Official data current

El Centro BAH rates

Verified · Effective 2026-01-01 · MHA CA420

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E-8 · With dependents
$2,541per month

$30,492 per year · federal tax-free allowance

Official DoD / DTMO rate · CONUS BAH, not an estimate

National position #163 of 338E-8 · with dependents reference
Taxable-pay equivalent$3,258/mo Using the stated 22% comparison rate
Year-over-year change+$54/mo · +2.2%2025 $2,487 → 2026 $2,541
E-8 rate selectedMHA CA420 ZIPs 92222 92227 92231 92232 92233 92243 +13
PCS compare El Centro · E-8 · with dep. · $2,541/mo
El Centro $2,541/mo · $30,492/yr
CURRENT

Pick a station below to see what the move is worth a year, before tax. Orders rarely arrive as one option — add several and rank them.

Comparison uses with-dependents rates. Differences are annual and untaxed. Rate protection is not applied — a PCS resets you to the new location's current-year rate.

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Rate history

How updates work
2025$2,487
2026$2,541

Verified official history. With-dependents rate shown; use the dependency switch above for its exact comparison.

El Centro — full sheet Tap a row

What this rate means

E-8 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $6,333 / month
Westchester County $6,333
Volusia County $2,598
Wilmington $2,595
Cincinnati $2,583
Coos Bay $2,583
County Cost Group 810 $2,565
Birmingham $2,559
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
Columbus $2,496
Chattanooga $2,490
Durham $2,484
Phoenix $2,484
Myrtle Beach $2,481
Battle Creek $2,478
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

The pay chart moves this allowance far less than the map does.

Moving from El Centro to Westchester County at E-8 is worth $3,792 a month — about 21 promotions at this grade. Where you are stationed outweighs rank, by a lot.

What the rate table does not 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.

Source: DoD Defense Travel Management Office, effective 01 JAN 2026. How these rates are sourced and checked.

Source record

Where these numbers come from

Official fields remain unchanged. Years are aligned by DTMO's MHA code; no missing value is interpolated.

2026 official releaseDTMO source archive
Effective
2026-01-01
Retrieved
2026-09-05
Last verified
2026-09-07
SHA-256
5446fed831e1…
2025 official releaseDTMO source archive
Effective
2025-01-01
Retrieved
2026-09-07
Last verified
2026-09-07
SHA-256
32d18c4220e8…