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-5 without dependents at Lake Charles draws $1,854 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/lake-charles-la/o-5/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Lake Charles, LA
    O-5 · without dependents
    $1,854/ month
    $22,248 / year
    At O-5, this is #307 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $6,162 · low Youngstown $1,593
    MHA LA370 · ZIPs 70601 70602 70605 70606 70607 70609 +15 more
    Your grade is calledARMYLTCUSMCLtColNAVYCDRUSAFLt Col
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,377 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$2,472 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-5 · $1,854/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,934/mo · $35,208/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$1,080+$12,960/yr · like +$16,615 of salary

    What this rate means

    O-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $6,162 / month
    Westchester County$6,162
    Fort Riley$1,875
    Alexandria$1,872
    County Cost Group 670$1,869
    County Cost Group 660$1,857
    Lake Charles$1,854
    Charleston$1,848
    County Cost Group 650$1,848
    Huntington$1,848
    Fort Chaffee$1,842
    Youngstown$1,593

    Lake Charles is #307 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 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-6 here adds $108 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 Westchester County at O-5 is worth $4,308 a month — about 40 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $108 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. $1,854 a month of BAH takes more than $1,854 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.