What is E-5 BAH at Columbus in 2026?

$1,587 per month without dependents ($19,044 per year), effective 01 JAN 2026. with dependents it is $1,875 per month.

Does BAH count as taxable income?

No. BAH is excluded from federal taxable income, so a given BAH amount is worth more than the same figure in basic pay.

What happens if my BAH rate drops this year?

BAH rate protection holds you at the prior year's amount as long as your duty location, pay grade and dependency status stay the same. The lower rate applies to members arriving on new orders.

E-5 BAH at Columbus 2026 — $1,587/mo without dependents

Basic Allowance for Housing by duty station, pay grade and dependency status. Official DoD rates, no login, no email.

Columbus, OH

E-5 · without dependents

$1,587/ month

$19,044 / year

At E-5, this is #190 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $4,980 · low Fort Chaffee $996

MHA OH230 · ZIPs 43001 43002 43004 43008 43013 43016 +92 more

Your grade is calledARMYSGTUSMCSgtNAVYPO2USAFSSgt

Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,035 / mo gross

Other dependency status here$1,875 with dependents

In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial

Columbus — full sheetTap a row

Grade	With dep.	Without
Enlisted
E-1	$1,782	$1,422
E-2	$1,782	$1,422
E-3	$1,782	$1,422
E-4	$1,782	$1,422
E-5	$1,875	$1,587
E-6	$2,238	$1,692
E-7	$2,364	$1,782
E-8	$2,496	$1,953
E-9	$2,640	$2,055
Warrant officer
W-1	$2,259	$1,761
W-2	$2,418	$1,950
W-3	$2,583	$2,070
W-4	$2,664	$2,262
W-5	$2,766	$2,391
Officer — prior enlisted
O-1E	$2,385	$1,872
O-2E	$2,556	$2,031
O-3E	$2,679	$2,232
Officer
O-1	$1,926	$1,686
O-2	$2,235	$1,848
O-3	$2,577	$2,103
O-4	$2,793	$2,364
O-5	$2,949	$2,439
O-6	$2,973	$2,562
O-7	$2,991	$2,604

What this rate means

E-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $4,980 / month

New York City$4,980

County Cost Group 800$1,599

Syracuse$1,599

Kansas City$1,596

Fort Campbell$1,593

Columbus$1,587

Humboldt County$1,587

Omaha$1,587

New Orleans$1,581

Helena$1,572

Fort Chaffee$996

Columbus is #190 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 Columbus0 – $2,604 / month

E-1$1,422

E-2$1,422

E-3$1,422

E-4$1,422

E-5$1,587

E-6$1,692

E-7$1,782

E-8$1,953

E-9$2,055

W-1$1,761

W-2$1,950

W-3$2,070

W-4$2,262

W-5$2,391

O-1E$1,872

O-2E$2,031

O-3E$2,232

O-1$1,686

O-2$1,848

O-3$2,103

O-4$2,364

O-5$2,439

O-6$2,562

O-7$2,604

Promoting to E-6 here adds $105 a month. The pay chart moves this allowance far less than the map does.

Where you are stationed outweighs what you are paid. Moving from Columbus to New York City at E-5 is worth $3,393 a month — about 32 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $105 per grade here.

Dependency status is worth 18% 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.

None of it is taxed. $1,587 a month of BAH takes more than $1,587 of basic pay to match, which is why comparing a civilian salary against military base pay alone understates the gap.

Things the rate table doesn't tell you

“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.

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.

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.

E-5 without dependents at Columbus draws $1,587 per month in 2026

What this rate means

Things the rate table doesn't tell you