Military Pay Dates 2027: Active Duty Paydays

Active duty members have 24 paydays in 2027, from Friday, January 15, 2027 to Thursday, December 30, 2027. Pay due on January 1, a federal holiday, is always paid on the last business day of December, so the year’s first payday is mid-January. In all, 6 of the 2027 paydays come before their due date because the 1st or 15th is a weekend or federal holiday.

What this page sets up

The calendar opens on active duty pay: twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th, each moved to the last business day before when it lands on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday. Federal holidays count on the days federal offices close, so when a holiday falls on a Saturday the Friday before is skipped too. Every 2027 payday is in the table under the calendar. The table below lists the paydays that move this year and why.

We checked the rule against the payday schedules DFAS published for 2022 and 2025, and every date matches. DFAS can still pay earlier than the rule: its 2026 table puts May’s end-of-month pay on Friday, May 29 rather than Monday, June 1. DFAS’s 2021 schedule shows the holiday detail: the end-of-December pay came on Thursday, December 30, because New Year’s Day 2022 fell on a Saturday and federal offices closed on Friday, December 31.

Months with one or three paydays

Because the 1st so often moves back into the month before, the count per month isn’t always two. In 2027 these months differ: January (1), April (3), May (1), July (3), August (1) and December (3). A month with three paydays is a good time to catch up on a bill or top up savings; the month after it often has only one, so plan for the gap rather than spending the extra deposit. If you budget by month, match each bill to the payday before it is due, not to the month the pay is for.

Mid-month and end-of-month pay

DFAS splits each month’s pay in two. The 15th brings mid-month pay, and the 1st brings end-of-month pay for the month before, along with that month’s Leave and Earnings Statement. So a payday on the last business day of March is March’s end-of-month pay paid early, not April’s.

Using the calendar

Download the .ics file to put every payday in your phone’s calendar, or the PDF for the fridge. Choose the next year once the new year’s schedule matters. Retired pay has its own monthly schedule: see the military retirement pay dates. Defense civilians are paid every other week instead: see the federal pay period calendar. A civilian job paid on other fixed dates works the same way: pick the days in the pay period calendar, or see the 15th and last day schedule.

Paydays that move in 2027