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2026 BASIC ALLOWANCE FOR HOUSING

Your next move.
Mapped out.

A little clarity for your next chapter. Explore housing allowances across the country, one destination at a time.

Browse all 338 rate areas
2026 RATES E-5 · WITH DEPENDENTS
Preparing your perspective…
MONTHLY BAH
$1,185$5,127+
2026 DoD rate data · Effective January 1, 2026Drag to explore · + / − to zoom · Select a state or point

State outlines are navigation guides. Points represent housing areas, not their boundaries. Rates shown: E-5 with dependents.

Map data: © GeoNamesUS Census© OpenStreetMap© CARTO

Showing United States housing areas.

Your location. Your allowance.

Use your duty-station ZIP to find its assigned Military Housing Area and published rate.

More room in your budget.

BAH is a tax-free housing allowance. Your pay grade, dependent status, and location determine the rate.

Clarity you can trace.

Published 2026 DoD rates, effective January 1. Every location connects to its housing-area details.

THE COMPLETE DIRECTORY

Find your place.

2026 BAH rates · E-5 with dependents · monthly
Alaska6 areas
Anchorage$2,874Fairbanks$2,436Juneau$3,354Ketchikan$2,868Kodiak Island$2,865Sitka$3,210
Alabama8 areas
Anniston/Fort Mcclellan$1,185Auburn$1,707Birmingham$2,439Fort Gordon$1,890Fort Rucker$1,572Huntsville$1,797Mobile$1,887Montgomery$1,683
Arkansas3 areas
Fayetteville$1,782Fort Chaffee/Fort Smith$1,263Little Rock$1,848
Arizona4 areas
Davis-Monthan AFB$1,905Fort Huachuca$1,719Phoenix$2,289Yuma$1,695
California26 areas
Barstow/Fort Irwin$2,001Beale AFB$2,967Bridgeport$2,085Camp Pendleton$3,963China Lake$1,563Edwards AFB/Palmdale$2,658El Centro$1,986Fresno$2,439Humboldt County$1,827Lemoore NAS$2,139Los Angeles$3,882Marin/Sonoma$3,303Monterey$3,465Oakland$3,759Riverside$3,351Sacramento$2,904San Bernardino$3,288San Diego$3,975San Francisco$5,127San Luis Obispo$3,198Santa Clara County$4,659Stockton$2,553Twenty Nine Palms MCB$1,980Vallejo/Travis AFB$3,369Vandenberg SFB$3,333Ventura$3,537
Colorado4 areas
Boulder$2,754Colorado Springs$2,358Denver$2,841Fort Collins$2,268
Connecticut3 areas
Hartford$2,901New Haven/Fairfield$3,069New London$2,580
Washington, DC1 area
Washington$3,132
Delaware1 area
Dover AFB/Rehoboth$2,277
Florida16 areas
Eglin AFB$2,433Florida Keys$3,969Fort Myers Beach$2,694Fort Pierce$2,691Gainesville$2,040Jacksonville$2,181Miami/Fort Lauderdale$3,660Ocala$2,370Orlando$2,658Panama City$2,163Patrick SFB$2,502Pensacola$1,863Tallahassee$1,824Tampa$2,709Volusia County$2,286West Palm Beach$3,423
Georgia9 areas
Albany$1,371Atlanta$2,388Dahlonega$2,208Fort Benning$1,716Fort Stewart$2,310Kings Bay/Brunswick$2,133Moody AFB$1,524Robins AFB$1,800Savannah$2,415
Hawaii4 areas
Hawaii County$3,594Honolulu County$3,663Kauai County$3,798Maui County$4,329
Iowa1 area
Des Moines$1,770
Idaho2 areas
Boise$1,926Mountain Home AFB$1,605
Illinois7 areas
Champaign/Urbana$1,539Chicago$3,438Great Lakes Navtracen$2,427Peoria$1,572Rock Island$1,908Scott AFB$1,542Springfield/Decatur$1,527
Indiana4 areas
Bloomington$1,905Fort Wayne$1,947Indianapolis$1,875Terre Haute$1,494
Kansas4 areas
Fort Leavenworth$1,815Fort Riley$1,314Topeka$1,626Wichita/Mcconnell AFB$1,377
Kentucky6 areas
Fort Campbell$1,815Fort Knox$1,647Frankfort$1,410Lexington$1,875Louisville$1,989Paducah$1,365
Louisiana9 areas
Alexandria$1,290Baton Rouge$1,875Fort Polk$1,218Lafayette$1,584Lake Charles$1,356Monroe$1,194New Orleans$1,905Shreveport/Barksdale AFB$1,845St Mary And Terrebonne$1,620
Massachusetts9 areas
Boston$4,791Cape Cod-Plymouth$3,924Essex Co$3,477Fitchburg$3,093Hampden County$2,388Hanscom AFB$4,188Martha'S Vineyard$3,984Nantucket$4,344Worcester$2,919
Maryland9 areas
Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,478Annapolis$2,928Baltimore$2,610Eastern Shore$2,121Fort Detrick$2,682Fort G. G. Meade$2,901Indian Head Navordsta$3,249Oxford$2,445Patuxent River$2,406
Maine5 areas
Bangor$1,893Brunswick$2,205Coastal Maine$2,193Portland$3,252Portsmouth, Nh/Kittery$3,321
Michigan10 areas
Ann Arbor$2,559Battle Creek/Kalamazoo$1,959Detroit$2,361Grand Haven$2,181Grand Rapids$2,148Lansing$1,806Marquette$1,821Saginaw$1,503Sault Ste Marie$1,536Traverse City$2,070
Minnesota2 areas
Duluth$2,064Minneapolis/St Paul$2,541
Missouri6 areas
Columbia/Jefferson City$1,377Fort Leonard Wood$1,479Kansas City$1,986Springfield$1,389St. Louis$2,436Whiteman AFB$1,611
Mississippi5 areas
Columbus AFB$1,398Gulfport$1,602Hattiesburg$1,395Jackson$1,920Meridian$1,290
Montana2 areas
Helena$1,887Malmstrom SFB/Great Falls$1,608
North Carolina12 areas
Asheville$2,214Camp Lejeune$1,584Charlotte$2,169Durham/Chapel Hill$2,118Elizabeth City$2,508Fort Bragg/Pope$1,806Greensboro$1,809Morehead/Cherry Pt MCAS$1,851Outer Banks$2,604Raleigh$2,091Seymour Johnson AFB$1,521Wilmington$2,040
North Dakota4 areas
Bismarck$1,596Fargo$1,707Grand Forks$1,731Minot AFB$1,548
Nebraska2 areas
Lincoln$1,788Omaha/Offutt AFB$2,085
New Hampshire1 area
Manchester/Concord$3,177
New Jersey8 areas
Atlantic City$2,655Cape May$2,754Fort Monmouth/Earle NWS$3,549JB Mcguire-Dix-Lakehurst$2,823Northern New Jersey$4,749Perth Amboy$3,393Philadelphia, Pa/Camden$2,691Trenton$3,465
New Mexico5 areas
Albuquerque/Kirtland AFB$2,211Cannon AFB/Clovis$1,365Holloman AFB/Alamogordo$1,590Santa Fe/Los Alamos$2,964White Sands Mr/Las Cruces$1,701
Nevada3 areas
Fallon NAS$1,596Nellis AFB/Las Vegas$2,070Reno/Carson City$2,391
New York11 areas
Ballston Spa/Albany$2,634Buffalo$2,214Fort Drum/Watertown$1,665Long Island$4,425New York City$5,070Rochester$2,214Rome/Griffiss AFB$2,109Staten Island$3,735Syracuse$2,049West Point$3,468Westchester County$4,479
Ohio7 areas
Akron$1,581Cincinnati$2,283Cleveland$1,998Columbus$1,875Toledo$2,031Wright-Patterson AFB$1,650Youngstown$1,191
Oklahoma5 areas
Altus AFB$1,254Fort Sill/Lawton$1,233Oklahoma City$1,644Tulsa$1,638Vance AFB/Enid$1,200
Oregon6 areas
Astoria$2,055Coos Bay$1,779Corvallis$2,388Eugene$2,187Portland$2,379Salem$2,004
Pennsylvania7 areas
Allentown/Bethlehem$2,373Carlisle Barracks$2,076Erie$1,464Pittsburgh$2,283State College$1,791Wilkes-Barre/Scranton$1,740Willow Grove$2,934
Rhode Island2 areas
Newport$2,847Providence$3,195
South Carolina6 areas
Beaufort/Parris Island$2,403Charleston$2,385Columbia/Fort Jackson$1,878Greenville$1,923Myrtle Beach$2,097Sumter/Shaw AFB$1,503
South Dakota2 areas
Rapid City/Ellsworth AFB$1,986Sioux Falls$1,554
Tennessee5 areas
Chattanooga$1,986Johnson City/Kingsport$1,548Knoxville$2,184Memphis$2,154Nashville$2,268
Texas17 areas
Abilene/Dyess AFB$1,554Austin$2,241Beaumont$1,518Brownsville$1,503College Station$1,758Corpus Christi$1,788Dallas$2,469El Paso$1,809Fort Hood$1,695Fort Worth$2,118Goodfellow AFB$1,578Houston$2,193Laughlin AFB/Del Rio$1,470Lubbock$1,476San Antonio$1,869Waco$1,755Wichita Fls/Sheppard AFB$1,491
Utah3 areas
Ogden/Hill AFB$2,118Provo$2,058Salt Lake City$2,130
Virginia8 areas
Charlottesville$2,373Hampton/Newport News$2,274Lexington$1,536Norfolk/Portsmouth$2,430Quantico/Woodbridge$2,955Richmond/Fort Lee$2,358Roanoke$1,911Warrenton$3,066
Vermont1 area
Burlington$3,120
Washington8 areas
Bremerton$2,364Everett$2,748Port Angeles$2,436Seattle$3,135Spokane$2,184Tacoma$2,556Whidbey Island$2,073Yakima$1,923
Wisconsin4 areas
Madison$2,655Milwaukee$2,607Sparta/Fort Mccoy$1,395Stevens Point$1,338
West Virginia4 areas
Charleston$1,404Eastern Panhandle$2,058Huntington$1,533Morgantown$1,641
Wyoming1 area
Cheyenne$1,653
County cost groups40 areas
County Cost Group 510$1,329County Cost Group 520$1,332County Cost Group 530$1,338County Cost Group 540$1,344County Cost Group 550$1,353County Cost Group 560$1,362County Cost Group 570$1,371County Cost Group 580$1,380County Cost Group 590$1,392County Cost Group 600$1,404County Cost Group 610$1,410County Cost Group 620$1,419County Cost Group 630$1,425County Cost Group 640$1,434County Cost Group 650$1,443County Cost Group 660$1,449County Cost Group 670$1,461County Cost Group 680$1,470County Cost Group 690$1,482County Cost Group 700$1,497County Cost Group 710$1,515County Cost Group 720$1,536County Cost Group 730$1,557County Cost Group 740$1,590County Cost Group 750$1,638County Cost Group 760$1,686County Cost Group 770$1,752County Cost Group 780$1,815County Cost Group 790$1,890County Cost Group 800$1,962County Cost Group 810$2,064County Cost Group 820$2,160County Cost Group 830$2,250County Cost Group 840$2,322County Cost Group 850$2,409County Cost Group 860$2,487County Cost Group 870$2,652County Cost Group 880$2,850County Cost Group 890$3,156Dahlgren/Fort A.P. Hill$2,313

A clearer understanding of BAH.

How does the DoD set BAH rates?

The DoD Defense Travel Management Office surveys local rental markets annually across all 338 Military Housing Areas. Surveys measure median rental costs for one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, weighted by the types of housing service members actually rent in each area. BAH is set to cover approximately 95% of median local rental costs for a given pay grade. Rates publish in January each year.

Where can I find 2026 BAH rates for my duty station?

Current 2026 rates are listed on this page, organized by state and city. Select your duty station city to see rates by pay grade and dependent status. You can also use the official DoD BAH Rate Lookup Tool at travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Basic-Allowance-for-Housing/BAH-Rate-Lookup/ to look up rates by ZIP code.

Do BAH rates change every year?

Yes. BAH rates are recalculated each year based on updated local rental market surveys. Rates take effect January 1 and do not change mid-year. The DoD has maintained the policy that rates will not decrease below the prior year level for members already receiving BAH — this is the rate protection provision.

Does BAH vary by ZIP code or only by Military Housing Area?

BAH is assigned at the Military Housing Area (MHA) level, not by individual ZIP code. However, each MHA covers a specific set of ZIP codes. If your ZIP code falls within an MHA boundary, you receive that MHA's rate. The 338 MHAs on this page each have a full list of covered ZIP codes on their detail pages.

Are Hawaii and Alaska BAH rates included?

Yes. Hawaii and Alaska are included in the standard BAH rate system. Overseas locations use a separate Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) calculated differently — OHA is based on actual rental receipts up to a cap, whereas BAH is a flat entitlement. The 338 MHAs listed here cover the continental US, Hawaii, and Alaska.

What's the difference between BAH and OHA (Overseas Housing Allowance)?

BAH applies when stationed within the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. OHA applies when stationed at overseas locations. The key difference: BAH is a flat-rate entitlement regardless of actual rent paid; OHA is a reimbursement-based allowance that covers actual rental costs up to a published cap, plus a separate utility allowance. OHA rates are set by the Per Diem, Travel, and Transportation Allowance Committee.

Does BAH count as income for VA home loans?

Yes. For VA home loan qualification purposes, BAH counts as stable, verifiable income. Lenders typically use BAH to increase the income figure used for debt-to-income ratio calculations. Because BAH is tax-free, lenders may gross it up by 25% to make it equivalent to taxable income on paper — this often meaningfully increases your qualifying loan amount.

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