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
    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
    WithWithout

    E-5 without dependents at China Lake draws $1,428 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/china-lake-ca/e-5/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    China Lake, CA
    E-5 · without dependents
    $1,428/ month
    $17,136 / year
    At E-5, this is #236 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $4,980 · low Fort Chaffee $996
    MHA CA021 · ZIPs 92347 93527 93528 93554 93555 93562
    Your grade is calledARMYSGTUSMCSgtNAVYPO2USAFSSgt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$1,831 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$1,563 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    China Lake — full sheetTap a row
    GradeWith dep.Without
    Enlisted
    E-1$1,524$1,344
    E-2$1,524$1,344
    E-3$1,524$1,344
    E-4$1,524$1,344
    E-5$1,563$1,428
    E-6$1,767$1,485
    E-7$1,905$1,530
    E-8$2,058$1,611
    E-9$2,238$1,680
    Warrant officer
    W-1$1,785$1,527
    W-2$1,968$1,608
    W-3$2,157$1,683
    W-4$2,268$1,794
    W-5$2,403$1,941
    Officer — prior enlisted
    O-1E$1,932$1,560
    O-2E$2,130$1,650
    O-3E$2,289$1,755
    Officer
    O-1$1,596$1,482
    O-2$1,764$1,554
    O-3$2,154$1,689
    O-4$2,445$1,911
    O-5$2,658$1,995
    O-6$2,676$2,136
    O-7$2,694$2,172
    PCS compareChina Lake · E-5 · $1,428/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$1,986/mo · $23,832/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$558+$6,696/yr · like +$8,585 of salary

    What this rate means

    E-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $4,980 / month
    New York City$4,980
    Waco$1,440
    Fort Bliss$1,437
    Fayetteville$1,437
    Montgomery$1,431
    China Lake$1,428
    Coos Bay$1,428
    Davis-Monthan AFB$1,428
    Lincoln$1,428
    Seymour Johnson AFB$1,428
    Fort Chaffee$996

    China Lake is #236 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 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-6 here adds $57 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-5 is worth $3,552 a month — about 62 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $57 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 9% 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. $1,428 a month of BAH takes more than $1,428 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.