What is E-4 BAH at Charleston in 2026?

$1,755 per month without dependents ($21,060 per year), effective 01 JAN 2026. with dependents it is $2,220 per month.

Does BAH count as taxable income?

No. BAH is excluded from federal taxable income, so a given BAH amount is worth more than the same figure in basic pay.

What happens if my BAH rate drops this year?

BAH rate protection holds you at the prior year's amount as long as your duty location, pay grade and dependency status stay the same. The lower rate applies to members arriving on new orders.

E-4 BAH at Charleston 2026 — $1,755/mo without dependents

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

Charleston, SC

E-4 · without dependents

$1,755/ month

$21,060 / year

At E-4, this is #105 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $4,833 · low Fort Chaffee $879

MHA SC259 · ZIPs 29401 29402 29403 29404 29405 29406 +53 more

Your grade is calledARMYSPC / CPLUSMCCplNAVYPO3USAFSrA

Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,250 / mo gross

Other dependency status here$2,220 with dependents

In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial

Charleston — full sheetTap a row

Grade	With dep.	Without
Enlisted
E-1	$2,220	$1,755
E-2	$2,220	$1,755
E-3	$2,220	$1,755
E-4	$2,220	$1,755
E-5	$2,385	$1,941
E-6	$2,616	$2,064
E-7	$2,652	$2,223
E-8	$2,694	$2,439
E-9	$2,769	$2,496
Warrant officer
W-1	$2,634	$2,172
W-2	$2,667	$2,436
W-3	$2,724	$2,508
W-4	$2,790	$2,619
W-5	$2,880	$2,661
Officer — prior enlisted
O-1E	$2,655	$2,382
O-2E	$2,712	$2,484
O-3E	$2,802	$2,607
Officer
O-1	$2,421	$2,049
O-2	$2,613	$2,334
O-3	$2,721	$2,529
O-4	$2,904	$2,646
O-5	$3,039	$2,664
O-6	$3,060	$2,697
O-7	$3,081	$2,742

What this rate means

E-4 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $4,833 / month

New York City$4,833

Elizabeth City$1,770

Sitka$1,767

County Cost Group 850$1,764

Fort Collins$1,764

Charleston$1,755

Twenty Nine Palms MCB$1,755

Atlanta$1,752

Hampden County$1,752

Allentown$1,749

Fort Chaffee$879

Charleston is #105 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,954 a month — $47,448 a year, untaxed.

Every pay grade at Charleston0 – $2,742 / month

E-1$1,755

E-2$1,755

E-3$1,755

E-4$1,755

E-5$1,941

E-6$2,064

E-7$2,223

E-8$2,439

E-9$2,496

W-1$2,172

W-2$2,436

W-3$2,508

W-4$2,619

W-5$2,661

O-1E$2,382

O-2E$2,484

O-3E$2,607

O-1$2,049

O-2$2,334

O-3$2,529

O-4$2,646

O-5$2,664

O-6$2,697

O-7$2,742

Promoting to E-5 here adds $186 a month. The pay chart moves this allowance far less than the map does.

Where you are stationed outweighs what you are paid. Moving from Charleston to New York City at E-4 is worth $3,078 a month — about 17 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $186 per grade here.

Dependency status is worth 26% 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.

None of it is taxed. $1,755 a month of BAH takes more than $1,755 of basic pay to match, which is why comparing a civilian salary against military base pay alone understates the gap.

Things the rate table doesn't tell you

“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.

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.

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.

E-4 without dependents at Charleston draws $1,755 per month in 2026

What this rate means

Things the rate table doesn't tell you