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-3 with dependents at Meridian draws $1,953 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/meridian-ms/o-3/with/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Meridian, MS
    O-3 · with dependents
    $1,953/ month
    $23,436 / year
    At O-3, this is #302 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $6,633 · low Anniston $1,686
    MHA MS171 · ZIPs 39057 39301 39302 39303 39304 39305 +14 more
    Your grade is calledARMYCPTUSMCCaptNAVYLTUSAFCapt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,504 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$1,527 without dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Meridian — full sheetTap a row
    GradeWith dep.Without
    Enlisted
    E-1$1,194$1,032
    E-2$1,194$1,032
    E-3$1,194$1,032
    E-4$1,194$1,032
    E-5$1,290$1,062
    E-6$1,545$1,155
    E-7$1,692$1,269
    E-8$1,854$1,392
    E-9$2,028$1,521
    Warrant officer
    W-1$1,563$1,173
    W-2$1,758$1,344
    W-3$1,959$1,524
    W-4$2,052$1,572
    W-5$2,169$1,728
    Officer — prior enlisted
    O-1E$1,722$1,293
    O-2E$1,929$1,446
    O-3E$2,070$1,554
    Officer
    O-1$1,329$1,092
    O-2$1,542$1,272
    O-3$1,953$1,527
    O-4$2,202$1,698
    O-5$2,382$1,788
    O-6$2,400$1,938
    O-7$2,412$1,968
    PCS compareMeridian · O-3 · $1,953/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$3,072/mo · $36,864/yr
    ▲ RAISE+$1,119+$13,428/yr · like +$17,215 of salary

    What this rate means

    O-3 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $6,633 / month
    Westchester County$6,633
    County Cost Group 670$1,959
    Sault Ste Marie$1,959
    Beaumont$1,956
    Fort Riley$1,953
    Meridian$1,953
    Alexandria$1,950
    County Cost Group 660$1,944
    Fort Polk$1,938
    Wichita$1,938
    Anniston$1,686

    Meridian is #302 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $4,947 a month — $59,364 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at Meridian0 – $2,412 / month
    E-1$1,194
    E-2$1,194
    E-3$1,194
    E-4$1,194
    E-5$1,290
    E-6$1,545
    E-7$1,692
    E-8$1,854
    E-9$2,028
    W-1$1,563
    W-2$1,758
    W-3$1,959
    W-4$2,052
    W-5$2,169
    O-1E$1,722
    O-2E$1,929
    O-3E$2,070
    O-1$1,329
    O-2$1,542
    O-3$1,953
    O-4$2,202
    O-5$2,382
    O-6$2,400
    O-7$2,412

    Promoting to O-4 here adds $249 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 Meridian to Westchester County at O-3 is worth $4,680 a month — about 19 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $249 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 28% 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. $1,953 a month of BAH takes more than $1,953 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.