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

    W-3 without dependents at Washington draws $3,471 per month in 2026

    Permalinkbahratedesk.com/washington-dc-metro-area/w-3/without/ExcelCSVDownloads cover this station.
    Washington, DC Metro Area
    W-3 · without dependents
    $3,471/ month
    $41,652 / year
    At W-3, this is #37 of 338 stations loaded · high San Francisco $5,301 · low Youngstown $1,341
    MHA DC053 · ZIPs 20001 20002 20003 20004 20005 20006 +553 more
    Your grade is calledARMYCW3USMCCWO3NAVYCWO3
    Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$4,450 / mo gross
    Other dependency status here$4,023 with dependents
    In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
    Washington — full sheetTap a row
    PCS compareWashington · W-3 · $3,471/mo
    Aberdeen Proving Grounds$2,619/mo · $31,428/yr
    ▼ CUT$852−$10,224/yr · like −$13,108 of salary

    What this rate means

    W-3 without dependents, nearest stations0 – $5,301 / month
    San Francisco$5,301
    Seattle$3,549
    Portsmouth$3,519
    West Palm Beach$3,519
    Vandenberg SFB$3,498
    Washington$3,471
    Burlington$3,453
    Riverside$3,453
    Vallejo$3,435
    Portland$3,423
    Youngstown$1,341

    Washington is #37 of 338. The spread between the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $3,960 a month — $47,520 a year, untaxed.

    Every pay grade at Washington0 – $4,071 / month
    E-1$2,409
    E-2$2,409
    E-3$2,409
    E-4$2,409
    E-5$2,832
    E-6$3,057
    E-7$3,099
    E-8$3,261
    E-9$3,447
    W-1$3,096
    W-2$3,258
    W-3$3,471
    W-4$3,777
    W-5$3,876
    O-1E$3,129
    O-2E$3,405
    O-3E$3,753
    O-1$3,054
    O-2$3,126
    O-3$3,531
    O-4$3,855
    O-5$3,909
    O-6$3,999
    O-7$4,071

    Promoting to W-4 here adds $306 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 San Francisco at W-3 is worth $1,830 a month — about 6 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $306 per grade here.

    02

    Dependency status is worth 16% 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. $3,471 a month of BAH takes more than $3,471 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.