BAH Rate Desk2026
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
    Enlisted
    E-1E-2E-3E-4E-5E-6E-7E-8E-9
    Warrant
    W-1W-2W-3W-4W-5
    Prior enl.
    O-1EO-2EO-3E
    Officer
    O-1O-2O-3O-4O-5O-6O-7
    Dependents
    WithWithout

    O-3 without dependents at Essex CO draws $3,642 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/essex-co-ma/o-3/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Essex CO, MA
    O-3 · without dependents
    $3,642/ month
    $43,704 / year
    At O-3, this is #30 of 338 stations loaded · high San Francisco $5,331 · low Youngstown $1,344
    MHA MA125 · ZIPs 01810 01812 01830 01831 01832 01833 +33 more
    Your grade is calledARMYCPTUSMCCaptNAVYLTUSAFCapt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$4,669 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$4,533 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Essex CO — full sheetTap a row
    GradeWith dep.Without
    Enlisted
    E-1$3,282$2,589
    E-2$3,282$2,589
    E-3$3,282$2,589
    E-4$3,282$2,589
    E-5$3,477$2,910
    E-6$3,744$3,102
    E-7$4,032$3,288
    E-8$4,344$3,537
    E-9$4,755$3,606
    Warrant officer
    W-1$3,765$3,225
    W-2$4,158$3,534
    W-3$4,545$3,618
    W-4$4,833$3,807
    W-5$5,181$4,101
    Officer — prior enlisted
    O-1E$4,089$3,474
    O-2E$4,488$3,591
    O-3E$4,887$3,735
    Officer
    O-1$3,516$3,084
    O-2$3,741$3,417
    O-3$4,533$3,642
    O-4$5,301$4,053
    O-5$5,853$4,389
    O-6$5,904$4,524
    O-7$5,952$4,605
    PCS compareEssex CO · O-3 · $3,642/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,643/mo · $31,716/yr
    ▼ CUT−$999−$11,988/yr · like −$15,369 of salary

    What this rate means

    O-3 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,331 / month
    San Francisco$5,331
    Hawaii County$3,744
    Miami$3,738
    Monterey$3,723
    San Luis Obispo$3,675
    Essex CO$3,642
    Marin$3,630
    Seattle$3,627
    Chicago$3,603
    Portsmouth$3,555
    Youngstown$1,344

    Essex CO is #30 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,987 a month — $47,844 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at Essex CO0 – $4,605 / month
    E-1$2,589
    E-2$2,589
    E-3$2,589
    E-4$2,589
    E-5$2,910
    E-6$3,102
    E-7$3,288
    E-8$3,537
    E-9$3,606
    W-1$3,225
    W-2$3,534
    W-3$3,618
    W-4$3,807
    W-5$4,101
    O-1E$3,474
    O-2E$3,591
    O-3E$3,735
    O-1$3,084
    O-2$3,417
    O-3$3,642
    O-4$4,053
    O-5$4,389
    O-6$4,524
    O-7$4,605

    Promoting to O-4 here adds $411 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 Essex CO to San Francisco at O-3 is worth $1,689 a month — about 4 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $411 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 24% 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. $3,642 a month of BAH takes more than $3,642 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.