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
    Dependents

    W-5 without dependents at Columbus draws $2,391 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/columbus-oh/w-5/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Columbus, OH
    W-5 · without dependents
    $2,391/ month
    $28,692 / year
    At W-5, this is #179 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $5,946 · low Youngstown $1,527
    MHA OH230 · ZIPs 43001 43002 43004 43008 43013 43016 +92 more
    Your grade is calledARMYCW5USMCCWO5NAVYCWO5
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$3,065 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$2,766 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Columbus — full sheetTap a row
    PCS compareColumbus · W-5 · $2,391/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,892/mo · $34,704/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$501+$6,012/yr · like +$7,708 of salary

    What this rate means

    W-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,946 / month
    Westchester County$5,946
    Fargo$2,415
    Grand Rapids$2,415
    State College$2,412
    Ocala$2,406
    Columbus$2,391
    County Cost Group 800$2,382
    El Centro$2,382
    Provo$2,361
    Albuquerque$2,355
    Youngstown$1,527

    Columbus is #179 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $4,419 a month — $53,028 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

    Rates flatten out at the top of each track, which is why the sheet stops at O-7.

    01

    Dependency status is worth 16% 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. $2,391 a month of BAH takes more than $2,391 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.