What is E-5 BAH at Rapid City in 2026?

$1,545 per month without dependents ($18,540 per year), effective 01 JAN 2026. with dependents it is $1,986 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.

E-5 BAH at Rapid City 2026 — $1,545/mo without dependents

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

Rapid City/Ellsworth AFB, SD

E-5 · without dependents

$1,545/ month

$18,540 / year

At E-5, this is #200 of 338 stations loaded · high New York City $4,980 · low Fort Chaffee $996

MHA SD264 · ZIPs 57626 57701 57702 57703 57706 57709 +26 more

Your grade is calledARMYSGTUSMCSgtNAVYPO2USAFSSgt

Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$1,981 / mo gross

Other dependency status here$1,986 with dependents

In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial

Rapid City — full sheetTap a row

Grade	With dep.	Without
Enlisted
E-1	$1,800	$1,440
E-2	$1,800	$1,440
E-3	$1,800	$1,440
E-4	$1,800	$1,440
E-5	$1,986	$1,545
E-6	$2,211	$1,656
E-7	$2,307	$1,806
E-8	$2,409	$2,037
E-9	$2,538	$2,094
Warrant officer
W-1	$2,229	$1,746
W-2	$2,349	$2,034
W-3	$2,478	$2,103
W-4	$2,559	$2,226
W-5	$2,664	$2,328
Officer — prior enlisted
O-1E	$2,322	$1,983
O-2E	$2,457	$2,082
O-3E	$2,574	$2,202
Officer
O-1	$2,022	$1,614
O-2	$2,208	$1,929
O-3	$2,475	$2,124
O-4	$2,691	$2,304
O-5	$2,850	$2,361
O-6	$2,871	$2,457
O-7	$2,889	$2,496

What this rate means

E-5 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $4,980 / month

New York City$4,980

Baton Rouge$1,557

Greenville$1,551

Little Rock$1,548

Abilene$1,545

Rapid City$1,545

County Cost Group 790$1,542

Indianapolis$1,533

Louisville$1,533

Fort Hood$1,530

Fort Chaffee$996

Rapid City is #200 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,984 a month — $47,808 a year, untaxed.

Every pay grade at Rapid City0 – $2,496 / month

E-1$1,440

E-2$1,440

E-3$1,440

E-4$1,440

E-5$1,545

E-6$1,656

E-7$1,806

E-8$2,037

E-9$2,094

W-1$1,746

W-2$2,034

W-3$2,103

W-4$2,226

W-5$2,328

O-1E$1,983

O-2E$2,082

O-3E$2,202

O-1$1,614

O-2$1,929

O-3$2,124

O-4$2,304

O-5$2,361

O-6$2,457

O-7$2,496

Promoting to E-6 here adds $111 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 Rapid City to New York City at E-5 is worth $3,435 a month — about 31 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $111 per grade here.

Dependency status is worth 29% 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. $1,545 a month of BAH takes more than $1,545 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.

E-5 without dependents at Rapid City draws $1,545 per month in 2026

What this rate means

Things the rate table doesn't tell you