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
    Dependents

    E-4 without dependents at China Lake draws $1,344 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/china-lake-ca/e-4/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    China Lake, CA
    E-4 · without dependents
    $1,344/ month
    $16,128 / year
    At E-4, this is #214 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $4,833 · low Fort Chaffee $879
    MHA CA021 · ZIPs 92347 93527 93528 93554 93555 93562
    Your grade is calledARMYSPC / CPLUSMCCplNAVYPO3USAFSrA
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$1,723 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$1,524 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    China Lake — full sheetTap a row
    PCS compareChina Lake · E-4 · $1,344/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$1,875/mo · $22,500/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$531+$6,372/yr · like +$8,169 of salary

    What this rate means

    E-4 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $4,833 / month
    New York City$4,833
    San Antonio (JBSA)$1,359
    College Station$1,356
    Fort Drum$1,356
    Fort Knox$1,350
    China Lake$1,344
    Cleveland$1,344
    Coos Bay$1,341
    County Cost Group 780$1,341
    Fort Bragg$1,341
    Fort Chaffee$879

    China Lake is #214 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 China Lake0 – $2,172 / month
    E-1$1,344
    E-2$1,344
    E-3$1,344
    E-4$1,344
    E-5$1,428
    E-6$1,485
    E-7$1,530
    E-8$1,611
    E-9$1,680
    W-1$1,527
    W-2$1,608
    W-3$1,683
    W-4$1,794
    W-5$1,941
    O-1E$1,560
    O-2E$1,650
    O-3E$1,755
    O-1$1,482
    O-2$1,554
    O-3$1,689
    O-4$1,911
    O-5$1,995
    O-6$2,136
    O-7$2,172

    Promoting to E-5 here adds $84 a month. The pay chart moves this allowance far less than the map does.

    01

    Where you are stationed outweighs what you are paid. Moving from China Lake to New York City at E-4 is worth $3,489 a month — about 42 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $84 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 13% 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. $1,344 a month of BAH takes more than $1,344 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.