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
    Dependents
    With $3,894Without $3,258

    W-2 at Washington draws $3,894 per month with dependents in 2026, $3,258 without

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/washington-dc-metro-area/w-2/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Washington, DC Metro Area
    W-2 · with dependents
    $3,894/ month
    $46,728 / year
    At W-2, this is #36 of 338 stations loaded · high Westchester County $6,036 · low Youngstown $1,560
    MHA DC053 · ZIPs 20001 20002 20003 20004 20005 20006 +553 more
    Your grade is calledARMYCW2USMCCWO2NAVYCWO2
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$4,992 / mo gross
    Without dependents here$3,258 / mo
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Washington — full sheetTap a row
    PCS compareWashington · W-2 · $3,894/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,916/mo · $34,992/yr
    ▼ CUT$978−$11,736/yr · like −$15,046 of salary

    What this rate means

    W-2 with dependents, nearest stations0 – $6,036 / month
    Westchester County$6,036
    Marin$3,990
    Burlington$3,984
    Portland$3,936
    Manchester$3,897
    Washington$3,894
    Hawaii County$3,891
    Newport$3,813
    West Palm Beach$3,798
    New Haven$3,786
    Youngstown$1,560

    Washington is #36 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $4,476 a month — $53,712 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at Washington0 – $4,770 / month
    E-1$3,096
    E-2$3,096
    E-3$3,096
    E-4$3,096
    E-5$3,132
    E-6$3,759
    E-7$3,855
    E-8$3,957
    E-9$4,128
    W-1$3,780
    W-2$3,894
    W-3$4,023
    W-4$4,167
    W-5$4,350
    O-1E$3,870
    O-2E$4,002
    O-3E$4,197
    O-1$3,213
    O-2$3,753
    O-3$4,020
    O-4$4,410
    O-5$4,692
    O-6$4,731
    O-7$4,770

    Promoting to W-3 here adds $129 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 Washington to Westchester County at W-2 is worth $2,142 a month — about 17 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $129 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 20% 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. $3,894 a month of BAH takes more than $3,894 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.