BAH Comparison Tool

Basic Allowance for Housing is set annually by the Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) using rental-market surveys conducted in each Military Housing Area (MHA). The published rate reflects the median rent for an anchor-point dwelling at the housing standard the Department of Defense assigns to each pay grade, plus utilities. For Calendar Year 2026, DTMO surveyed 300+ MHAs and published the rates effective 1 January under the authority of 37 U.S.C. § 403 and DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26 (Housing Allowances). The rate the member receives is gated on three things — pay grade, dependency status, and the ZIP code of the duty station — and is paid at full statutory amount regardless of whether the member's actual rent is above or below it.

Rate protection. Under DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26, ¶5.2, the monthly BAH amount paid to a service member must not be reduced because housing costs in the MHA dropped, because the national monthly housing cost changed, or because the member was promoted — so if DTMO publishes a lower rate for that MHA in a subsequent year, the member continues to receive the prior (higher) amount as long as they remain eligible at that duty station. The same protection carries a Reserve Component member across new active-duty orders, order extensions, and AGR transitions, provided there is no break in active service of one or more calendar days. Protection stops if the member is demoted or loses authority for BAH; the current published rate at the current duty location then becomes the new protected rate. The protection does not transfer with a PCS; the member reassigns to the new MHA's current-year rate at the new station. Rate protection is one of the most consequential rules for members at duty stations where rents have declined faster than the MHA survey reflects — a member in a cooling rental market can keep being paid above the current published table rate because the prior-year rate is locked in.

The 5% out-of-pocket cost share. BAH was phased down from covering 99% to 95% of surveyed median rent plus utilities between 2015 and 2019 — one percentage point per year under 37 U.S.C. § 403(b)(3), phased in by the FY2015 and FY2016 NDAAs — and it remains at 95% for 2026. DoD's December 2025 rate announcement puts the member's out-of-pocket share at roughly $93 to $212 per month depending on grade and dependency status. Proposals to restore 100% coverage, including the 2024 House Quality-of-Life panel recommendation, have not been enacted. On top of that statutory cost share, members at duty stations with limited inventory at the BAH-anchor housing standard often pay more out of pocket because the local market is above the survey median — that is a market-driven gap, not a statutory one.

Dual-military housing rules. Two married service members both on active duty each draw their own BAH — there is no rule that collapses the couple to a single payment. Under 37 U.S.C. § 421 and DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26, ¶4.5.1.1, a spouse who is on active duty and entitled to basic pay cannot be counted as a dependent, so a cohabiting couple with no other dependents is simply two members without dependents: each is paid the without-dependents rate for their own grade and MHA (¶4.5.2.1), whether they live together or apart. When the couple collectively has dependents, only one of them may be paid at the with-dependents rate — the two choose which one, and if they cannot agree the senior member receives it (¶4.5.2.3.1); the other member continues at the without-dependents rate (¶4.5.2.3). The couple may later elect to transfer the with-dependents authorization to the other member, effective as of the election date and never retroactively (¶4.5.2.3.1). If military orders separate them into households at different duty stations, each is authorized BAH at their own MHA, and each may be paid at the with-dependents rate if a dependent child resides with that member (¶4.5.2.3.3). The one case where BAH stops entirely is joint occupancy of government family-type quarters — then neither member is authorized BAH or OHA (¶4.5.2.2).

BAH and government quarters. Members assigned to government-controlled housing on or off installation do not receive BAH (the housing is the in-kind equivalent). Privatized housing under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI), where the on-installation housing is owned and operated by Lendlease, Hunt, Corvias, Balfour Beatty, Liberty Military Housing, or similar partners, is treated differently — members pay rent to the private landlord using BAH, so the BAH continues to be paid. Verifying which housing status applies at the gaining installation matters for budget planning before a PCS.

Authorities: 37 U.S.C. § 403 (Basic allowance for housing); 26 U.S.C. § 134 (Non-taxable status of qualified military benefits); 37 U.S.C. § 421 (a dependent on active duty and entitled to basic pay is not counted as a dependent for housing-allowance purposes); DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26 (Housing Allowances) — ¶4.5 member married to member, ¶5.2 BAH rate protection; DTMO BAH program and annual rate-survey methodology. For binding rate decisions at the assignment, verify with the gaining installation finance office; the published rate table reflects the rate paid, but rate protection and dependency adjustments can shift the actual entitlement.