From pages 96-97 of An Illustrated Guide to Income in the United States
In this graphic, I took a table I found about 2011 base pay for US military personnel and illustrated it with number of commissioned officers, warrant officers and enlisted personnel. I also listed the corresponding rank for the four services. It is important to note that basic pay is augmented by allowances for housing based on pay grade and number of dependents, family separation and subsistence, and clothing.Incentive and special pay is available for circumstances such as hazardous duty, imminent danger or hostile fire, diving, parachuting, working on a flight deck, demolition duty (which sometimes is tied to pay grade), and submarine or sea duty (which is tied to pay grade and years of service).
Aviation careers, career enlisted flyers, and medical and dental officers receive additional pay based on years of service.
Base pay data from Defense Finance an Accounting Service
Dot plots made in OmniGraphSketcher with annotations added in Adobe Illustrator.
