What is E-5 BAH at Fort Chaffee in 2026?

$996 per month without dependents ($11,952 per year), effective 01 JAN 2026. with dependents it is $1,263 per month.

Does BAH count as taxable income?

No. BAH is excluded from federal taxable income, so a given BAH amount is worth more than the same figure in basic pay.

What happens if my BAH rate drops this year?

BAH rate protection holds you at the prior year's amount as long as your duty location, pay grade and dependency status stay the same. The lower rate applies to members arriving on new orders.

E-5 BAH at Fort Chaffee 2026 — $996/mo without dependents

Basic Allowance for Housing by duty station, pay grade and dependency status. Official DoD rates, no login, no email.

Fort Chaffee/Fort Smith, AR

E-5 · without dependents

$996/ month

$11,952 / year

At E-5, this is #338 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $4,980 · low Fort Chaffee $996

MHA AR012 · ZIPs 72901 72902 72903 72904 72905 72906 +41 more

Your grade is calledARMYSGTUSMCSgtNAVYPO2USAFSSgt

Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$1,277 / mo gross

Other dependency status here$1,263 with dependents

In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial

Fort Chaffee — full sheetTap a row

Grade	With dep.	Without
Enlisted
E-1	$1,173	$879
E-2	$1,173	$879
E-3	$1,173	$879
E-4	$1,173	$879
E-5	$1,263	$996
E-6	$1,680	$1,260
E-7	$1,785	$1,338
E-8	$1,893	$1,419
E-9	$2,028	$1,521
Warrant officer
W-1	$1,701	$1,278
W-2	$1,827	$1,371
W-3	$1,965	$1,524
W-4	$2,052	$1,701
W-5	$2,166	$1,809
Officer — prior enlisted
O-1E	$1,803	$1,353
O-2E	$1,944	$1,458
O-3E	$2,070	$1,674
Officer
O-1	$1,320	$1,077
O-2	$1,677	$1,341
O-3	$1,962	$1,527
O-4	$2,199	$1,785
O-5	$2,370	$1,842
O-6	$2,388	$1,944
O-7	$2,400	$1,974

What this rate means

E-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $4,980 / month

New York City$4,980

Meridian$1,062

Altus AFB$1,032

Monroe$1,023

Youngstown$1,017

Fort Chaffee$996

Fort Chaffee is #338 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,984 a month — $47,808 a year, untaxed.

Every pay grade at Fort Chaffee0 – $1,974 / month

E-1$879

E-2$879

E-3$879

E-4$879

E-5$996

E-6$1,260

E-7$1,338

E-8$1,419

E-9$1,521

W-1$1,278

W-2$1,371

W-3$1,524

W-4$1,701

W-5$1,809

O-1E$1,353

O-2E$1,458

O-3E$1,674

O-1$1,077

O-2$1,341

O-3$1,527

O-4$1,785

O-5$1,842

O-6$1,944

O-7$1,974

Promoting to E-6 here adds $264 a month. The pay chart moves this allowance far less than the map does.

Where you are stationed outweighs what you are paid. Moving from Fort Chaffee to New York City at E-5 is worth $3,984 a month — about 15 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $264 per grade here.

Dependency status is worth 27% 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.

None of it is taxed. $996 a month of BAH takes more than $996 of basic pay to match, which is why comparing a civilian salary against military base pay alone understates the gap.

Things the rate table doesn't tell you

“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.

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.

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.

E-5 without dependents at Fort Chaffee draws $996 per month in 2026

What this rate means

Things the rate table doesn't tell you