It's hard to understand how the pay relates to civilian jobs where housing, etc are out of pocket.
You can throw out clothes as a factor. You pay for those in part out of your base pay in boot camp and other than speciality clothing it is a one time issue; officers buy their own.
Food, if you are in the barracks is not usually paid in kind but the dollar amount if on separate rats will cover very basic needs. Same applies to a family. Shopping for food at the commissary (if one is nearby) will save up to 20% if you are a prudent shopper.
Housing is not paid if you live in the barracks (as many Marines will) and the quality of barracks varies widely depending on location. Many are very nice although usually shared with at least one other, basically an efficiency apt. When I was living in the barracks in the Corps it was mostly open bay with your platoon, a few had rooms with 2-3 to the room. Lower enlisted housing was limited and rather shabby. Today the housing is better but it again depends on location. In many cases the housing available is substandard meaning they don’t meet minimum requirements and are not fully up to the value of the BAH rate. A single E-1 stationed at Offutt AFB and authorized to live off base will receive $783 a month to rent/buy and if married will receive $1041 to cover rent, utilities, etc. It varies by location and in high cost areas it is nowhere near enough.
Remember too, military pay is manipulated by congress so that (you are told) you might receive less pay than your civilian counterparts but that these other bennies will make up for it. It didn’t come close back in the old days and it usually doesn’t cover everything today. At best your overall compensation might get close to a civilian counterpart but usually doesn’t reach or surpass it.
Also, contrary to the old myth that still goes around; military members do pay taxes.