PCS compareCounty Cost Group 840 · E-5 · $2,322/mo
Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,478/mo · $29,736/yr
▲ RAISE+$156+$1,872/yr · like +$2,400 of salary
What this rate means
E-5 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,127 / month
San Francisco$5,127
Bremerton$2,364
Detroit$2,361
Fort Carson$2,358
Richmond$2,358
County Cost Group 840$2,322
Dahlgren$2,313
Fort Stewart$2,310
Phoenix$2,289
Volusia County$2,286
Anniston$1,185
County Cost Group 840 is #121 of 338. The spread between
the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,942 a month —
$47,304 a year, untaxed.
Every pay grade at County Cost Group 8400 – $3,510 / month
E-1$2,166
E-2$2,166
E-3$2,166
E-4$2,166
E-5$2,322
E-6$2,655
E-7$2,745
E-8$2,844
E-9$2,997
W-1$2,673
W-2$2,787
W-3$2,910
W-4$3,030
W-5$3,180
O-1E$2,760
O-2E$2,889
O-3E$3,051
O-1$2,367
O-2$2,652
O-3$2,907
O-4$3,225
O-5$3,459
O-6$3,486
O-7$3,510
Promoting to E-6 here adds $333 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 County Cost Group 840 to San Francisco at E-5 is worth $2,805 a month — about 8 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $333 per grade here.
02
Dependency status is worth 22% 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. $2,322 a month of BAH takes more than $2,322 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.