What is E-8 BAH at Charleston in 2026?

$1,479 per month without dependents ($17,748 per year), effective 01 JAN 2026. with dependents it is $1,833 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-8 BAH at Charleston 2026 — $1,479/mo without dependents

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

Charleston, WV

E-8 · without dependents

$1,479/ month

$17,748 / year

At E-8, this is #310 of 338 stations loaded · high San Francisco $5,196 · low Youngstown $1,248

MHA WV323 · ZIPs 25003 25011 25015 25025 25026 25033 +85 more

Your grade is calledARMYMSG / 1SGUSMCMSgt / 1stSgtNAVYSCPOUSAFSMSgt

Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$1,896 / mo gross

Other dependency status here$1,833 with dependents

In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial

Charleston — full sheetTap a row

Grade	With dep.	Without
Enlisted
E-1	$1,308	$1,056
E-2	$1,308	$1,056
E-3	$1,308	$1,056
E-4	$1,308	$1,056
E-5	$1,404	$1,149
E-6	$1,764	$1,323
E-7	$1,800	$1,350
E-8	$1,833	$1,479
E-9	$1,956	$1,581
Warrant officer
W-1	$1,785	$1,338
W-2	$1,812	$1,476
W-3	$1,863	$1,596
W-4	$1,992	$1,767
W-5	$2,157	$1,806
Officer — prior enlisted
O-1E	$1,803	$1,401
O-2E	$1,851	$1,560
O-3E	$2,016	$1,758
Officer
O-1	$1,452	$1,209
O-2	$1,761	$1,377
O-3	$1,860	$1,632
O-4	$2,208	$1,791
O-5	$2,463	$1,848
O-6	$2,481	$1,860
O-7	$2,496	$1,872

What this rate means

E-8 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,196 / month

San Francisco$5,196

County Cost Group 630$1,491

Sparta$1,488

Springfield$1,488

County Cost Group 620$1,485

Charleston$1,479

County Cost Group 610$1,476

County Cost Group 600$1,470

County Cost Group 590$1,458

County Cost Group 580$1,446

Youngstown$1,248

Charleston is #310 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,948 a month — $47,376 a year, untaxed.

Every pay grade at Charleston0 – $1,872 / month

E-1$1,056

E-2$1,056

E-3$1,056

E-4$1,056

E-5$1,149

E-6$1,323

E-7$1,350

E-8$1,479

E-9$1,581

W-1$1,338

W-2$1,476

W-3$1,596

W-4$1,767

W-5$1,806

O-1E$1,401

O-2E$1,560

O-3E$1,758

O-1$1,209

O-2$1,377

O-3$1,632

O-4$1,791

O-5$1,848

O-6$1,860

O-7$1,872

Promoting to E-9 here adds $102 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 San Francisco at E-8 is worth $3,717 a month — about 36 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $102 per grade here.

Dependency status is worth 24% 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. $1,479 a month of BAH takes more than $1,479 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-8 without dependents at Charleston draws $1,479 per month in 2026

What this rate means

Things the rate table doesn't tell you