How much are members of the US military paid compared with civilian employees of the federal government? In short, they’re paid less.
Our FRED graph above plots the average compensation of military personnel as a percentage of the average compensation of civilian employees of the federal government. Let’s look at the percentages in relation to some geopolitical and military events along this 25-year timeline:
Before the 9/11/2001 attacks, an average member of the military earned about 70% of what an average civilian government employee earned. From 2001 to 2009, the average military paycheck became increasingly comparable to a civilian paycheck, peaking in 2009 at 94%.
Operation Iraqi Freedom ended in 2010, and Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. These dates coincide with the start of a decline in the pay of military personnel relative to the pay of civilian government employees. The decline brought a military paycheck down to around 80% of a civilian paycheck in 2017. Since 2017, there’s been a slow increase again.
Of course, the graph doesn’t explain why the military are paid less than the civilian employees of the US government. But it does show that increased demand for military services abroad and the likely heightened risk faced by the military during the 2001-2009 period coincided with increased compensation relative to the civilian. And this is exactly what one would expect from a basic supply-and-demand analysis.
How this graph was created: Search FRED for and select “Compensation of employees: Federal general government: Military (W4080C0A144NBEA).” Click on “Edit Graph” and, in sequence, add the following series to the graph: Full-time equivalent employees: Federal general government: Military (B4380C0A173NBEA), Compensation of employees: Federal general government: Civilian (B4079C0A144NBEA), Full-time equivalent employees: Federal general government: Civilian (B4379C0A173NBEA). In the “Formula” field, enter (a/b) / (c/d) * 100 and click “Apply formula.”
Suggested by Guillaume Vandenbroucke.
