How Much Money Does Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher Make?

Traveling the United States punching people is a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it. For now, that somebody is Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher. The lead character in Prime Video’s inordinately popular “Reacher” is a hulking 6-foot 3-inch beast with a military background and an inability to countenance even the smallest injustice. As such, he constantly finds himself at the center of trouble.

In season 1 of “Reacher,” Ritchson’s hero investigated the dodgy dealings of a criminal organization in the small town of Margrave, Georgia. Season 2 saw him travel to New York City to avenge the deaths of former members of his Army unit, while season 3 involved the ex-military policeman hunting down an old nemesis who hijacked a rug business as a front for arms dealing. That’s a heck of a lot of “bad luck and trouble,” to use the title of the Lee Child book on which season 2 of “Reacher” is based.

Throughout all of this, Reacher demonstrates an ascetic approach to life. All he needs are his alarmingly well-fitting t-shirts and a toothbrush and he’s happy, which is basically how Child envisioned the character when he first invented him back in 1997. Reacher is a simple man who enjoys the itinerant lifestyle. But even a man of such simple pleasures surely requires some sort of financial support? After all, there’s only so far he can get before he needs to eat, do laundry, or bring down an entire terrorist organization. Given the man’s military background, he surely has some ongoing financial compensation, but just how much does Reacher really make?

Just like Alan Ritchson himself, Jack Reacher is an Army brat. Born on a military base in Berlin, Reacher’s father was a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, and Reacher himself grew up to enroll in the United States Military Academy at West Point. He became an Army officer and carried out tours of duty in Lebanon and Iraq before being promoted to major and heading up his own special unit, the 110th Special Investigators. Originating in the books, this specialized group of army badasses showed up in season 2 of “Reacher,” providing more insight into Reacher’s own background as a military policeman.

In the novels, he served 13 years in the Army before being honorably discharged. Reacher’s departure from the military is described In the 16th book, a prequel novel titled “The Affair,” where his final mission ends with him leaving the Army after having stoked the ire of a senior officer. Rather than spend the rest of his military career behind a desk, he resigns and embarks on his long journey traveling the U.S. alone. We haven’t seen Reacher’s departure from the military dramatized in the series just yet, but it seems as though the on-screen version and his literary counterpart share a similar history.

While “Reacher” never confirms how much money the titular ex-Army officer has, we can draw some conclusions based on this military past and a few clues from the show itself. At various points throughout the series, we see Reacher visiting an ATM. If he’s no longer a military man, these visits must be to withdraw money from the account into which his military pension is being paid. Early in “Reacher” season 1, the character reveals that he’s living off his military pension, which isn’t the most realistic concept; after all, service members have to have been in the military for 20 years in order to draw a pension. The books and the show, however, do away with that requirement, and considering this is a world in which a very large man shoots and hits people with impunity, it’s a forgivable oversight. So, leaving aside the question of whether Reacher saved anything or how much he’s taken from dispatched bad guys, how much exactly would a man in Reacher’s position be making in terms of a military pension?

We know Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher was a former major in the Army on full-time active duty with an honorable discharge. According to the Department of Defense, there are numerous retirement plans for former military members. Based on the available information, the High-36 retirement plan seems like the most appropriate for Ritchson’s Reacher, who surely joined the Army after August 1, 1986. As such, Reacher is likely on a plan based on 2.5% times the number of years of service times the average of the member’s highest 36 months of basic pay. That means Reacher is making 32.5% of his salary based on his last month in the military.

The problem is, we don’t know how much Reacher was being paid as an Army major just prior to his discharge. According to the U.S. Army, a major with eight years of service makes an annual salary of $101,923.20. Reacher was in the Army for 13 years, so he may have been making even more. There are also other bonuses, military allowances, and benefits to take into account, but to keep things simple, $101,000 is a decent enough estimate for what Reacher was earning just prior to him leaving the Army, which works out to around $8,416 per month.

As such, we can estimate Reacher’s monthly pension in this way. 2.5% times 13 years is 32.5%. 32.5% of $8,416 a month is $2,735.20, which is the figure Reacher is conceivably receiving each month. Again, the U.S. Army actually only pays pensions after 20 years of service, so in reality Reacher wouldn’t be getting anything. If he had stayed for 20 years, his pension would be 50% of $101,000, which would mean his monthly payments would be $4,208. The Army also states that retirees can receive their pension in a lump sum at a reduced rate, essentially gaining a large payment up front in exchange for less money over time. It’s not clear whether Reacher chose that option or not. But the figure of $2,735.20 gives us a decent enough estimate of how much the former military man is making. That might not be much, but as we’ve seen from the series so far, Reacher doesn’t need a whole lot to live his nomadic lifestyle.