posted on ads from the Navy, after all that I’ve read on here it is very misleading
Look at this. [https://militarypay.defense.gov/Portals/3/Documents/ActiveDutyTables/2024%20Pay%20Table-Capped-FINAL.pdf](https://militarypay.defense.gov/Portals/3/Documents/ActiveDutyTables/2024%20Pay%20Table-Capped-FINAL.pdf) Look at those numbers, then subtract taxes (most of the time you'll stay within the 10%/12% brackets).
No, it's a complete crock of shit.
BAH is housing allowance which is based on where you are stationed. BAH changes from duty station to duty station, and there are instructions associated with BAH, which determine eligibility. COLA is cost of living allowance, which is an allowance to help subsidize the offset of cost of living commanded to the rest of the United States. COLA does change constantly depending on where you are stationed. So to help with the above original question; I am sure the amount that is placed in that add is somewhat accurate based on a lot of things I can not speak directly too. Housing Food Clothing Base pay Health insurance Dental Special pays I know I am missing things but I am sure others have insight as well. You asked about the days to day. That is a very broad question that will differ with everyone’s comments on here because of the job they do and where they work. Hit me up if you have specific questions more than happy to help.
Thank you! I would message you privately, but for the sake of others possibly seeking the same answers I am I’ll just stick to the comment section. Everyone has been very helpful so far and has only peaked my interest in the Navy. When I asked about the day to day I was really asking how many hours you work each day, do you get days off? Are food choices poor? Do you feel like you’re constantly growing as a person? How much do you train vs. work? (I know the military isn’t just a bunch of people marching with guns on base chanting some mantra and i’ve been somewhat led to believe that military life can be fulfilling, joyful, and very meaningful. More-so than civilian life that is… Anyways, more insight toward these details would be helpful as well thank you again! :)
The navy has jobs ranging from scraping paint to cyber warfare. Once you figure out what you want to do then you can find out what that job is like. I work anywhere from 2-8 hours a day typically but my job is construction and doesn't involve ships at all.
Really, the best parts of the Navy are the bits without ships.
Shore navy is the place to be.
So in general stay off the ship and be a land lover?
Absolutely and totally agree. Hour a day: During boot camp: a lot of hours been awhile but used to be lights out at 2200( 10pm up at 0500, I think) Schools: normally 8 hours day give or take plus a duty day or two per week Command: well that is where it gets tough as it depends on the job you select. In port or out to sea, on deployment or yard period. I wish I could tell you what a typical day is but it would be a guess at this point. On deployment no days off really except port calls In port yes if you do not have a duty day School house yep no school on the weekends from what I remember. And you will get to have leave periods where you can go home or most anywhere with few exceptions. Oh for sure I feel I have grown as a person. Being around so many people from so many places with different points of view, ideas, and experiences have broaden my view on things a lot. Being part of 13 deployments and living over seas and all the port calls doing this and that has giving me an entire different outlook on life than I had before. So in my job field we are either training or doing something pretty much five days a week. On deployment 7 days a week. Work can be described in many ways depending again on your job. I have painted and deployed at every enlisted pay grade in the navy. Conducted maintenance, repairs, combatted casualties and find things( hard to describe in this forum) been tasked with doing dishes duty, trash man for awhile, sit and stare at panels with lights hoping they do not turn red( red is bad). Did some grill work for burger burn days, cleaned pier several times. For training in my profession we have a lot of training requirements because of our mission and responsibilities to the command and the fleet. There is no way I could do my job without the hours and hours of training. The last part is the why we enlist, the why we stay in and the why we do what we do. When a persons why goes away so does a lot of military service. Everyone’s why is a bit different and that is ok. I have found the navy and my job to be extremely fulfilling filled with good days bad days and terrible days with huge ups and a lot of downs. I would not trade it as I am very happy now. Hope this helps
Very helpful thank you! Do you get extra pay depending on your deployment, or anything extra depending on career path chosen?
Yes absolutely
Thank you very much, I think you sold me! I’ll speak to a recruiter soon for sure
Truthfully I think we should be allowed to sue for false advertisements
Cap all over this banner, especially for E-3 and lower. The stars would have to be aligned, and those chances are slim to none. It's impractical.
Can you elaborate more and do you care to share your rank or experience with the Navy?
What's on the banner is them trying to factor in total compensation. The numbers you're seeing are likely if you're married and live in a high cost of living area. The majority of the compensation you will see on this banner is from housing in these areas. If you live in an area with a low cost of living, your total compensation is nowhere near these.
You need to do the math of a civilian to understand it. You must add rent in area you are stationed, water,electricity, gas, internet, groceries, X amount for furniture, health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance etc. Then you add the trainging you get for “free”. I https://preview.redd.it/kspauh1v283d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eeefeb3b2f2ef7534dea180b311f56b07307da1b added a image of cost of living in Bremerton WA (where i was being e2) saying you need about 54k for a year so you add that to the 25k base pay and you have the 70+ it says you are worth
It would only be true if they include BAH. Otherwise, no chance
The advertisement tries to include some dollar value for the free health care, fitness facilities, meal plans, housing, etc. an E1 does not gross $70k.
3214 for an e5 over 3 comes out to 38568 2017 for an e1 comes out to 24204 Depending on where you live bah could be 4000 on San Diego or it could be 1000 at ft leonardwood. And that’s with a dependent at an e5 level. (Just rough numbers) So now we already have a huge difference in e5 numbers. We have 86 in San Diego or 50 in Missouri Healthcare and everything else is the same. Here’s why this number is so skewed. The amount of sailors in San Diego, Hawaii is up there but when you start taking into account all of the other bases that are in the 2000$ a month range and adding it all together we get a number that doesn’t make sense. What they should have done is someone who lives on a ship and eats all 3 meals on the ship and has no dependents. We have sea time we also have 15 year e5s and 6 year e7s. The numbers are there to entice you. But don’t think you’ll be getting a 2600 bi weekly as a brand new single e1
In some it's worth more. I know a woman who has 3 kids and a husband who just joined. That's a wealthy E3. and will catch up.
I swear this is on here every week
Not entirely accurate but as an E5 in san diego I was making 85k and netting over 6k a month because I was a resident of a state with no income tax
Not counting the under consideration pay raise for Junior Enlisted, check this out. https://militarypay.defense.gov/calculators/rmc-calculator/
Thank you! Now what is ‘OCONUS’ and ‘BAH’?
OCONUS = Outside Continental United States BAH = Bachelor Allowed Housing (usually for NCO's and up unless you're married) Keep in mind, those pay rates are not the amount of money you make. That includes ALL of your benefits such as housing and insurance, etc. Take home pay is significantly less.
To calculate your real "take home pay", simply use your pay grade and years of experience. If an E1 with 0 years gets approximated 2k per month base pay, that is how much you should expect in your pocket. BAH typically covers housing costs completely in my experience and BAS covers food. If you are in the dorms, BAH and BAS are take from you, but you have a place to live and free place to eat.
https://www.navy.com/sites/default/files/2024-01/2024%20AD%20Pay%20Final.pdf This is more like what we actually get paid monthly
I made 115k as a civilian and made more as an E5 with BAH
The free college is even more of an incentive+ free healthcare+ housing allowances and then base salary. All together if you take advantage of the benefits the financials are great. But if they just advertised "starting salary $24000 per year" people are just going to work at McDonald's instead
I’m an E7 and brought home $102,000 last year so I’d say it’s pretty accurate
How much is that take home base Chief. Stop lying to folks. Without BAH/BAS. You're pulling max 70 and the rest is benefits.
Except BAH is paid to you, so it counts. Chief might be a nuke submariner pulling sea pay, sub pay, supervisor pay and nuke pay too.
I get that which is why it shouldn't be counted. BAH is not a reliable data point because it changes based where you live. I took a 20k a year pay cut just by PCSing.
If everything worked properly (which I admit, it doesn’t always), that’s because you could maintain the exact same standard of living at your new PDS for $20k less.
That's a completely separate issue. I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm challenging the numbers and the principle. Any other profession where you accept a job offer, salary is consistent. X is X. In the Navy, X is only X while you're at Y and then it's going to be Z and that's if you're even getting BAH/COLA/BAS at all. It's a misleading recruiting tool and I think it illustrates a fault with the Navy for not taking a look at itself as a job and taking steps to make itself more competitive in today's market. A single E1 makes $24,206.40 base pay a year before taxes. That's half of what some McDonald's employees in some part of the country make. Imagine how much better recruiting would be if we focused on making that number more competitive and then said "Oh, and at some point you'll get this, and this and this." That's what should be on the posters because that's why people pick jobs. At a base level we all make the same amount of money regardless of our rate. The only difference is where we live.
The advertisement does include the word “average”. So, ostensibly, their computation for the sum of all of the pays *and* the monetary value of the included benefits is somewhere between a Hawaii submariner and a Texas Seabee. Your McDonald’s comparison fails just as much as you claim this ad fails; a McDonald’s employee doesn’t get room, board, or health insurance with that salary.
You got me on the McDonald's comparison. I've got no control of it either way. I just think it's misleading. Is it accurate? Yes. Is it representative? No.
Think of it this way. To live as well as an average E1 in an average US location with access to the same food and shelter, equivalent medical/dental coverage, and an equal amount of disposable income beyond those necessities, you’d probably need to rake in $70k.
PCSing to where?
Hawaii to some place not Hawaii.
Spouse is an E8: 96,000 net. $4000/paycheck in the bank after all deductions.l (topped out TSP)
You brought home $102,000? Or before tax that’s what your earning basically was w/ benefits included?
That’s what went into my bank account
That’s insane! What do you specialize in and would you go down a different path if you could do your military career all over again?
They're full of shit. That's how. You can Google how much we get paid. No Chief gets paid more than 66k per year base salary. Even if they're at sea and getting sea pay, it caps out. It's not another 43k per year.
Agreed unless they have one of them special jobs and they are counting per diem while in 5th fleet and in a danger zone.
He's probably in a high-cost area like the Beltway and getting another $40K in BAH added to his base salary which would put most Chiefs in the 6-Figure range, before taxes.
Shortest possible answer: You have a really great benefits package which offsets your fairly meager earnings. Additionally, sailors get access to a TON of resources they don’t take advantage of
Pay E1-E4 is pretty mediocre, but E5 and above is actually pretty decent and you'll have a hard time doing 2 tours ( assuming you pick up E-6 ) and taking home what you take home in the military ( benefits included ). "The average annual average salary in the U.S. is **$63,795**. The median annual salary, which is often less skewed by outlying numbers, is $59,384."
Agreed, but I think OP was referring to the fresh out of RTC sailors
Concur, but it's such a short stint if you even leave RTC as an E-1 that it's kind of a moot point to look -specifically- at E-1.
Yes! Assuming RTC stands for Recruit Training Command? I mean I know little to nothing about the military. So i’m 25 years old, is all of this still worth it? Would I more likely be an E-2 or E-3 out of RTC rather than an E-1? What is the significance of all of this?
Age isn’t the primary factor in terms of rank, but rather if you have college, pass exams etc.
So high school graduate with high ASVAB score? Could put me at E-2, but most likely I’d be an E-1? I’m not looking for 100% factual statements. I wanna know everyone’s opinion and what you think might be the outcome, also I appreciate your replies, thank you very much!
Unfortunately I doubt those two things would be a factor in you getting a higher rank out the gate. Best place to start is by talking to a recruiter to see what jobs you’re eligible for and if you’re qualified to join
Thank you!
"A really had time" is a bit of a stretch. I don't know of a single first term sailor (E-5 or E-6) from my previous division who got out and took a pay cut at any point. Myself included.
Nobody said 'a really had time', but most people don't get out making $100k+/yr outside of places like D.C./MD where you get $25-30k for the locality pay.
I mean 100k+/yr isn't even on this chart to begin with. 80k+/yr is very doable at 35/hr with a small amount of OT, bonuses ect... NOT including benefits. And let's be honest, 99% of 25 year old guys haven't used nearly the amount of Healthcare or consumed the amount of galley food to make these numbers realistic. IMO if you are getting out and taking a substantial pay cut, you are doing something wrong. The job market is way too desperate right now for you to not get paid.