Army Colonel Salary 2026/27: OF-5 Take-Home
Colonel is OF-5, equivalent to an RAF Group Captain and a Royal Navy Captain. Pay in 2026/27 runs from £115,881 to £127,272 across eight increment levels. Figures include X-Factor and the 3.6% award accepted on 9 June 2026. This is the rank at which the personal allowance is largely, and at the top entirely, tapered away.
Typical pay & take-home
- OF5-05
- £121,577
- Typical range
- £115,881–£127,272
- Take-home at median
- £76,757 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.
At the median for this profession, you earn about 211% above the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you in the top 5% of UK earners.
See exact take-home for £121,577 →
The AFPRB scales after the 3.6% award, with the four trade supplements for Other Ranks and take-home on a non-contributory pension: Armed forces pay scales 2026/27, every rank →
What influences army colonel (of-5) pay
Eight increment levels, £115,881 at OF5-01 and OF5-02 rising to £127,272 at OF5-08. Officers have no trade supplements, so each increment is a single figure.
The personal allowance taper dominates the tax position at this rank. It removes £1 of allowance for every £2 of income above £100,000, so at £115,881 the allowance is down to about £4,630, and by £125,140 it is gone entirely. The increments from OF5-07 upwards sit above that point.
Because the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 is non-contributory, there is no member contribution to reduce adjusted net income. A Colonel therefore feels the taper on the full gross, where an NHS or Civil Service equivalent on the same money would have a contribution pulling them back down the curve.
The top two increments cross £125,140, where the 45% additional rate starts, so part of the pay at that end is taxed at 45% rather than 40%.
X-Factor is already included in every figure.
Career progression
- Major (OF-3): £68,624 to £81,960.
- Lieutenant Colonel (OF-4): £95,850 to £110,806.
- Colonel (OF-5): £115,881 to £127,272.
- Brigadier (OF-6): £137,874 to £143,406.
Frequently asked questions
- What does an Army Colonel take home 2026/27?
- On the £115,881 entry figure, take-home is about £74,592 a year or £6,216 a month, after Income Tax and National Insurance and with no pension deduction. At the £127,272 top it is about £79,241 - £11,391 more gross producing only £4,648 more in hand, because the allowance taper and then the 45% rate absorb most of the difference.
- Does a Colonel keep any personal allowance?
- A little at the bottom of the scale and none at the top. The allowance falls by £1 for every £2 above £100,000, so £115,881 leaves about £4,630 of it, and anything from £125,140 upwards leaves none. The non-contributory pension means there is no contribution to bring adjusted net income back under the threshold.