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

    W-3 without dependents at China Lake draws $1,683 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/china-lake-ca/w-3/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    China Lake, CA
    W-3 · without dependents
    $1,683/ month
    $20,196 / year
    At W-3, this is #285 of 338 stations loaded · high San Francisco $5,301 · low Youngstown $1,341
    MHA CA021 · ZIPs 92347 93527 93528 93554 93555 93562
    Your grade is calledARMYCW3USMCCWO3NAVYCWO3
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,158 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$2,157 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 · W-3 · $1,683/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,619/mo · $31,428/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$936+$11,232/yr · like +$14,400 of salary

    What this rate means

    W-3 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,301 / month
    San Francisco$5,301
    Goodfellow AFB$1,716
    Brownsville$1,698
    County Cost Group 720$1,698
    Springfield$1,686
    China Lake$1,683
    Laughlin AFB$1,683
    County Cost Group 710$1,677
    Terre Haute$1,671
    Huntington$1,662
    Youngstown$1,341

    China Lake is #285 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,960 a month — $47,520 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 W-4 here adds $111 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 W-3 is worth $3,618 a month — about 33 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $111 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 28% 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. $1,683 a month of BAH takes more than $1,683 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.