BAH 2026: how rates are set and how to look up your ZIP

How DoD builds a BAH rate

The law tells the Secretary of Defense to base BAH on the cost of adequate housing for civilians with comparable incomes in the same area (37 U.S.C. 403(b)). DoD’s 2026 release describes the process in plain terms: it collects rental housing costs every year, uses median market rents plus utilities (electricity, heat, water and sewer), prices six housing profiles by dwelling type and number of bedrooms, and then sets a rate for each pay grade, with and without dependents. Since September 2025, DoD releases like this one use the secondary name Department of War; the allowance and the law behind it are unchanged.

The geography works through military housing areas (MHAs). The Financial Management Regulation (FMR) defines an MHA by ZIP code: big military areas get their own code, such as CA038 for San Diego, and small ones are grouped into county cost groups (FMR Vol. 7A, ch. 26, 5.1.4). So the lookup always runs in the same order:

1. Your permanent duty station’s ZIP code points to one MHA.
2. The MHA has one row of rates for 27 pay grades.
3. Your grade and dependency status pick one cell in that row.

Two rules in the statute shape the table. First, members still pay a share: the rate is the local cost of adequate housing minus a percentage of the national average cost, capped at 5% for every year after 2018 (37 U.S.C. 403(b)(3)). For 2026, DoD kept that share at 5%, which it says works out to $93 to $212 a month depending on grade and dependency status. Second, E-1 through E-4 members with dependents get a single rate in each MHA (403(b)(5)). In San Diego, for example, an E-1 and an E-4 with dependents both draw $3,666 a month.

What changed for 2026, and when 2027 comes

DoD released the 2026 rates on December 11, 2025. They took effect January 1, 2026, with an average increase of 4.2%↗, an estimated $29.9 billion paid to about one million service members. The law ties the effective date to the annual basic pay raise, which is why new BAH rates start on January 1 each year (403(b)(4)).

An average is only an average. DoD’s release notes that different rental markets moved differently, so some MHAs rose more than 4.2% and some less. Where an area’s rate did fall, members already drawing BAH there keep their old amount — that’s what rate protection, below, is for.

As for 2027: DoD hasn’t published 2027 BAH rates as of October 6, 2026. Because the 2026 rates came out on December 11, 2025, and the law ties the effective date to the January 1 pay raise, watch for the 2027 file in December. The Abilene temporary rates described below end on December 31, 2026, and TX270 then moves to whatever DoD sets for 2027. We’ll log the new rates, with their source and date, on the change log.

Rate protection: why your LES may not match the table

The statute is direct: as long as you keep uninterrupted BAH eligibility in an area of the United States, your monthly BAH can’t be reduced because housing costs there change or because you’re promoted (403(b)(6)). The FMR adds that protection also covers changes in the national cost figure, and that a Reserve Component member keeps it only without a break in active service of one or more days (FMR 7A, ch. 26, 5.2).

In practice:

• If your area’s 2026 rate is lower than your 2025 rate and you didn’t move, you keep the higher amount.
• If you arrive at a new duty station, you get that location’s current rate.
• If you’re demoted or lose BAH eligibility, protection at the old amount ends and the current rate becomes your new protected rate.

A table lookup — ours or DTMO’s — can’t know a protected amount you already receive. Your LES shows it.

The 2026 mid-year exception: Abilene and Dyess AFB

Rates are normally fixed for the calendar year, but there was one exception in 2026. The Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) announced on May 13, 2026, that DoD temporarily raised 2026 rates for the Abilene, Texas / Dyess AFB area (MHA TX270), effective May 16, 2026. DTMO says the new rates are about 24% higher on average, from 18% to 28% depending on grade and dependency, that eligible members receive them automatically, and that they expire on December 31, 2026.

For an E-5, the Abilene numbers from DoD’s rate file look like this:

That’s $318 a month more with dependents and $258 more without. DTMO says rates for 2027 will be announced later and may be different. The statute’s temporary-increase authorities in 403(b)(7) and (b)(8) both carry an end date of December 31, 2026, as the law reads on October 6, 2026.

Three regions, one grade: a worked example

Here is the same E-5 at five duty stations in different parts of the country. Each rate comes from DoD’s 2026 file through our BAH calculator, as of October 6, 2026.

Read across a row and the difference between with and without dependents isn’t a fixed amount: it’s $828 in San Diego but $279 at Fort Bragg. Read down a column and the spread between duty stations is bigger than any annual change. San Diego pays $2,169 more a month than Fort Bragg/Pope for an E-5 with dependents — $26,028 over a year.

Grade matters the same way. An O-3 with dependents draws $4,518 in San Diego, $2,694 in Norfolk and $2,175 at Fort Bragg.

How to look up the right rate for your ZIP

1. Use your permanent duty station’s ZIP code. DTMO’s lookup page says BAH is “based on the member’s rank, dependency status, and permanent duty station zip code.” In the usual case, where you choose to live doesn’t change the rate; exceptions, such as Reserve orders paid on your primary residence, are in the BAH types guide.
2. Use the first five digits. A ZIP+4 such as 92136-1234 gives the same answer as 92136 ($3,975 for an E-5 with dependents).
3. Pick your pay grade and dependency status. Who counts as a dependent, and what happens when two service members are married to each other, is covered in BAH with or without dependents, partial BAH, BAH-DIFF and RC/T.
4. Pick the right date. For 2026 the date only matters in TX270 (May 15 vs. May 16). From January 1, 2027, the 2027 file applies.
5. Watch for ZIPs that aren’t BAH locations. DoD’s 2026 file maps 214 ZIP codes to “XX499; UNKNOWN” — Puerto Rico’s 00601 is one. Those locations don’t have a BAH row; ask your finance office, since overseas housing and cost-of-living allowances may apply instead.
6. Compare with your LES. If the LES shows more than the table, rate protection is the likely reason. If it shows less, ask your finance office.

Next step

Enter your duty station’s ZIP, grade and dependency status in the BAH calculator to see your 2026 rate, compare up to three ZIPs on one scale, and check the Abilene dates. To see BAH next to basic pay and BAS, use the military pay calculator.

This is general information, not financial or tax advice. Your Leave and Earnings Statement and your finance office are the final word on your pay.