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

    E-5 with dependents at San Luis Obispo draws $3,198 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/san-luis-obispo-ca/e-5/with/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    E-5 · with dependents
    $3,198/ month
    $38,376 / year
    At E-5, this is #42 of 338 stations loaded · high San Francisco $5,127 · low Anniston $1,185
    MHA CA392 · ZIPs 93401 93402 93403 93405 93406 93407 +37 more
    Your grade is calledARMYSGTUSMCSgtNAVYPO2USAFSSgt
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$4,100 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$2,679 without dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    San Luis Obispo — full sheetTap a row
    GradeWith dep.Without
    Enlisted
    E-1$3,027$2,358
    E-2$3,027$2,358
    E-3$3,027$2,358
    E-4$3,027$2,358
    E-5$3,198$2,679
    E-6$3,948$2,961
    E-7$4,047$3,036
    E-8$4,152$3,348
    E-9$4,413$3,576
    Warrant officer
    W-1$3,969$2,976
    W-2$4,089$3,345
    W-3$4,218$3,600
    W-4$4,485$3,966
    W-5$4,806$4,068
    Officer — prior enlisted
    O-1E$4,062$3,195
    O-2E$4,200$3,525
    O-3E$4,536$3,942
    Officer
    O-1$3,291$2,853
    O-2$3,939$3,144
    O-3$4,215$3,675
    O-4$4,920$4,047
    O-5$5,430$4,101
    O-6$5,475$4,197
    O-7$5,520$4,272
    PCS compareSan Luis Obispo · E-5 · $3,198/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,478/mo · $29,736/yr
    ▼ CUT−$720−$8,640/yr · like −$11,077 of salary

    What this rate means

    E-5 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,127 / month
    San Francisco$5,127
    San Bernardino$3,288
    Portland$3,252
    Indian Head Navordsta$3,249
    Sitka$3,210
    San Luis Obispo$3,198
    Providence$3,195
    Manchester$3,177
    County Cost Group 890$3,156
    Seattle$3,135
    Anniston$1,185

    San Luis Obispo is #42 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 Luis Obispo0 – $5,520 / month
    E-1$3,027
    E-2$3,027
    E-3$3,027
    E-4$3,027
    E-5$3,198
    E-6$3,948
    E-7$4,047
    E-8$4,152
    E-9$4,413
    W-1$3,969
    W-2$4,089
    W-3$4,218
    W-4$4,485
    W-5$4,806
    O-1E$4,062
    O-2E$4,200
    O-3E$4,536
    O-1$3,291
    O-2$3,939
    O-3$4,215
    O-4$4,920
    O-5$5,430
    O-6$5,475
    O-7$5,520

    Promoting to E-6 here adds $750 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 Luis Obispo to San Francisco at E-5 is worth $1,929 a month — about 3 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $750 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 19% 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. $3,198 a month of BAH takes more than $3,198 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.