Basic Allowance for Housing

Validated May 2026

Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is a monthly tax-free allowance that covers housing costs for active-duty service members who are not assigned to Government quarters. The rate is set to the median rental cost in the member's Military Housing Area (MHA) and is determined by pay grade, duty ZIP code, and dependent status — not by actual housing expenses. OCONUS members receive Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) instead.

2026 Rates

BAH rates are ZIP-based. Every ZIP code maps to a Military Housing Area (MHA); the MHA determines your rate. Rates span E-1 through O-10 in two columns — with dependents and without dependents. The with-dependent rate is always higher for the same grade and MHA.

Use the calculator with your duty ZIP code to look up your 2026 rate. Official rates are published by the Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) at travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Basic-Allowance-for-Housing/.

BAH variants (not MHA-based):

Rates are effective January 1, 2026 and published under DoD FMR, Vol. 7A, Chapter 26, authority of 37 U.S.C. § 403.

2026 Abilene, TX Temporary Rate Increase

DoD temporarily increased BAH rates for the Abilene/Dyess AFB area by 18–28%, effective May 16 – December 31, 2026. No individual certification is needed — all eligible members assigned to Abilene automatically receive the higher rate. Rate protection does not apply; BAH reverts to the standard rate on January 1, 2027 with no grandfathering.

Official DoD notice (PDF)

Eligibility

BAH is authorized under 37 U.S.C. § 403 for active-duty service members entitled to basic pay who are not assigned to adequate Government quarters. It applies to all six branches for CONUS duty stations. OCONUS members receive Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) instead — BAH does not apply outside the United States.

Standard BAH applies when:

• The member is on active duty entitled to basic pay (§2.0)
• The duty station is within the continental United States (CONUS), Hawaii, or Alaska
• The member is not assigned to adequate Government quarters at the PDS (§5.0)
• The member is not on excess leave and is not AWOL (§2.0)

Dependent status determines your rate column. A member has dependents for BAH purposes if they have a spouse, child, or other qualifying dependent as defined in 37 U.S.C. § 401. The with-dependent rate applies when any qualifying dependent exists; without-dependent applies otherwise.

Reserve Component members receive BAH only during periods of active duty. Rate protection is maintained provided there is no break in active service of 1 or more calendar days — including transitions between AGR duty, active duty orders, and order extensions (§5.2).

Government quarters and BAH:

• Members assigned to adequate Government quarters generally do not receive standard BAH (§5.0)
• E-7 and above without dependents may elect not to occupy available Government single-type quarters and receive standard BAH, unless denied by the Secretary (§8.1.2)
• E-6 and below without dependents who are assigned to adequate Government quarters receive BAH-Partial — a small, fixed historical rate, not standard BAH
• BAH-Diff is payable to members in Government quarters who pay qualifying child support to a biological, adopted, or stepchild in an amount at or greater than the applicable BAH-Diff rate (§5.6.1)

Pay Limits

What This Means for Your Pay

Your rate is set by the MHA median — your actual rent is irrelevant. If you find housing below your BAH rate you keep the difference, entirely tax-free. If you spend more than BAH, you pay the gap out of pocket. There is no true-up either way — BAH is a flat entitlement, not a reimbursement.

BAH cannot go down as long as you stay. Rate protection means your BAH is locked at the higher of your current rate or any new rate that takes effect — market downturns in your MHA, pay raises that restructure the scale, or even demotion cannot push your rate below where it stands today, as long as you remain continuously at the same duty station under the same dependent status. If you PCS, rate protection resets to the rate at your new duty location.

Gaining or losing a dependent changes your rate immediately. Marriage, birth, adoption, and divorce all affect your dependent status and your BAH column. The date the qualifying event occurs is the date the rate change takes effect — there is no grace period. A newly divorced member with no other dependents shifts to the without-dependent column on the date the divorce is final.

Any member without dependents in single-type Government quarters receives BAH-Partial, not standard BAH. This applies across all grades — an O-10 in a BOQ without dependents receives BAH-Partial just like an E-1 in the barracks. Government quarters cover your rent, but living there is not entirely cost-free: laundry, toiletries, cleaning supplies, storage for belongings that don't fit your room, and personal items still come out of pocket. BAH-Partial is a fixed monthly acknowledgment of those incidental costs. It is not intended to cover rent and is deliberately small — E-1 receives $6.90/month; O-10 receives $50.70/month.

The grade distinction that matters is about choice. E-7 and above without dependents may elect not to occupy available single-type Government quarters and receive full MHA-based BAH instead (§8.1.2). E-6 and below generally cannot — if adequate Government quarters were offered and available, BAH-Partial applies whether they live in them or not (§5.5.3.2.7).

Full 2026 BAH-Partial rates for all grades are in the 2026 Non-Locality BAH Rates.

BAH-Diff is for members in Government quarters paying qualifying child support — and the amounts are meaningful. A member in single-type Government quarters who pays at least the BAH-Diff rate in child support to a biological, adopted, or stepchild receives BAH-Diff instead of BAH-Partial (§5.6.1). Unlike BAH-Partial, the Differential rates are substantial: E-1 receives $439.20/month, E-7 receives $433.20/month, and O-7 through O-10 receive $465.60/month. The rates are grade-based, non-locality (the same regardless of duty station), and adjusted annually by the pay raise percentage. Full 2026 rates by grade are in the 2026 Non-Locality BAH Rates.

BAH is entirely tax-free. Unlike basic pay, BAH is excluded from federal gross income. The amount on your LES is what hits your bank — no withholding is applied.

Excess leave stops BAH. Housing allowances do not accrue during periods of excess leave. AWOL that is not excused as unavoidable also halts BAH. Unlike some entitlements, there is no continuation grace period — BAH stops on the first day of the excess leave period.

BAH Advance is available for move-in costs. Your commanding officer can authorize an advance of up to 3 months of BAH to cover advance rent, a security deposit, or initial occupancy expenses. The advance must be repaid at 1/12 per month starting the first day of the month after the advance is paid (§5.4.5). Request the advance within 30 days of incurring the expense.

Temporary BAH increases — no rate protection. When the Secretary of Defense grants a temporary BAH rate increase due to a major disaster or a sudden surge in military population, that higher rate has no rate protection. When the temporary increase expires, your BAH reverts to the then-current standard rate for your area, which may be higher or lower — no grandfathering applies (§5.3.4). The 2026 Abilene, TX increase is a current example.

Common Mistakes

Treating BAH as rent reimbursement. BAH is a flat rate based on MHA median housing costs, not on what you actually pay. The amount is the same whether your rent is $200 below your BAH rate or $200 above it. Members sometimes expect an adjustment when they spend more than BAH — none is owed (§5.1.1).

Expecting promotion to trigger a BAH decrease via rate protection. Rate protection prevents decreases — it does not freeze your rate against increases. A promotion increases your BAH to the new, higher grade rate. Rate protection only activates when market changes or other factors would otherwise reduce your current rate (§5.2).

Assuming OCONUS members receive BAH. Members stationed outside the United States receive OHA, not BAH. A PCS from CONUS to an OCONUS duty station converts BAH entitlement to OHA entitlement on the reporting date (§5.0).

Confusing BAH-Diff with BAH-Partial. Both apply to members in Government quarters, but they are different entitlements. BAH-Partial ($6.90–$50.70/month) is for any without-dependent member in single-type Government quarters. BAH-Diff ($159.00–$465.60/month) is specifically for members paying qualifying child support at or above the Differential rate — it is not location-based, does not appear in the MHA rate table, and is materially larger than BAH-Partial (§5.6.1–5.6.2).

Expecting rate protection on a temporary BAH increase. The increased rate has a statutory termination date. When it expires, BAH reverts to the standard MHA rate — members cannot keep the temporary rate after the termination date, regardless of actual housing costs (§5.3.4).

RC members assuming rate protection survives any gap in orders. A single calendar-day break in active service resets BAH rate protection for Reserve Component members. This includes gaps between AGR duty and other active-duty orders, or between order extensions of any length (§5.2).

Assuming BAH continues during excess leave. Housing allowances stop accruing immediately when excess leave begins. There is no continuation period and no retroactive payment when normal leave status resumes (§2.0).

Citation

Authority: 37 U.S.C. § 403 (BAH); 37 U.S.C. § 403a (BAH-Diff); 37 U.S.C. § 1009(c)(2) (BAH-Partial rate basis)
Regulation: DoD Financial Management Regulation (FMR) Volume 7A, Chapter 26 — Housing Allowances (revised May 2025)
Official rates and lookup: DTMO Basic Allowance for Housing

Validated May 2026