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

    O-1 without dependents at Cape May draws $2,289 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/cape-may-nj/o-1/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Cape May, NJ
    O-1 · without dependents
    $2,289/ month
    $27,468 / year
    At O-1, this is #74 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $5,067 · low Youngstown $1,074
    MHA NJ198 · ZIPs 08202 08204 08210 08212 08214 08218 +15 more
    Your grade is calledARMY2LTUSMC2ndLtNAVYENSUSAF2d Lt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,935 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$2,799 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Cape May — full sheetTap a row
    GradeWith dep.Without
    Enlisted
    E-1$2,523$1,968
    E-2$2,523$1,968
    E-3$2,523$1,968
    E-4$2,523$1,968
    E-5$2,754$2,172
    E-6$3,072$2,313
    E-7$3,114$2,532
    E-8$3,159$2,823
    E-9$3,312$2,913
    Warrant officer
    W-1$3,093$2,451
    W-2$3,132$2,820
    W-3$3,189$2,925
    W-4$3,360$3,078
    W-5$3,570$3,123
    Officer — prior enlisted
    O-1E$3,117$2,751
    O-2E$3,177$2,892
    O-3E$3,390$3,066
    Officer
    O-1$2,799$2,289
    O-2$3,069$2,682
    O-3$3,186$2,955
    O-4$3,639$3,108
    O-5$3,969$3,129
    O-6$4,002$3,165
    O-7$4,032$3,222
    PCS compareCape May · O-1 · $2,289/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,055/mo · $24,660/yr
    ▼ CUT−$234−$2,808/yr · like −$3,600 of salary

    What this rate means

    O-1 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,067 / month
    New York City$5,067
    County Cost Group 870$2,301
    Dahlgren$2,301
    Fort Pierce$2,301
    Sacramento$2,292
    Cape May$2,289
    Edwards AFB$2,289
    Denver$2,268
    Fort Detrick$2,247
    Orlando$2,247
    Youngstown$1,074

    Cape May is #74 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,993 a month — $47,916 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at Cape May0 – $3,222 / month
    E-1$1,968
    E-2$1,968
    E-3$1,968
    E-4$1,968
    E-5$2,172
    E-6$2,313
    E-7$2,532
    E-8$2,823
    E-9$2,913
    W-1$2,451
    W-2$2,820
    W-3$2,925
    W-4$3,078
    W-5$3,123
    O-1E$2,751
    O-2E$2,892
    O-3E$3,066
    O-1$2,289
    O-2$2,682
    O-3$2,955
    O-4$3,108
    O-5$3,129
    O-6$3,165
    O-7$3,222

    Promoting to O-2 here adds $393 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 Cape May to New York City at O-1 is worth $2,778 a month — about 7 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $393 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 22% 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. $2,289 a month of BAH takes more than $2,289 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.