What is E-5 BAH at Chattanooga in 2026?

$1,629 per month without dependents ($19,548 per year), effective 01 JAN 2026. with dependents it is $1,986 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-5 BAH at Chattanooga 2026 — $1,629/mo without dependents

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

Chattanooga, TN

E-5 · without dependents

$1,629/ month

$19,548 / year

At E-5, this is #181 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $4,980 · low Fort Chaffee $996

MHA TN266 · ZIPs 30726 30736 30742 37302 37304 37308 +30 more

Your grade is calledARMYSGTUSMCSgtNAVYPO2USAFSSgt

Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,088 / mo gross

Other dependency status here$1,986 with dependents

In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial

Chattanooga — full sheetTap a row

Grade	With dep.	Without
Enlisted
E-1	$1,863	$1,446
E-2	$1,863	$1,446
E-3	$1,863	$1,446
E-4	$1,863	$1,446
E-5	$1,986	$1,629
E-6	$2,397	$1,797
E-7	$2,445	$1,863
E-8	$2,490	$2,073
E-9	$2,631	$2,193
Warrant officer
W-1	$2,418	$1,830
W-2	$2,463	$2,070
W-3	$2,523	$2,208
W-4	$2,670	$2,403
W-5	$2,856	$2,454
Officer — prior enlisted
O-1E	$2,448	$1,983
O-2E	$2,511	$2,166
O-3E	$2,700	$2,391
Officer
O-1	$2,043	$1,734
O-2	$2,394	$1,950
O-3	$2,520	$2,247
O-4	$2,916	$2,436
O-5	$3,201	$2,460
O-6	$3,228	$2,499
O-7	$3,249	$2,541

What this rate means

E-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $4,980 / month

New York City$4,980

Fort Gordon$1,644

Pensacola$1,644

Grand Rapids$1,635

Salem$1,635

Chattanooga$1,629

Tallahassee$1,626

Carlisle Barracks$1,617

Rome$1,614

Jackson$1,608

Fort Chaffee$996

Chattanooga is #181 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 Chattanooga0 – $2,541 / month

E-1$1,446

E-2$1,446

E-3$1,446

E-4$1,446

E-5$1,629

E-6$1,797

E-7$1,863

E-8$2,073

E-9$2,193

W-1$1,830

W-2$2,070

W-3$2,208

W-4$2,403

W-5$2,454

O-1E$1,983

O-2E$2,166

O-3E$2,391

O-1$1,734

O-2$1,950

O-3$2,247

O-4$2,436

O-5$2,460

O-6$2,499

O-7$2,541

Promoting to E-6 here adds $168 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 Chattanooga to New York City at E-5 is worth $3,351 a month — about 20 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $168 per grade here.

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.

None of it is taxed. $1,629 a month of BAH takes more than $1,629 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-5 without dependents at Chattanooga draws $1,629 per month in 2026

What this rate means

Things the rate table doesn't tell you