What is O-5 BAH at Fort Polk in 2026?

$1,884 per month without dependents ($22,608 per year), effective 01 JAN 2026. with dependents it is $2,262 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.

O-5 BAH at Fort Polk 2026 — $1,884/mo without dependents

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

Fort Polk, LA

O-5 · without dependents

$1,884/ month

$22,608 / year

At O-5, this is #299 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $6,162 · low Youngstown $1,593

MHA LA115 · ZIPs 70634 70637 70639 70652 70653 70656 +29 more

Your grade is calledARMYLTCUSMCLtColNAVYCDRUSAFLt Col

Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,415 / mo gross

Other dependency status here$2,262 with dependents

In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial

Fort Polk — full sheetTap a row

Grade	With dep.	Without
Enlisted
E-1	$1,206	$1,026
E-2	$1,206	$1,026
E-3	$1,206	$1,026
E-4	$1,206	$1,026
E-5	$1,218	$1,128
E-6	$1,833	$1,374
E-7	$1,872	$1,404
E-8	$1,911	$1,434
E-9	$1,989	$1,527
Warrant officer
W-1	$1,854	$1,392
W-2	$1,887	$1,416
W-3	$1,941	$1,551
W-4	$2,010	$1,839
W-5	$2,100	$1,881
Officer — prior enlisted
O-1E	$1,875	$1,410
O-2E	$1,929	$1,488
O-3E	$2,022	$1,827
Officer
O-1	$1,296	$1,191
O-2	$1,827	$1,407
O-3	$1,938	$1,611
O-4	$2,124	$1,866
O-5	$2,262	$1,884
O-6	$2,277	$1,917
O-7	$2,289	$1,947

What this rate means

O-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $6,162 / month

Westchester County$6,162

County Cost Group 700$1,908

Albany$1,899

Fort Leonard Wood$1,899

County Cost Group 690$1,893

Fort Polk$1,884

Holloman AFB$1,884

Sparta$1,884

County Cost Group 680$1,878

Fort Riley$1,875

Youngstown$1,593

Fort Polk is #299 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 Fort Polk0 – $1,947 / month

E-1$1,026

E-2$1,026

E-3$1,026

E-4$1,026

E-5$1,128

E-6$1,374

E-7$1,404

E-8$1,434

E-9$1,527

W-1$1,392

W-2$1,416

W-3$1,551

W-4$1,839

W-5$1,881

O-1E$1,410

O-2E$1,488

O-3E$1,827

O-1$1,191

O-2$1,407

O-3$1,611

O-4$1,866

O-5$1,884

O-6$1,917

O-7$1,947

Promoting to O-6 here adds $33 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 Polk to Westchester County at O-5 is worth $4,278 a month — about 130 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $33 per grade here.

Dependency status is worth 20% 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. $1,884 a month of BAH takes more than $1,884 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.

O-5 without dependents at Fort Polk draws $1,884 per month in 2026

What this rate means

Things the rate table doesn't tell you