W-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,946 / month
Westchester County$5,946
New Haven$3,774
West Palm Beach$3,771
Newport$3,762
Fitchburg$3,738
Chicago$3,708
Providence$3,708
Vandenberg SFB$3,702
County Cost Group 890$3,660
Riverside$3,615
Youngstown$1,527
Chicago is #42 of 338. The spread between
the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $4,419 a month —
$53,028 a year, untaxed.
Every pay grade at Chicago0 – $3,756 / month
E-1$2,415
E-2$2,415
E-3$2,415
E-4$2,415
E-5$2,736
E-6$2,937
E-7$3,186
E-8$3,498
E-9$3,567
W-1$3,090
W-2$3,495
W-3$3,579
W-4$3,696
W-5$3,708
O-1E$3,435
O-2E$3,552
O-3E$3,693
O-1$2,907
O-2$3,354
O-3$3,603
O-4$3,699
O-5$3,711
O-6$3,714
O-7$3,756
Rates flatten out at the top of each track, which is why the sheet stops at O-7.
01
Dependency status is worth 5% 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. $3,708 a month of BAH takes more than $3,708 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.