BAH Rate Desk2026
Rates effective
01 JAN 2026 · CONUS

Basic Allowance for Housing by duty station, pay grade and dependency status. Official DoD rates, no login, no email.

Duty station or MHA
    Try Fort Liberty, Cavazos, Moore or a ZIP — old and unofficial names resolve.
    Or type your rank
    Enlisted
    E-1E-2E-3E-4E-5E-6E-7E-8E-9
    Warrant
    W-1W-2W-3W-4W-5
    Prior enl.
    O-1EO-2EO-3E
    Officer
    O-1O-2O-3O-4O-5O-6O-7
    Dependents
    WithWithout

    E-5 without dependents at Birmingham draws $1,878 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/birmingham-al/e-5/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Birmingham, AL
    E-5 · without dependents
    $1,878/ month
    $22,536 / year
    At E-5, this is #119 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $4,980 · low Fort Chaffee $996
    MHA AL007 · ZIPs 35004 35005 35006 35007 35015 35020 +117 more
    Your grade is calledARMYSGTUSMCSgtNAVYPO2USAFSSgt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,408 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$2,439 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Birmingham — full sheetTap a row
    GradeWith dep.Without
    Enlisted
    E-1$2,223$1,668
    E-2$2,223$1,668
    E-3$2,223$1,668
    E-4$2,223$1,668
    E-5$2,439$1,878
    E-6$2,532$2,031
    E-7$2,550$2,232
    E-8$2,559$2,463
    E-9$2,583$2,478
    Warrant officer
    W-1$2,547$2,160
    W-2$2,556$2,460
    W-3$2,568$2,484
    W-4$2,598$2,520
    W-5$2,682$2,532
    Officer — prior enlisted
    O-1E$2,553$2,436
    O-2E$2,562$2,472
    O-3E$2,613$2,517
    Officer
    O-1$2,457$2,007
    O-2$2,529$2,370
    O-3$2,565$2,490
    O-4$2,703$2,523
    O-5$2,826$2,535
    O-6$2,847$2,538
    O-7$2,865$2,556
    PCS compareBirmingham · E-5 · $1,878/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$1,986/mo · $23,832/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$108+$1,296/yr · like +$1,662 of salary

    What this rate means

    E-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $4,980 / month
    New York City$4,980
    Whidbey Island$1,905
    County Cost Group 840$1,896
    Traverse City$1,896
    Brunswick$1,893
    Birmingham$1,878
    Nashville$1,869
    Richmond$1,866
    Panama City$1,863
    Fort Carson$1,860
    Fort Chaffee$996

    Birmingham is #119 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,984 a month — $47,808 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at Birmingham0 – $2,556 / month
    E-1$1,668
    E-2$1,668
    E-3$1,668
    E-4$1,668
    E-5$1,878
    E-6$2,031
    E-7$2,232
    E-8$2,463
    E-9$2,478
    W-1$2,160
    W-2$2,460
    W-3$2,484
    W-4$2,520
    W-5$2,532
    O-1E$2,436
    O-2E$2,472
    O-3E$2,517
    O-1$2,007
    O-2$2,370
    O-3$2,490
    O-4$2,523
    O-5$2,535
    O-6$2,538
    O-7$2,556

    Promoting to E-6 here adds $153 a month. The pay chart moves this allowance far less than the map does.

    01

    Where you are stationed outweighs what you are paid. Moving from Birmingham to New York City at E-5 is worth $3,102 a month — about 20 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $153 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 30% here. That is a status your finance office determines, not a box you tick — and it is the single largest lever on this page that is not a change of address.

    03

    None of it is taxed. $1,878 a month of BAH takes more than $1,878 of basic pay to match, which is why comparing a civilian salary against military base pay alone understates the gap.

    Ad slot — in-content, after the answerPlaced below the number, never above it. VA-loan and PCS-move advertisers bid here.

    Things the rate table doesn't tell you

    01

    “With dependents” is a dependency status, not a marital status. A single member paying child support can be authorized BAH-Diff; a married dual-military couple with no children is not automatically the with-dependents rate for both. If your situation is unusual, your finance office decides — not this table.

    02

    O-8, O-9 and O-10 draw the same BAH as O-7. The table stops there for a reason, not because it is missing rows.

    03

    This is CONUS BAH only. Overseas is OHA, which works differently — it reimburses actual rent up to a cap, with separate utility and move-in allowances. Alaska and Hawaii are BAH; Germany, Japan and Korea are OHA.