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

    O-1 with dependents at China Lake draws $1,596 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/china-lake-ca/o-1/with/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    China Lake, CA
    O-1 · with dependents
    $1,596/ month
    $19,152 / year
    At O-1, this is #276 of 338 stations loaded · high San Francisco $5,172 · low Youngstown $1,218
    MHA CA021 · ZIPs 92347 93527 93528 93554 93555 93562
    Your grade is calledARMY2LTUSMC2ndLtNAVYENSUSAF2d Lt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,046 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$1,482 without 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 · O-1 · $1,596/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,517/mo · $30,204/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$921+$11,052/yr · like +$14,169 of salary

    What this rate means

    O-1 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,172 / month
    San Francisco$5,172
    County Cost Group 730$1,602
    Fort Rucker$1,602
    Scott AFB$1,602
    Champaign$1,599
    China Lake$1,596
    Lexington$1,596
    Sault Ste Marie$1,590
    County Cost Group 720$1,578
    Moody AFB$1,578
    Youngstown$1,218

    China Lake is #276 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 – $2,694 / month
    E-1$1,524
    E-2$1,524
    E-3$1,524
    E-4$1,524
    E-5$1,563
    E-6$1,767
    E-7$1,905
    E-8$2,058
    E-9$2,238
    W-1$1,785
    W-2$1,968
    W-3$2,157
    W-4$2,268
    W-5$2,403
    O-1E$1,932
    O-2E$2,130
    O-3E$2,289
    O-1$1,596
    O-2$1,764
    O-3$2,154
    O-4$2,445
    O-5$2,658
    O-6$2,676
    O-7$2,694

    Promoting to O-2 here adds $168 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 San Francisco at O-1 is worth $3,576 a month — about 21 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $168 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 8% 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. $1,596 a month of BAH takes more than $1,596 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.