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

    W-3 with dependents at Essex CO draws $4,545 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/essex-co-ma/w-3/with/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Essex CO, MA
    W-3 · with dependents
    $4,545/ month
    $54,540 / year
    At W-3, this is #17 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $6,654 · low Anniston $1,689
    MHA MA125 · ZIPs 01810 01812 01830 01831 01832 01833 +33 more
    Your grade is calledARMYCW3USMCCWO3NAVYCWO3
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$5,827 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$3,618 without dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Essex CO — full sheetTap a row
    PCS compareEssex CO · W-3 · $4,545/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$3,075/mo · $36,900/yr
    ▼ CUT$1,470−$17,640/yr · like −$22,615 of salary

    What this rate means

    W-3 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $6,654 / month
    Westchester County$6,654
    Hanscom AFB$4,773
    Kauai County$4,668
    Camp Pendleton$4,662
    Staten Island$4,560
    Essex CO$4,545
    Los Angeles$4,530
    San Diego$4,521
    Portsmouth$4,476
    Miami$4,446
    Anniston$1,689

    Essex CO is #17 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $4,965 a month — $59,580 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at Essex CO0 – $5,952 / month
    E-1$3,282
    E-2$3,282
    E-3$3,282
    E-4$3,282
    E-5$3,477
    E-6$3,744
    E-7$4,032
    E-8$4,344
    E-9$4,755
    W-1$3,765
    W-2$4,158
    W-3$4,545
    W-4$4,833
    W-5$5,181
    O-1E$4,089
    O-2E$4,488
    O-3E$4,887
    O-1$3,516
    O-2$3,741
    O-3$4,533
    O-4$5,301
    O-5$5,853
    O-6$5,904
    O-7$5,952

    Promoting to W-4 here adds $288 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 W-3 is worth $2,109 a month — about 7 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $288 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 26% 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. $4,545 a month of BAH takes more than $4,545 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.