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

Press Enter to look it up.

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
With $3,975 Without $3,147

E-5 at San Diego draws $3,975 per month with dependents in 2026, $3,147 without

Permalink bahratedesk.com/san-diego/ Excel CSV
San Diego, CA
E-5 · with dependents
$3,975/ month
$47,700 / year
At E-5, this is #12 of 338 stations · high San Francisco $5,127 · low Anniston $1,185
MHA CA038 · ZIPs 91901 91902 91903 91905 91906 91908 +155 more
Your grade is called ARMYSGTUSMCSgtNAVYPO2USAFSSgt
Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes $5,096 / mo gross
Without dependents here $3,147 / mo
In government quarters, no dependents $50.10 / mo partial
MHA

One MHA covers the county — 32nd Street, Coronado, North Island, Miramar and MCRD all draw the same rate.

PCS compare San Diego · E-5 · $3,975/mo
San Diego $3,975/mo · $47,700/yr
CURRENT

Pick a station below to see what the move is worth a year, before tax. Orders rarely arrive as one option — add several and rank them.

Differences are annual and untaxed. Rate protection is not applied — a PCS resets you to the new location's current-year rate.

San Diego — full sheet Tap a row
GradeWith dep.Without
Enlisted
E-1 $3,666 $2,763
E-2 $3,666 $2,763
E-3 $3,666 $2,763
E-4 $3,666 $2,763
E-5 $3,975 $3,147
E-6 $4,404 $3,387
E-7 $4,446 $3,678
E-8 $4,488 $4,065
E-9 $4,671 $4,188
Warrant officer
W-1 $4,425 $3,564
W-2 $4,464 $4,062
W-3 $4,521 $4,206
W-4 $4,731 $4,410
W-5 $4,992 $4,455
Officer — prior enlisted
O-1E $4,449 $3,972
O-2E $4,506 $4,161
O-3E $4,770 $4,398
Officer
O-1 $4,032 $3,351
O-2 $4,401 $3,873
O-3 $4,518 $4,248
O-4 $5,082 $4,440
O-5 $5,493 $4,458
O-6 $5,541 $4,494
O-7 $5,586 $4,575

What this rate means

E-5 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,127 / month
San Francisco $5,127
New York City $5,070
Boston $4,791
Northern New Jersey $4,749
Santa Clara County $4,659
Westchester County $4,479
Long Island $4,425
Nantucket $4,344
Maui County $4,329
Hanscom AFB $4,188
Martha's Vineyard $3,984
San Diego $3,975
Florida Keys $3,969
Camp Pendleton $3,963
Cape Cod-Plymouth $3,924
Los Angeles $3,882
Kauai County $3,798
Oakland $3,759
Staten Island $3,735
Honolulu County $3,663
Miami $3,660
Hawaii County $3,594
Anniston $1,185

San Diego is #12 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,942 a month — $47,304 a year, untaxed.

Every pay grade at San Diego0 – $5,586 / month
E-1 $3,666
E-2 $3,666
E-3 $3,666
E-4 $3,666
E-5 $3,975
E-6 $4,404
E-7 $4,446
E-8 $4,488
E-9 $4,671
W-1 $4,425
W-2 $4,464
W-3 $4,521
W-4 $4,731
W-5 $4,992
O-1E $4,449
O-2E $4,506
O-3E $4,770
O-1 $4,032
O-2 $4,401
O-3 $4,518
O-4 $5,082
O-5 $5,493
O-6 $5,541
O-7 $5,586

The pay chart moves this allowance far less than the map does.

Moving from San Diego to San Francisco at E-5 is worth $1,152 a month — about 3 promotions at this grade. Where you are stationed outweighs rank, by a lot.

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.

Source: DoD Defense Travel Management Office, effective 01 JAN 2026. How these rates are sourced and checked.