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-2 without dependents at Lake Charles draws $1,338 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/lake-charles-la/o-2/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Lake Charles, LA
    O-2 · without dependents
    $1,338/ month
    $16,056 / year
    At O-2, this is #323 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $5,091 · low Youngstown $1,176
    MHA LA370 · ZIPs 70601 70602 70605 70606 70607 70609 +15 more
    Your grade is calledARMY1LTUSMC1stLtNAVYLTJGUSAF1st Lt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$1,715 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$1,623 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Lake Charles — full sheetTap a row
    GradeWith dep.Without
    Enlisted
    E-1$1,287$1,188
    E-2$1,287$1,188
    E-3$1,287$1,188
    E-4$1,287$1,188
    E-5$1,356$1,197
    E-6$1,626$1,218
    E-7$1,755$1,317
    E-8$1,893$1,419
    E-9$2,061$1,545
    Warrant officer
    W-1$1,644$1,278
    W-2$1,809$1,413
    W-3$1,983$1,548
    W-4$2,088$1,650
    W-5$2,223$1,785
    Officer — prior enlisted
    O-1E$1,776$1,353
    O-2E$1,956$1,473
    O-3E$2,109$1,617
    Officer
    O-1$1,398$1,215
    O-2$1,623$1,338
    O-3$1,977$1,551
    O-4$2,265$1,755
    O-5$2,472$1,854
    O-6$2,490$1,962
    O-7$2,502$1,992
    PCS compareLake Charles · O-2 · $1,338/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,412/mo · $28,944/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$1,074+$12,888/yr · like +$16,523 of salary

    What this rate means

    O-2 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,091 / month
    New York City$5,091
    County Cost Group 580$1,353
    County Cost Group 570$1,341
    Fort Chaffee$1,341
    Alexandria$1,338
    Lake Charles$1,338
    Cannon AFB$1,335
    County Cost Group 560$1,332
    Stevens Point$1,326
    County Cost Group 550$1,323
    Youngstown$1,176

    Lake Charles is #323 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,915 a month — $46,980 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at Lake Charles0 – $1,992 / month
    E-1$1,188
    E-2$1,188
    E-3$1,188
    E-4$1,188
    E-5$1,197
    E-6$1,218
    E-7$1,317
    E-8$1,419
    E-9$1,545
    W-1$1,278
    W-2$1,413
    W-3$1,548
    W-4$1,650
    W-5$1,785
    O-1E$1,353
    O-2E$1,473
    O-3E$1,617
    O-1$1,215
    O-2$1,338
    O-3$1,551
    O-4$1,755
    O-5$1,854
    O-6$1,962
    O-7$1,992

    Promoting to O-3 here adds $213 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 Lake Charles to New York City at O-2 is worth $3,753 a month — about 18 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $213 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 21% 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. $1,338 a month of BAH takes more than $1,338 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.