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

$2,850 per month with dependents ($34,200 per year), effective 01 JAN 2026. without dependents it is $2,361 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.

O-5 BAH at Rapid City 2026 — $2,850/mo with 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

O-5 · with dependents

$2,850/ month

$34,200 / year

At O-5, this is #200 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $8,064 · low Youngstown $1,827

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

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Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$3,654 / mo gross

Other dependency status here$2,361 without 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

O-5 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $8,064 / month

Westchester County$8,064

Johnson City$2,895

Dahlonega$2,892

Albuquerque$2,871

Rock Island$2,868

Rapid City$2,850

Fayetteville$2,847

Kansas City$2,847

Lexington$2,841

Lemoore NAS$2,835

Youngstown$1,827

Rapid City is #200 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $6,237 a month — $74,844 a year, untaxed.

Every pay grade at Rapid City0 – $2,889 / month

E-1$1,800

E-2$1,800

E-3$1,800

E-4$1,800

E-5$1,986

E-6$2,211

E-7$2,307

E-8$2,409

E-9$2,538

W-1$2,229

W-2$2,349

W-3$2,478

W-4$2,559

W-5$2,664

O-1E$2,322

O-2E$2,457

O-3E$2,574

O-1$2,022

O-2$2,208

O-3$2,475

O-4$2,691

O-5$2,850

O-6$2,871

O-7$2,889

Promoting to O-6 here adds $21 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 Westchester County at O-5 is worth $5,214 a month — about 248 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $21 per grade here.

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.

None of it is taxed. $2,850 a month of BAH takes more than $2,850 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.

O-5 with dependents at Rapid City draws $2,850 per month in 2026

What this rate means

Things the rate table doesn't tell you