BAH Calculator 2026

What BAH is

Basic Allowance for Housing is the tax-free payment that covers off-base housing costs for servicemembers who do not live in government quarters. Your rate depends on three things: your pay grade, whether you have dependents, and your duty station. The first two are fixed tables; the third is where the real money is, because housing costs in San Diego and Fort Sill are nothing alike.

RC/Transient vs locality BAH: read this first

This calculator shows the 2026 BAH RC/Transient rate, the baseline published for reservists on short active duty and members in transit between stations. The BAH most servicemembers actually receive is locality BAH, set separately for each Military Housing Area (MHA) based on local rental market data. Locality rates averaged 4.2 percent higher in 2026 than in 2025, and in expensive markets they run far above the RC/Transient baseline.

To find the rate you will actually be paid, use the official DoD BAH rate lookup, enter your duty station ZIP code, pay grade, and dependent status, and read your MHA rate. Use this page to sanity-check the table, then use the DoD lookup for your real number.

How BAH rates are set each year

Each year the services survey rental costs for adequate housing in every Military Housing Area, covering apartments, townhouses, and single-family rentals matched to each pay grade. The median costs feed the next year rate tables, which is why high-cost markets move the most. The 2026 tables reflect a year when rental inflation stayed elevated, producing the 4.2 percent average increase. Because the data comes from actual rental listings, the tables track the market with a lag: if rents in your area spiked this year, the BAH response shows up in a later table.

2026 BAH RC/Transient rates

The full published 2026 RC/Transient table, monthly:

With vs without dependents

The with-dependents rate is higher at every grade, often by 25 to 40 percent for junior enlisted. Dependency status follows the legal definition: a spouse, children, or other qualifying dependents enrolled in DEERS. Dual-military couples have special rules, generally one with-dependents rate between them when they share children, so check with finance before assuming two full rates.

Worked examples

An E-5 with dependents looks up $1,403.70 per month on the 2026 RC/Transient table, or $16,844.40 per year. An O-3 without dependents finds $1,618.20 per month. Remember that both are baselines: the E-5 stationed in an expensive coastal MHA could receive a locality rate several hundred dollars higher, while the RC/Transient figure is what applies during a move between stations.

BAH edge cases worth knowing

Barracks residents generally do not receive BAH, though single servicemembers in the barracks with dependents elsewhere may qualify for BAH at the dependent location. OHA (Overseas Housing Allowance) replaces BAH outside the US and works differently: it reimburses actual rent up to a cap rather than paying a flat rate. Partial BAH applies in narrow situations, such as single members in government quarters paying child support. And BAH rate protection means your rate does not drop if published rates fall while you stay at the same station, you keep the higher rate until you PCS or your status changes.