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Military branches
U.S. military branches compared: size, officers, women and trends
How the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard compare, using the Defense Manpower Data Center's official personnel counts. Basic pay is the same in every branch; see the 2026 military pay chart.
Data vintage: DMDC active-duty counts as of July 31, 2026; year-earlier counts July 2025; state counts August 31, 2026. Last checked 2026-10-27 by The CompareTheData team.
Data: DMDC. Jump to sources · Methodology
Key takeaways
- The Army is the largest branch (459,427), followed by the Navy (352,749) and Air Force (324,683).
- DoD active duty totaled 1,318,300 on July 31, 2026, +23,067 from a year earlier.
- The Marine Corps has the most enlisted members per officer (6.9); the Space Force has the fewest (1.2).
- Women are 18.7% of DoD officers and enlisted members, from 10.4% in the Marine Corps to 22.4% in the Navy.
- Since FY1994 the Air Force has shrunk 24% and the Navy 25%; the Army is down 15% and the Marine Corps 1.9%.
Head-to-head comparisons
Active-duty personnel by branch
Click a column heading to sort. Totals include academy cadets and midshipmen. Download (CSV).
| Rank | Branch | Active duty | Officers | Enlisted | Enlisted per officer | Women | Change in a year | Change since FY1994 | Bases in our directory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Army | 459,427 | 92,102 | 362,784 | 3.9 | 16.9% | +4,912 | −15.0% | 37 |
| 2 | Navy | 352,749 | 57,201 | 291,093 | 5.1 | 22.4% | +13,924 | −24.6% | 24 |
| 3 | Air Force | 324,683 | 61,822 | 258,695 | 4.2 | 21.5% | +3,742 | −23.8% | 57 |
| 4 | Marine Corps | 170,956 | 21,694 | 149,262 | 6.9 | 10.4% | −112 | −1.9% | 12 |
| 5 | Coast Guard | 44,511 | 9,595 | 33,843 | 3.5 | — | +2,443 | — | 0 |
| 6 | Space Force | 10,485 | 4,831 | 5,654 | 1.2 | 19.2% | +601 | — | 5 |
How each branch has changed since 1994
| Year (Sept. 30 unless noted) | Army | Navy | Marine Corps | Air Force |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 540,542 | 467,742 | 174,217 | 426,328 |
| 1995 | 508,895 | 433,789 | 176,003 | 417,451 |
| 1996 | 491,622 | 416,060 | 176,423 | 389,725 |
| 1997 | 491,658 | 394,586 | 173,936 | 378,045 |
| 1998 | 484,928 | 381,336 | 173,055 | 367,468 |
| 1999 | 477,788 | 372,507 | 172,635 | 360,510 |
| 2000 | 483,115 | 371,543 | 172,955 | 355,601 |
| 2001 | 482,655 | 377,312 | 176,720 | 363,692 |
| 2002 | 488,631 | 385,009 | 177,868 | 369,112 |
| 2003 | 497,770 | 382,655 | 181,166 | 375,859 |
| 2004 | 498,428 | 372,525 | 177,021 | 376,813 |
| 2005 | 490,632 | 362,239 | 179,840 | 353,696 |
| 2006 | 507,131 | 349,534 | 180,252 | 348,953 |
| 2007 | 522,190 | 336,659 | 186,425 | 333,495 |
| 2008 | 544,150 | 331,132 | 198,415 | 327,382 |
| 2009 | 553,579 | 328,751 | 203,075 | 333,408 |
| 2010 | 566,045 | 327,697 | 202,612 | 334,198 |
| 2011 | 565,463 | 324,666 | 201,026 | 333,162 |
| 2012 | 550,063 | 318,818 | 198,820 | 332,834 |
| 2013 | 532,043 | 324,308 | 195,848 | 330,485 |
| 2014 | 508,210 | 326,054 | 187,891 | 316,332 |
| 2015 | 491,365 | 327,801 | 183,417 | 311,357 |
| 2016 | 475,400 | 324,524 | 183,501 | 317,883 |
| 2017 | 476,245 | 323,933 | 184,401 | 322,787 |
| 2018 | 476,179 | 329,851 | 185,415 | 325,880 |
| 2019 | 483,941 | 336,985 | 186,009 | 332,101 |
| 2020 | 485,383 | 346,520 | 180,958 | 333,790 |
| Sep 2025 | 454,637 | 341,109 | 173,249 | 319,119 |
| Jul 2026 | 459,427 | 352,749 | 170,956 | 324,683 |
Where each branch is stationed
States with the most active-duty members of each branch (August 31, 2026). See military bases by state.
- Army: Texas (69,802), Georgia (48,145), North Carolina (42,139)
- Navy: Virginia (80,677), California (79,005), Florida (31,149)
- Marine Corps: California (57,100), North Carolina (41,066), South Carolina (10,515)
- Air Force: Texas (37,053), Florida (22,630), California (16,346)
- Space Force: Colorado (4,758), California (1,466), Virginia (1,093)
- Coast Guard: California (5,070), Florida (4,834), Virginia (4,610)
How to read these numbers
- Historical fiscal-year tables and the 2026 monthly report may differ slightly in how academy cadets are counted (about 1% of a branch), so compare long-run changes rather than exact differences.
- DMDC counts are snapshots for one month and include members temporarily away from their home station.
- The Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security except when transferred to the Navy; its counts come from the same DMDC report.
- “Bases in our directory” counts the 119 major installations covered by our base comparison tool, not every DoD site.
- The history table skips FY2021–FY2024, which are not in the DMDC files we archived. FY1999 comes from a workbook sheet DMDC labels “2890”; its figures match FY1999.
Common questions
What is the largest branch of the military?
The Army, with 459,427 active-duty members on July 31, 2026 (DMDC), including 4,541 cadets.
What is the smallest branch of the military?
Among Department of Defense services, the Space Force (10,485). The Coast Guard, part of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, has 44,511.
How many people are in the U.S. military?
1,318,300 active-duty members in the five DoD services on July 31, 2026, or 1,362,811 including the Coast Guard. Guard, reserve and civilian employees are counted separately.
Which branch has the most women?
By share, the Navy (22.4% of officers and enlisted). By number, the Navy (78,099).
Is the military getting smaller?
DoD active-duty strength was 1,318,300 in July 2026 vs 1,295,233 a year earlier (+1.8%). Over the longer run, the Army, Navy and Air Force are all smaller than in FY1994.
Sources
- DMDC, Military and Civilian Personnel by Service/Rank and Grade, July 2026 (and July 2025). as of July 31, 2026.
- DMDC, Active Duty Military Personnel by Rank/Grade, women only, July 2026. as of July 31, 2026.
- DMDC, Active Duty Military Strength by Service, FY1994–FY2020 and September 2025 reports. fiscal-year-end counts.
- DMDC, Military and Civilian Personnel by Service and Location (by state), August 2026 and September 2025. as of August 31, 2026; prior September 30, 2025.