Junior Enlisted Soldiers

• Junior enlisted soldiers rank between Private and Specialist, which represent pay grades between E-1 and E-4. The least ranking soldier is a Private E-1, followed by a Private E-2, Private First Class (E-3) and Specialist (E-4). The 2010 DFAS military pay chart shows starting salaries for soldiers in these pay grades range from $1,338.60 to $1,889.70. After two years of service, the average Army salary for junior enlisted soldiers ranges from $1,622.10 to $1,986.30 per month. After four years of service, the salary range for this group of soldiers freezes at a monthly rate between $1,622 and $2,293.80.
  
  

Noncommissioned Officers

• A noncommissioned officer, or NCO, is a soldier who holds Sergeant rank and who is between E-5 and E-9 pay grades. Soldiers holding NCO rank start as Sergeant (E-5) then obtain a promotion to Staff Sergeant (E-6), Sergeant First Class (E-7), Master Sergeant (E-8) and Sergeant Major (E-9), with Command Sergeant Major (E-9) as the highest enlisted rank in the Army. According to the DFAS pay chart for 2010, the starting salary for NCOs ranges from $2,061.30 to $4,570.80 per month. After 20 years of Army service, average NCO salaries range from $2,924.70 to $5,361.60 monthly.
  
  

Warrant Officers

• The pay grade structure for warrant officers shows that only five ranks exist with a corresponding pay grade. The pay grade for warrant officers starts with W-1 and stops at W-5. The average starting pay for warrant officers in grades W-1 through W-4 with less than two years of military service varies between $2,683.50 and $3,783 monthly. After 10 years of service, warrant officers in pay grades between W-1 and W-4 earn an average of between $3,827.70 and $4,893.00 each month. Warrant officers in the W-5 pay grade are senior warrant officers eligible for the rank only after 20 years of service and earn a salary that starts with $6,726.60 per month.
  
  

Commissioned Officers

• Average salaries for commissioned officers in the Army are the highest out of all the soldiers in the Army. Commissioned officer rank starts with Second Lieutenant, ends with four-star General and has a corresponding pay grade system ranging from O-1 to O-10. The DFAS pay chart shows that the average starting salary for commissioned officers with less than 2 years of service in the Army is between $2,745 and $9,399 per month. After 10 years of service, salaries average between $3,454.20 and $10,233.40 per month. Average salaries after 20 years of service vary between $3,454 and $15,188 monthly.