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-2 without dependents at Columbia draws $1,860 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/columbia-fort-jackson-sc/o-2/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Columbia/Fort Jackson, SC
    O-2 · without dependents
    $1,860/ month
    $22,320 / year
    At O-2, this is #200 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $5,091 · low Youngstown $1,176
    MHA SC260 · ZIPs 29002 29006 29009 29016 29020 29021 +60 more
    Your grade is calledARMY1LTUSMC1stLtNAVYLTJGUSAF1st Lt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,385 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$2,118 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Columbia — full sheetTap a row
    GradeWith dep.Without
    Enlisted
    E-1$1,812$1,479
    E-2$1,812$1,479
    E-3$1,812$1,479
    E-4$1,812$1,479
    E-5$1,878$1,647
    E-6$2,121$1,746
    E-7$2,160$1,812
    E-8$2,202$1,932
    E-9$2,310$1,995
    Warrant officer
    W-1$2,136$1,803
    W-2$2,175$1,929
    W-3$2,235$2,004
    W-4$2,340$2,121
    W-5$2,475$2,166
    Officer — prior enlisted
    O-1E$2,163$1,875
    O-2E$2,223$1,980
    O-3E$2,361$2,109
    Officer
    O-1$1,914$1,743
    O-2$2,118$1,860
    O-3$2,232$2,028
    O-4$2,517$2,151
    O-5$2,724$2,172
    O-6$2,745$2,211
    O-7$2,760$2,247
    PCS compareColumbia · O-2 · $1,860/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,412/mo · $28,944/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$552+$6,624/yr · like +$8,492 of salary

    What this rate means

    O-2 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,091 / month
    New York City$5,091
    Battle Creek$1,875
    Fort Gordon$1,866
    New Orleans$1,866
    Bloomington$1,860
    Columbia$1,860
    Roanoke$1,860
    County Cost Group 790$1,851
    Rock Island$1,851
    Columbus$1,848
    Youngstown$1,176

    Columbia is #200 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,915 a month — $46,980 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at Columbia0 – $2,247 / month
    E-1$1,479
    E-2$1,479
    E-3$1,479
    E-4$1,479
    E-5$1,647
    E-6$1,746
    E-7$1,812
    E-8$1,932
    E-9$1,995
    W-1$1,803
    W-2$1,929
    W-3$2,004
    W-4$2,121
    W-5$2,166
    O-1E$1,875
    O-2E$1,980
    O-3E$2,109
    O-1$1,743
    O-2$1,860
    O-3$2,028
    O-4$2,151
    O-5$2,172
    O-6$2,211
    O-7$2,247

    Promoting to O-3 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 Columbia to New York City at O-2 is worth $3,231 a month — about 19 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $168 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 14% 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. $1,860 a month of BAH takes more than $1,860 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.