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

Press Enter to look it up.

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
With $3,438 Without $2,736

E-5 at Chicago draws $3,438 per month with dependents in 2026, $2,736 without

Permalink bahratedesk.com/chicago-il/ Excel CSV
Chicago, IL
E-5 · with dependents
$3,438/ month
$41,256 / year
At E-5, this is #29 of 338 stations · high San Francisco $5,127 · low Anniston $1,185
MHA IL325 · ZIPs 60004 60005 60006 60007 60008 60009 +292 more
Your grade is called ARMYSGTUSMCSgtNAVYPO2USAFSSgt
Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes $4,408 / mo gross
Without dependents here $2,736 / mo
In government quarters, no dependents $50.10 / mo partial
PCS compare Chicago · E-5 · $3,438/mo
Chicago $3,438/mo · $41,256/yr
CURRENT

Pick a station below to see what the move is worth a year, before tax. Orders rarely arrive as one option — add several and rank them.

Differences are annual and untaxed. Rate protection is not applied — a PCS resets you to the new location's current-year rate.

Chicago — full sheet Tap a row
GradeWith dep.Without
Enlisted
E-1 $3,174 $2,415
E-2 $3,174 $2,415
E-3 $3,174 $2,415
E-4 $3,174 $2,415
E-5 $3,438 $2,736
E-6 $3,702 $2,937
E-7 $3,723 $3,186
E-8 $3,732 $3,498
E-9 $3,771 $3,567
Warrant officer
W-1 $3,720 $3,090
W-2 $3,729 $3,495
W-3 $3,741 $3,579
W-4 $3,795 $3,696
W-5 $3,900 $3,708
Officer — prior enlisted
O-1E $3,726 $3,435
O-2E $3,735 $3,552
O-3E $3,810 $3,693
Officer
O-1 $3,477 $2,907
O-2 $3,699 $3,354
O-3 $3,738 $3,603
O-4 $3,927 $3,699
O-5 $4,086 $3,711
O-6 $4,122 $3,714
O-7 $4,152 $3,756

What this rate means

E-5 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,127 / month
San Francisco $5,127
Staten Island $3,735
Honolulu County $3,663
Miami $3,660
Hawaii County $3,594
Fort Monmouth $3,549
Ventura $3,537
Essex CO $3,477
West Point $3,468
Monterey $3,465
Trenton $3,465
Chicago $3,438
West Palm Beach $3,423
Perth Amboy $3,393
Vallejo $3,369
Juneau $3,354
Riverside $3,351
Vandenberg SFB $3,333
Portsmouth $3,321
Marin $3,303
San Bernardino $3,288
Portland $3,252
Anniston $1,185

Chicago is #29 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,942 a month — $47,304 a year, untaxed.

Every pay grade at Chicago0 – $4,152 / month
E-1 $3,174
E-2 $3,174
E-3 $3,174
E-4 $3,174
E-5 $3,438
E-6 $3,702
E-7 $3,723
E-8 $3,732
E-9 $3,771
W-1 $3,720
W-2 $3,729
W-3 $3,741
W-4 $3,795
W-5 $3,900
O-1E $3,726
O-2E $3,735
O-3E $3,810
O-1 $3,477
O-2 $3,699
O-3 $3,738
O-4 $3,927
O-5 $4,086
O-6 $4,122
O-7 $4,152

The pay chart moves this allowance far less than the map does.

Moving from Chicago to San Francisco at E-5 is worth $1,689 a month — about 6 promotions at this grade. Where you are stationed outweighs rank, by a lot.

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.

Source: DoD Defense Travel Management Office, effective 01 JAN 2026. How these rates are sourced and checked.