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
    With $2,541Without $2,025

    E-8 at El Centro draws $2,541 per month with dependents in 2026, $2,025 without

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/el-centro-ca/e-8/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    El Centro, CA
    E-8 · with dependents
    $2,541/ month
    $30,492 / year
    At E-8, this is #163 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $6,333 · low Anniston $1,638
    MHA CA420 · ZIPs 92222 92227 92231 92232 92233 92243 +13 more
    Your grade is calledARMYMSG / 1SGUSMCMSgt / 1stSgtNAVYSCPOUSAFSMSgt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$3,258 / mo gross
    Without dependents here$2,025 / mo
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    El Centro — full sheetTap a row
    PCS compareEl Centro · E-8 · $2,541/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,991/mo · $35,892/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$450+$5,400/yr · like +$6,923 of salary

    What this rate means

    E-8 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $6,333 / month
    Westchester County$6,333
    Fort Stewart$2,556
    Fort Carson$2,553
    Omaha$2,547
    Dahlonega$2,544
    El Centro$2,541
    Grand Haven$2,535
    Carlisle Barracks$2,514
    New Orleans$2,508
    State College$2,508
    Anniston$1,638

    El Centro is #163 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $4,695 a month — $56,340 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at El Centro0 – $3,018 / month
    E-1$1,905
    E-2$1,905
    E-3$1,905
    E-4$1,905
    E-5$1,986
    E-6$2,151
    E-7$2,334
    E-8$2,541
    E-9$2,721
    W-1$2,166
    W-2$2,418
    W-3$2,673
    W-4$2,739
    W-5$2,823
    O-1E$2,373
    O-2E$2,634
    O-3E$2,751
    O-1$2,013
    O-2$2,148
    O-3$2,664
    O-4$2,847
    O-5$2,976
    O-6$2,997
    O-7$3,018

    Promoting to E-9 here adds $180 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 El Centro to Westchester County at E-8 is worth $3,792 a month — about 21 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $180 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 25% 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. $2,541 a month of BAH takes more than $2,541 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.