The graph illustrates the number of personnel in each branch of the U.S. Military for the year 2024. The x-axis lists the military branches: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The y-axis represents the number of personnel, ranging from 9,446 to 449,816. Among the branches, the Army has the highest number of personnel with 449,816, followed by the Navy with 332,336 and the Air Force with 315,958. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard have 173,096 and 40,612 personnel, respectively, while the Space Force has the lowest number at 9,446. The data is displayed in a bar graph format, effectively highlighting the distribution of military personnel across the different branches.

The U.S. Army remains the largest branch of the American military, with 449,344 active duty personnel in 2023. While the Army leads in numbers, the newly established Space Force had just 8,879 active duty members, highlighting the evolving nature of modern warfare and the increasing importance of space-based capabilities. Confidence in military remains high Despite fluctuations in force size, public trust in the U.S. military remains strong. In 2024, 61 percent of Americans expressed a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the armed forces, a slight increase from the previous year. While a slightly higher share of Republicans have shown more confidence in the military, trust in the institution remains high across party lines. Global commitments The United States continues to invest heavily in its military capabilities, with defense spending reaching 916.02 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. This substantial budget supports not only domestic defense needs but also enables the U.S. to respond to global crises, as evidenced by the over 40 billion euros in military aid provided to Ukraine following Russia's invasion. The high level of spending, which translates to about 2,220 U.S. dollars per capita.

Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.

This graph shows the total number of active duty U.S. military personnel by service branch as of 2010. At this time there were 323,139 military personnel in the Navy and 329,640 personnel in the Air Force.

United States US: Armed Forces Personnel: Total data was reported at 1,348,400.000 Person in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,347,300.000 Person for 2015. United States US: Armed Forces Personnel: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 1,546,000.000 Person from Sep 1985 (Median) to 2016, with 29 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,240,000.000 Person in 1989 and a record low of 1,347,300.000 Person in 2015. United States US: Armed Forces Personnel: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Defense and Official Development Assistance. Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.; ; International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance.; Sum; Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates.

At the end of the fiscal year of 2024, it is estimated that there will be 15 Generals serving the United States Army, and a total of 354,948 enlisted personnel. Military personnel The military departments in the United States are: the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Coast Guards. The President of the United States is the military’s overall head and forms the military policy with the U.S. Department of Defense. The U.S. military is one of the largest militaries in term of number of personnel.

The largest branch of the United States Armed Forces is the United States Army. The United States Army is responsible for land-based military operations. The active duty U.S. Army personnel number has decreased from 2010 to 2021. In 2010, there were 561,979 active duty U.S. Army members, as compared to 482,416 in 2021.

The number of active duty U.S. Navy personnel has decreased slowly over the past 20 years. In 2021, there were 343,223 active duty Navy members in the United States Navy. The United States Navy personnel are enlisted sailors, commissioned officers, and midshipmen. Sailors have to take part in Personnel Qualification Standards, to prove that they have mastered skills.

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States. The active duty U.S. Air Force personnel numbers also decreased between 1995 and 2015, although has started to increase slightly since 2015. The number decreased again in 2021, when the Air Force had 328,888 personnel.

In 2023, there were around 1.11 million active duty U.S. Armed Forces personnel stationed within the United States. In that year, there were 156,418 U.S. Armed Forces personnel stationed in California, the most of any state.

In the fiscal year of 2024, the United States Navy estimates there will be a total year-end strength of 347,000 personnel. In the same year, they expect to have 10 Admirals and 32 Vice Admirals serving in the U.S. Navy.

The Navy

The United States Navy is the maritime branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is the largest navy int he world. In 2021, the Navy had around 343,223 personnel, and a budget of 162.9 billion U.S. dollars in the same year. Additionally, this branch of the Navy boats a large fleet of deployable battle force shops, totaling 285 in 2023.

Anchors aweigh

The number of active duty naval personnel has been on the decline in the U.S. since 1995, though the number of personnel has remained relatively steady since 2008. Among Navy officers in the U.S., there have historically been significantly more male officers than female officers.

This graph shows the total number of active and reserve U.S. military personnel as divided by specific Department of Defense branch in 2010. In 2010, there were 1,417,370 DoD active duty personnel and the total number of U.S. military defense personnel in 2010 was 3,697,646.

In the fiscal year of 2024, it is estimated that there will be 10 Generals serving in the United States Air Force.

U.S. Air Force

The U.S. Air Force is a service branch of the United States Armed Forces that specializes in aerial warfare. It was formed in September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947 and is one of the newest branches of the country’s military.

The Air Force’s most common fighter is the F-16C Fighting Falcon, with 780 planes in the 2021 inventory. This plane was developed by General Dynamics specifically for the U.S. Air Force. Since its first flight in January 1974, the fighter has developed into an all-weather multirole vehicle.

The United States is the highest military spender in the world by a significant margin, expending 877 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. The U.S. Air Force's budget amounted to 222.28 billion U.S. dollars in that year.

As of January 2024, China had the largest armed forces in the world by active duty military personnel, with about 2 million active soldiers. India, the United States, North Korea, and Russia rounded out the top five largest armies. Difference between active and reserve personnel Active personnel, also known as active duty in the United States and active service in the United Kingdom, are those individuals whose full-time occupation is being part of a military force. Active duty is in contrast to a military’s reserve force, which are individuals who have both a military role and a civilian career. The number of active duty forces in the U.S. is much larger than its reserve membership. What is the strongest army? The strength of a country’s armed forces is not only determined by how many personnel they maintain, but also the number and quality of their military equipment. For example, looking only at personnel does not factor in the overwhelmingly higher number of nuclear warheads owned by Russia and the United States compared to other countries. One way to answer this question is to look at the total amount of money each country spends on their military, as spending includes both personnel and technology. In terms of countries with the highest military spending, the United States leads the world with an annual budget almost three times larger than second-placed China.

Throughout the 19th century, the share of military personnel employed by the United States government was below 0.2 percent of the total population in most years. There were noticeable spikes in enlistments and conscriptions during the American Civil War (1861-65), the First World War (1917-18*), and Second World War (1941-45*), as well as smaller increases during the Mexican-American War (1946-48) and the Spanish-American War (1898), but figures were generally much lower than the post-WWII era.

Following the Second World War, the United States abandoned many of its isolationist positions as it sought to become the world's leading superpower. This involved stationing millions of troops in overseas bases during the Cold War, in strategically important locations such as West Germany, Japan, and Taiwan. Additionally, involvement in conflicts such as the Korean War (1950-1953) and Vietnam War (1964-1973*) kept military employment high, usually between 1-2 percent until the 1970s. Figures remained just below the one percent mark until the 1990s, when the end of the Cold War and the growing influence of technology in conventional warfare saw a decrease in demand for many traditional combat roles. Despite U.S. involvement in a number of overseas conflicts in the 21st century, military personnel represented less than 0.5 percent of the total population in most years between 2000 and 2016.

United States US: Military Expenditure: % of GDP data was reported at 3.149 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3.222 % for 2016. United States US: Military Expenditure: % of GDP data is updated yearly, averaging 4.864 % from Sep 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.063 % in 1967 and a record low of 2.908 % in 1999. United States US: Military Expenditure: % of GDP data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Defense and Official Development Assistance. Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.); ; Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.; Weighted average; Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates.

Graph and download economic data for Total Population: All Ages including Armed Forces Overseas (POP) from Jan 1952 to Dec 2025 about population and USA.

There were 449,344 active duty U.S. Army members in 2023. This amount represents a slight decrease in comparison to the number recorded in the previous year. Overall, there were 1.27 million active duty U.S. Department of Defense members, including officers and enlisted personnel in 2023.

This graph shows the total number of ready reserve U.S. military personnel, by reserve component as of 2023. The reserve component of the Navy had 55,072 military personnel as of 2023, while the total number of Army Reserves was 176,680.

In 2023, around 21.3 percent of active duty officers in the United States Navy were women. Additionally, approximately 19.4 percent of officers in the Space Force were women.

This scatter chart displays unemployment (% of total labor force) against armed forces personnel (people) and is filtered where the country is the United States. The data is about countries per year.

In 2024, there were estimated to be approximately 35,068 active-duty United States military personnel in Germany, the highest of any European country.

The global military wearable market is projected to reach a value of USD 26.01 billion by 2033, expanding at a CAGR of 2.50% from 2025 to 2033. The market's growth is attributed to the increasing demand for advanced situational awareness and communication systems among military forces worldwide. Military wearables enhance soldier effectiveness, safety, and mission success by providing real-time data, hands-free communication, and augmented reality capabilities. Key drivers of the market include the rising threats of asymmetric and hybrid warfare, the need for improved soldier performance, and technological advancements in wearable devices. Governments and defense organizations are investing in research and development to equip their armed forces with cutting-edge wearable technologies. Key trends in the market include the integration of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and biometric sensors into military wearables. These advancements enhance situational awareness, navigation, and communication, providing soldiers with a significant advantage on the battlefield. Recent developments include: For Instance, October 2022 L3Harris Technologies was given a contract by the US Army to offer AN/PRC-163 Leader and AN/PRC-158 Manpack radios. These products provide military personnel networking capabilities for several missions. The five-year base period and an extra five-year option were both included in the contract’s total worth of USD 235 million., For Instance, February 2022 Representatives from the defense ministries of Norway, Finland, and Sweden signed a contract for the collective purchase of uniforms from the same suppliers for all soldiers serving in the Nordic region. The contract had a USD 435.46 million total value., For Instance, July 2022 the US Marine Corps awarded L3Harris Technologies a USD 176 million contract to supply multi-channel handheld and mobile radio equipment.. Notable trends are: Growing adoption of advanced wearable technology is driving the market growth.