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BAH 2026Military housing area CA038

San Diego, CA BAH 2026

DoD’s 2026 housing allowance for every pay grade in the San Diego, CA military housing area, with and without dependents, and the 161 ZIP codes it covers.

  • In force January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026
  • From DoD’s file BAH-ASCII-2026.zip
  • Verified October 13, 2026
On this page5 sections
  1. Rates by grade, 2026
  2. ZIP codes in this area
  3. Installations here
  4. Other areas in California
  5. How these rates work
E‑5 with dependents
$3,975a month12th highest of 338
E‑5 without dependents
$3,147a month
O‑3 with dependents
$4,518a month19th highest of 338
ZIP codes
161in this DoD area
E‑5 with dependents, 2026: this area among all 338

San Diego, CA pays $3,975 a month for an E‑5 with dependents: the 12th highest of 338 areas. The lowest is Anniston/Fort McClellan, AL at $1,185, the highest San Francisco, CA at $5,127. The three ticks split the 338 areas into four equal groups, at $1,626, $2,064, $2,580.

Monthly BAH by grade, 2026

The 2026 rates for each grade, in whole dollars a month, exactly as DoD’s file lists them for CA038. E‑1 to E‑4 with dependents share one rate here.

San Diego, CA (CA038), January 1, 2026 – December 31, 2026, a month
GradeWith dependentsWithout dependents
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 officers
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
Officers with over 4 years of enlisted or warrant service
O‑1E$4,449$3,972
O‑2E$4,506$4,161
O‑3E$4,770$4,398
Officers
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
O‑8†$5,586$4,575
O‑9†$5,586$4,575
O‑10†$5,586$4,575

E‑5, the grade in the summary above, is highlighted. † DoD’s file has three columns after O‑7, equal to O‑7 in every area; DoD labels its columns only through O‑7, so they are read here as O‑8 to O‑10.

ZIP codes in this area

DoD’s 2026 file puts these 161 ZIP codes in San Diego, CA (CA038). The BAH calculator looks up any of them and can compare up to three; the buttons below open it at 92140, the ZIP of MCRD San Diego, or at a ZIP the check below finds in this area.

Show all 161 ZIP codesAll 161 ZIP codes
919xx
91901 91902 91903 91905 91906 91908 91909 91910 91911 91912 91913 91914 91915 91916 91917 91921 91931 91932 91933 91934 91935 91941 91942 91943 91944 91945 91946 91948 91950 91951 91962 91963 91976 91977 91978 91979 91980 91987
920xx
92004 92007 92009 92010 92011 92013 92014 92018 92019 92020 92021 92022 92023 92024 92029 92030 92033 92036 92037 92038 92039 92040 92046 92049 92051 92052 92064 92065 92066 92067 92068 92070 92071 92072 92074 92075 92078 92085 92086 92088 92091 92092 92093 92096
921xx
92101 92102 92103 92104 92105 92106 92107 92108 92109 92110 92111 92112 92113 92114 92115 92116 92117 92118 92119 92120 92121 92122 92123 92124 92126 92127 92128 92129 92130 92131 92132 92134 92135 92136 92137 92138 92139 92140 92142 92143 92145 92147 92149 92150 92152 92153 92154 92155 92158 92159 92160 92161 92163 92165 92166 92167 92168 92169 92170 92171 92172 92173 92174 92175 92176 92177 92178 92179 92182 92186 92187 92191 92192 92193 92195 92196 92197 92198 92199
BAH calculator at 92140Basic pay + BAH + BAS at 92140

Installations whose address is in this area

Military OneSource lists these installations at a ZIP code in CA038; the ZIP shown is the one in each installation’s main contact address.

Other areas in California

Areas whose DoD code starts with CA, with the E‑5 with-dependents rate for 2026.

All 338 areas by state

How these rates work

  • BAH depends on the area, the pay grade and whether the member has dependents; every rate here is a whole-dollar cell of DoD’s 2026 file (BAH-ASCII-2026.zip), not an estimate.
  • Rate protection (37 U.S.C. 403(b)(6)): So long as a member retains uninterrupted eligibility for BAH within an area of the United States, the monthly allowance may not be reduced as a result of changes in housing costs in the area or the member’s promotion. This page can’t know a protected rate; the Leave and Earnings Statement shows it.
  • ZIP codes outside DoD’s file, and the 214 ZIP codes DoD’s file assigns to XX499 (“UNKNOWN”), have no area page.
Alert for BAH 2027 (January 1):RSS feedCalendar (.ics)How these work

Sources

Checked against DoD’s file on October 13, 2026. The data page lists every file’s checksum: BAH data.

  1. BAH rates, all locations and pay grades, 2026 (ASCII)Defense Travel Management Office · read
  2. 37 U.S.C. 403, Basic allowance for housingCornell LII (U.S. Code) · read
  3. MilitaryINSTALLATIONS: installation pages (Main Contact Info addresses)Military OneSource, U.S. Department of Defense · read