Military Pay Dates 2027
The official DFAS pay schedule for military retirees and annuitants covering entitlement months December 2026 through December 2027 — every date below comes from the DFAS page as checked 2026-11-08.
| Entitlement month | Retired pay date | Annuitant pay date |
|---|---|---|
| December 2026 | 12/31/2026 | 1/4/2027 |
| January 2027 | 2/1/2027 | 2/1/2027 |
| February 2027 | 3/1/2027 | 3/1/2027 |
| March 2027 | 4/1/2027 | 4/1/2027 |
| April 2027 | 4/30/2027 | 5/3/2027 |
| May 2027 | 6/1/2027 | 6/1/2027 |
| June 2027 | 7/1/2027 | 7/1/2027 |
| July 2027 | 7/30/2027 | 8/2/2027 |
| August 2027 | 9/1/2027 | 9/1/2027 |
| September 2027 | 10/1/2027 | 10/1/2027 |
| October 2027 | 11/1/2027 | 11/1/2027 |
| November 2027 | 12/1/2027 | 12/1/2027 |
| December 2027 | 12/31/2027 | 1/3/2028 |
Source: DFAS Retired Military pay schedule (page updated Sept 16, 2026; checked 2026-11-08). Dates are official DFAS publications — this site is not affiliated with DFAS.
How military retiree pay dates work
Retired and annuitant pay is paid monthly, in arrears: the check for an entitlement month lands on the first business day of the following month. Business-day arithmetic is where the interesting dates come from — the December 2026 entitlement pays on December 31, 2026 (a Thursday, because January 1, 2027 is a Friday holiday), April 2027 pays retirees April 30 while annuitants wait for Monday May 3, and the December 2027 entitlement pays December 31, 2027 — a day federal employees have off for the New Year's in-lieu holiday but on which banks are open, so the deposit clears.
If you also receive VA benefits or Social Security, those run on entirely different calendars — Social Security pays on Wednesdays by birth date, and our SSA 2027 schedule covers it month by month. For active-duty paydays, wait for the official DFAS table rather than third-party guesses: historical pattern is semi-monthly (mid-month and end-of-month, business-day adjusted), but the authoritative dates are whatever DFAS publishes.
Frequently asked questions
When are military retiree paydays in 2027?
Retired pay is deposited on the first business day of the following month — e.g. January 2027 entitlement pays February 1, 2027, and December 2027 entitlement pays December 31, 2027. All 13 official dates are in the table above.
When is the 2027 active-duty military pay schedule published?
DFAS had not published the 2027 active-duty payday table as of 2026-11-08 — the DFAS payschedule page still lists the 2026 table. This page lists only officially published DFAS dates and will not guess or project an active-duty calendar.
Why do annuitant paydays sometimes differ from retiree paydays?
Both follow business-day rules, but their entitlement processing differs slightly — e.g. April 2027 entitlement pays retirees April 30 and annuitants May 3. Both columns come straight from the official DFAS table.