BAH with or without dependents, partial BAH, BAH-DIFF and RC/T

With dependents or without: who counts

Locality BAH has two columns, and the with-dependents column needs at least one eligible dependent (FMR 7A, ch. 26, 3.1.1). The FMR sorts dependents into two groups:

• Primary dependents — a spouse and children as the FMR defines them. Their support is assumed.
• Secondary dependents — a college-age student, an incapacitated adult child, a parent or stepparent, or a legal ward. For these, you must show that you provide more than half of the person’s support; it is never assumed (3.1.1.2).

Marriage to another service member has its own rules (4.5). A spouse who is on active duty and entitled to basic pay can’t be counted as a dependent. Two married members with no other dependents are each treated as without dependents. If they have one or more dependents between them and aren’t assigned government quarters, generally only one of them can draw the with-dependents rate. If they jointly occupy family-type government quarters, neither draws BAH.

How much the column choice is worth depends on the location, not on a national formula. For an E-5 in 2026:

The three non-locality rates

DTMO’s 2026 PDF, effective January 1, 2026, lists three fixed national rates by grade. Each one traces back to the old Basic Allowance for Quarters (BAQ) as it stood on December 31, 1997, and each is adjusted differently: DTMO’s note says the RC/T rates move with the average change in housing costs, BAH-DIFF moves with the basic pay raise, and partial BAH stays constant.

Partial BAH

Partial BAH is paid to a member without dependents who is assigned to single-type government quarters and isn’t authorized BAH or the Overseas Housing Allowance (FMR 5.5.1). The rate is the partial quarters rate for your grade that was in effect on December 31, 1997 (5.5.2), which is why it is so small: $8.70 a month for an E-5. The FMR lists the cases where it applies, including dual-military couples with no other dependents living in single quarters, and the cases where it doesn’t — for example, a single member assigned to family-type quarters.

BAH-DIFF

BAH differential is for a member in single-type government quarters who pays child support. The statute and the FMR set the same test: the support you pay must be at least the BAH-DIFF rate for your grade, or no BAH-DIFF is paid for that month (37 U.S.C. 403; FMR 5.6.1). The rate is the 1997 difference between the with- and without-dependents BAQ for your grade, raised each year by the average pay raise (5.6.2).

RC/T: Reserve Component and transit

DTMO’s table labels one pair of columns “BAH RC/T.” The FMR uses the same fixed rate for two situations:

• BAH-RC — a Reserve Component member called or ordered to active duty, unless one of the locality exceptions below applies (10.5.1).
• BAH-Transit — a member in a travel or leave status between duty stations who isn’t assigned government quarters at either end and has no other housing allowance payable (10.10).

Reserve and Guard members: the 31-day line

For a Reserve Component member, the length and purpose of the orders decide the type (FMR 10.5.2 and 10.5.3):

1. Orders for 30 days or fewer, not for a contingency operation: BAH-RC starts on the first day of active duty.
2. Orders in support of a contingency operation, any length: locality BAH (or OHA) based on your primary residence, from day one.
3. Orders for 31 days or more: locality BAH or OHA. For active duty other than training lasting 31 to 180 days, the rate is based on your primary residence for the whole tour. Members without dependents in initial entry training are the exception.
4. A short order extended to 31 days or more: locality BAH starts on the date of the extension, and BAH-RC stops that day. Separate tours with a break in service can’t be added together to reach 31 days.

When orders reach 140 days or more for training, or 181 days or more for other duty, and a household goods move is authorized, the rate generally switches to the duty station’s (10.5.3). The FMR’s Table 26-41 gives examples of how extended or amended orders change the allowance.

Worked example: one E-5 reservist, two sets of orders

Take an E-5 Reserve member with dependents whose primary residence is in Norfolk, Virginia (ZIP 23511).

• 20-day order, not for a contingency: the BAH-RC rate with dependents, $1,403.70 a month.
• 45-day order for duty other than training: locality BAH at the primary residence, $2,430 a month.

The longer order is worth $1,026.30 a month more in housing allowance — the difference between the fixed national rate and the Norfolk locality rate. The same E-5 living near Fort Bragg (28307) would see a smaller gap: $1,806 against $1,403.70.

On one scale, an E-5’s six possible rates line up like this in Norfolk: locality with dependents $2,430, locality without $1,908, RC/T with $1,403.70, RC/T without $1,052.70, BAH-DIFF $380.10 and partial BAH $8.70.

Rate protection doesn’t cover everything

Locality BAH is protected: it can’t drop while you keep uninterrupted eligibility at the same location, even if area rates fall or you’re promoted (37 U.S.C. 403(b)(6); FMR 5.2). For a Reserve member, the FMR says that protection lasts only without a break in active service of one or more calendar days. A temporary BAH increase has no rate protection at all (5.3.4).

The rules in this guide are the common cases. Secretarial waivers, dependents living apart, overseas assignments and family separation housing all have their own paragraphs in chapter 26, and your finance office applies them to your orders.

Next step

Open the “Other BAH types” panel in the BAH calculator to see partial BAH, RC/T and BAH-DIFF for every grade next to your locality rate, or put a housing type into the military pay calculator to see it in your monthly total.

This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Your finance office decides which housing allowance your orders and family situation support.