BAH Calculator — 2026 Housing Rates by ZIP Code

Duty Station

Duty Station ZIP Code

Service Member

Pay Grade

Dependency Status

Your 2026 BAH Rate

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Annual BAH

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Military Housing Area

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Rates are official 2026 DoD DTMO data effective January 1, 2026. BAH is tax-free and based on your permanent duty station ZIP code, pay grade, and dependency status. For your exact entitlement, verify at travel.dod.mil.

What Is BAH and How Is It Calculated?

Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is a tax-free monthly payment the Department of Defense provides to service members who are not living in government-furnished housing. It is one of the most valuable components of military compensation — and unlike base pay, every dollar of BAH is completely exempt from federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA taxes.

Your BAH rate is determined by three factors and three factors only:

Duty station location — specifically the Military Housing Area (MHA) assigned to your permanent duty station ZIP code
Pay grade — higher grades receive higher BAH to reflect different housing profiles
Dependency status — with dependents or without dependents (there are only two tiers; the rate is the same whether you have one dependent or five)

The Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) sets BAH rates annually based on rental market surveys across approximately 300 Military Housing Areas. The design goal is for BAH to cover roughly 95% of median local housing costs — rent plus utilities — leaving about 5% as a member cost share. In 2026, that out-of-pocket amount ranges from approximately $93 to $212 per month depending on pay grade and location.

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2026 BAH Rates — Key Numbers

The 2026 BAH rates took effect January 1, 2026, reflecting a 4.2% average nationwide increase. The DoD will pay an estimated $29.9 billion in BAH to approximately one million service members in 2026.

Sample 2026 BAH Rates — E-5 With Dependents

Location / Installation	Monthly BAH	Annual BAH
New York City, NY	$5,070	$60,840
San Francisco, CA	$4,992	$59,904
Honolulu, HI	$3,450	$41,400
San Diego / Camp Pendleton, CA	$3,975	$47,700
Washington DC Metro Area	$3,156	$37,872
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA	$2,331	$27,972
Norfolk / Portsmouth, VA	$2,166	$25,992
Fort Liberty (Bragg), NC	$1,692	$20,304
Fort Hood, TX	$1,566	$18,792

Use the calculator above to look up the exact rate for your duty station ZIP code and pay grade.

BAH Rate Protection — What It Means for You

One of the most important features of the BAH system is individual rate protection. If BAH rates in your Military Housing Area decrease from one year to the next, your personal rate will not go down — as long as your situation stays the same.

Rate protection remains in effect as long as you maintain the same pay grade, the same dependency status, and the same duty station. It ends — and you move to the current published rate — in these situations:

PCS move — you receive the current rate for your new duty station
Promotion — you receive whichever rate is higher, your current rate or the new pay grade rate. Promotions never cause a BAH decrease.
Demotion — your BAH adjusts to the current rate for your new pay grade
Dependency status change — marriage, divorce, or a change in dependents triggers a recalculation at current rates

Types of BAH

Standard BAH is what most service members receive, but several variations apply to specific situations:

BAH Partial

Service members without dependents who are assigned to government quarters (barracks) receive BAH Partial — a flat $50.10 per month in 2026 — rather than standard BAH. It is not location-based.

BAH Reserve Component / Transit (BAH RC/T)

Reserve and National Guard members activated for 30 days or fewer receive BAH RC/T rather than standard BAH. This is a flat non-locality rate, the same nationwide regardless of duty station. Members activated for more than 30 consecutive days receive standard active-duty BAH based on their home of record ZIP code.

BAH Differential (BAH-DIFF)

For service members assigned to single-type quarters who are authorized BAH solely because they pay court-ordered child support. The amount equals the difference between the with-dependents and without-dependents rates for your pay grade.

Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA)

Service members stationed outside the continental U.S. — except Alaska and Hawaii, which use standard BAH — receive OHA instead. OHA reimburses actual rental costs up to a published maximum, plus a utility allowance. Alaska and Hawaii installations appear in the BAH calculator above and use the same system as CONUS duty stations.

BAH and the GI Bill Monthly Housing Allowance

If you are using Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, your Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) is based on BAH rates — specifically the rate for an E-5 with dependents at your school’s ZIP code, not your home address. Several differences from standard BAH apply:

BAH rates update January 1; GI Bill MHA rates update August 1
MHA is based on your school’s location, not where you live
Students enrolled exclusively online receive half the national average rate
MHA is prorated based on your enrollment rate (full-time, half-time, etc.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my BAH rate not match what I expected?

BAH is tied to your permanent duty station ZIP code, not your home address or where you actually live. The rate is set by the Military Housing Area (MHA) that your duty station ZIP maps to — many ZIP codes within the same city or metro area map to the same MHA and receive the same rate. If your result looks off, verify your duty station ZIP code on your orders or LES and try again.

Is BAH taxable income?

No. BAH is completely tax-free. It is excluded from federal income tax, state income tax in nearly all states, and FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare). You do not report BAH as income on your federal tax return. This makes BAH significantly more valuable dollar-for-dollar than equivalent taxable base pay.

Do dual-military couples both receive BAH?

Yes, with nuances. If neither service member has dependents, both receive the without-dependents rate for their respective duty stations. If the couple has dependent children, one service member receives the with-dependents rate and the other receives the without-dependents rate — typically the higher-ranking member takes the with-dependents rate. If stationed apart, the service member with whom the dependents reside receives the with-dependents rate.

What happens to BAH if I live off-base in privatized military housing?

If you live in privatized military family housing (housing owned and operated by a private company on or near an installation), your BAH is typically paid directly to the housing provider as rent. You generally do not receive BAH as cash in your paycheck when living in privatized housing, as the housing provider’s rent is set at the BAH rate.

When do 2026 BAH rates take effect?

The 2026 BAH rates were published in December 2025 and took effect January 1, 2026. Rates update automatically — no action is required from service members. If you received BAH on December 31, 2025, your rate adjusted to the 2026 rate on January 1, 2026.

Can BAH be used to qualify for a VA home loan?

Yes. Lenders count BAH as qualifying income when calculating your debt-to-income ratio for a VA loan. Because BAH is non-taxable, lenders are permitted to gross it up — typically by 25% — which increases the income figure used in DTI calculations. This can meaningfully expand your buying power without changing your actual pay.

Additional Resources

This calculator and supporting content are provided by MilitaryBenefitGuide.com, an independent educational resource. We are not affiliated with the Department of Defense, the Defense Travel Management Office, or any government agency. Rate data is sourced from the official 2026 DTMO BAH tables. For your official entitlement, verify at travel.dod.mil or contact your installation finance office.