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-5 without dependents at San Diego draws $4,458 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/san-diego/o-5/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    San Diego, CA
    O-5 · without dependents
    $4,458/ month
    $53,496 / year
    At O-5, this is #2 of 17 stations loaded · high Camp Pendleton $4,548 · low Fort Riley $1,875
    MHA CA038 · ZIPs 92101 92132 92136
    Your grade is calledARMYLTCUSMCLtColNAVYCDRUSAFLt Col
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$5,715 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$5,493 with dependents
    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.

    San Diego — full sheetTap 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
    PCS compareSan Diego · O-5 · $4,458/mo
    Fort Bragg$2,109/mo · $25,308/yr
    ▼ CUT−$2,349−$28,188/yr · like −$36,138 of salary

    What this rate means

    O-5 without dependents, every station0 – $4,548 / month
    Camp Pendleton$4,548
    San Diego$4,458
    Honolulu County$4,224
    JB Elmendorf-Richardson$3,162
    JB Lewis-McChord$3,030
    Norfolk$2,625
    Fort Stewart$2,520
    Fort Carson$2,517
    Fort Campbell$2,334
    Fort Drum$2,244
    Fort Bliss$2,172
    Fort Hood$2,169
    Fort Bragg$2,109
    San Antonio (JBSA)$2,100
    Camp Lejeune$2,016
    Fort Benning$2,013
    Fort Riley$1,875

    San Diego is #2 of 17. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $2,673 a month — $32,076 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at San Diego0 – $4,575 / month
    E-1$2,763
    E-2$2,763
    E-3$2,763
    E-4$2,763
    E-5$3,147
    E-6$3,387
    E-7$3,678
    E-8$4,065
    E-9$4,188
    W-1$3,564
    W-2$4,062
    W-3$4,206
    W-4$4,410
    W-5$4,455
    O-1E$3,972
    O-2E$4,161
    O-3E$4,398
    O-1$3,351
    O-2$3,873
    O-3$4,248
    O-4$4,440
    O-5$4,458
    O-6$4,494
    O-7$4,575

    Promoting to O-6 here adds $36 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 San Diego to Camp Pendleton at O-5 is worth $90 a month — about 3 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $36 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 23% 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. $4,458 a month of BAH takes more than $4,458 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.