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-5 without dependents at Lake Charles draws $1,785 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/lake-charles-la/w-5/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Lake Charles, LA
    W-5 · without dependents
    $1,785/ month
    $21,420 / year
    At W-5, this is #317 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $5,946 · low Youngstown $1,527
    MHA LA370 · ZIPs 70601 70602 70605 70606 70607 70609 +15 more
    Your grade is calledARMYCW5USMCCWO5NAVYCWO5
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,288 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$2,223 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Lake Charles — full sheetTap a row
    PCS compareLake Charles · W-5 · $1,785/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,892/mo · $34,704/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$1,107+$13,284/yr · like +$17,031 of salary

    What this rate means

    W-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,946 / month
    Westchester County$5,946
    Wichita$1,800
    County Cost Group 610$1,794
    County Cost Group 600$1,788
    Saginaw$1,788
    Lake Charles$1,785
    County Cost Group 590$1,776
    County Cost Group 580$1,764
    Erie$1,764
    County Cost Group 570$1,752
    Youngstown$1,527

    Lake Charles is #317 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $4,419 a month — $53,028 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

    Rates flatten out at the top of each track, which is why the sheet stops at O-7.

    01

    Dependency status is worth 25% 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. $1,785 a month of BAH takes more than $1,785 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.