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

    O-5 without dependents at Essex CO draws $4,389 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/essex-co-ma/o-5/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Essex CO, MA
    O-5 · without dependents
    $4,389/ month
    $52,668 / year
    At O-5, this is #18 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $6,162 · low Youngstown $1,593
    MHA MA125 · ZIPs 01810 01812 01830 01831 01832 01833 +33 more
    Your grade is calledARMYLTCUSMCLtColNAVYCDRUSAFLt Col
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$5,627 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$5,853 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Essex CO — full sheetTap a row
    PCS compareEssex CO · O-5 · $4,389/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,934/mo · $35,208/yr
    ▼ CUT$1,455−$17,460/yr · like −$22,385 of salary

    What this rate means

    O-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $6,162 / month
    Westchester County$6,162
    Kauai County$4,503
    Monterey$4,464
    San Diego$4,458
    Staten Island$4,416
    Essex CO$4,389
    Los Angeles$4,386
    Miami$4,323
    West Point$4,269
    Oakland$4,254
    Youngstown$1,593

    Essex CO is #18 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $4,569 a month — $54,828 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-6 here adds $135 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 Westchester County at O-5 is worth $1,773 a month — about 13 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $135 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 33% 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. $4,389 a month of BAH takes more than $4,389 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.