Navy SEAL Salary: How much you can earn as Navy SEAL?

All members of the United States Navy are paid a monthly introductory pay rate determined by their paygrade/Navy rank. A Navy SEAL salary isn’t a top-secret. We receive a lot of questions, “How much does a Navy Seal make?”, Navy SEAL bonus, and so on. But…

How much do Navy Seals make?

Navy SEALs are an elite navy division specializing in direct action small-scale warfare, combat reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, and foreign internal defense. Like all U.S. military personnel, Navy SEALS receive basic wages that are identical for every service branch. SEALS can and usually do earn hazardous duty pay, however, and receive two substantial bonuses, the first for successfully passing the tests qualifying the candidate to enter the SEALs training program, the other for completing it.

Extra pay for SEALs

It seems that we are experiencing a shortage of Navy SEALS. Last year, only 86% of the Enlisted SEAL jobs allocated to the force were filled. The Navy is offering all new Enlisted SEALs a generous Enlistment Bonus of $40,000 for completing BUD/S training and obligating for a 4-years service. Enlisted personnel also currently receive Selective Reenlistment Bonuses (SRB) of up to $75,000. Not too shabby. That means that not only basic Navy SEAL salary is countable.

For SEAL Enlisted and Warrant Officers with 19 – 25 years of service, a Critical Skills Retention Bonus (CSRB) of up to $150,000 is available. I’m just dying to write an expletive after finding out that fact. A hundred and fifty f’n grand! That might bring some old SEALs out of the woodwork.

That’s not even all of the bonuses. Naval Special Warfare Officers can also qualify for a Special Warfare Continuation Bonus (SWCB) of up to $15,000 per year for serving an extra five years ($75,000 total).

Navy SEAL salary in numbers

The following are monthly pay scales for the Navy SEALs with less than three years of service at the given rank, beginning with sailors at rank E-2.

RANK	NAME	SALARY (monthly)
E-2	Seaman Apprentice	$1,836
E-3	Seaman	$1,931
E-4	Petty Officer Third Class	$2,139
E-5	Petty Officer Second Class	$2,333
E-6	Petty Officer First Class	$2,546
E-7	Chief Petty Officer	$2,944
E-8	Senior Chief Petty Officer	$4,235
E-9	Master Chief Petty Officer	$5,173
W-1	Warrant Officer 1	$3,038
W-2	Chief Warrant Officer 2	$3,461
W-3	Chief Warrant Officer 3	$3,911
W-4	Chief Warrant Officer 4	$4,282
W-5	Chief Warrant Officer 5	$7,615
O-1	Ensign	$3,108
O-2	Lieutenant Junior Grade	$3,580
O-3	Lieutenant	$4,144
O-4	Lieutenant Commander	$4,713
O-5	Commander	$5,462
O-6	Captain	$6,552
O-7	Rear Admiral Lower Half	$8,641
O-8	Rear Admiral	$10,399
O-9	Vice Admiral	$14,696
O-10	Admiral	$15,800

Navy Seals Rank and Pay Increases

In practice, although an enlisted sailor typically begins at the lowest rank, by the time he graduates from the SEAL program, he’ll be at least an E-4, Petty Officer Third Class. SEALs, like all military personnel, receive a limited amount of pay raises at each rank. An E-4, which begins with a salary of $2,139 a month, can receive a total of four raises over four years, with the last raise bringing his salary to $2,596. After that, the only way to obtain a salary increase is to advance to the next rank.

So for the type of job they are doing, Navy SEALS are paid the same basic salary at each rank as all members of the U.S. Armed Forces. So, do Navy Seals make a lot of money? The answer to this question isn’t entirely clear. But if you count in Navy SEAL salary, plus bonuses, yes, they make a lot of money.