BAH rates 2026

Read a 2026 table by area, grade, and dependent category

A locality BAH table connects a Military Housing Area with a pay grade and one of two dependent categories. Start with the 2026 duty station ZIP mapping to identify the MHA, then locate the grade and category that you intend to compare. The area name helps confirm the match, but a familiar city name alone is not a substitute for the published mapping. Nearby installations or communities can belong to different areas.

The examples on this page use retained source entries for CA038, CA024, TX270, and VA298. They illustrate how actual published amounts differ across areas and grades without creating separate pages for every location. A selected example is not a national average, a suggested duty station, or an allowance authorization. For a ZIP outside those examples, use the matching annual data rather than copying the nearest displayed city.

What the retained 2026 snapshot contains

The imported 2026 release contains 338 MHA entries, 27 grade columns, and both dependent categories. Its usable ZIP index contains 40,745 codes. The 214 raw ZIP rows marked XX499 UNKNOWN have no corresponding amount in the package and are excluded from calculation. They are not entered as zero or filled from a neighboring area. This distinction matters when investigating why a historical ZIP lookup has no rate.

The grade columns cover E-1 through E-9, W-1 through W-5, O-1E through O-3E, and O-1 through O-10. The published O-7, O-8, O-9, and O-10 amounts match within each area in this release. Keeping those columns makes the historical record faithful to the official table. Repeated amounts do not mean that columns can be silently dropped or that a different officer rate should be estimated.

Keep the TX270 effective date with the historical amount

The 2026 package was updated for Abilene, Texas and Dyess AFB, MHA TX270. The official notice gives May 16, 2026 as the temporary increase’s effective date and December 31, 2026 as its expiration date. The retained November download contains the replacement. The source year therefore identifies an annual dataset, while the notice supplies an additional date boundary for the affected area.

Do not use the replacement amount to calculate an earlier payment period without checking which rate and entitlement rules applied at the time. Multiplying the replacement by twelve also does not reproduce an actual calendar year payment history when the rate began during the year. The historical page preserves the selected release, not a payroll ledger or a complete sequence of every prior version of the annual file.

Compare the two dependent categories without counting people

The 2026 tables provide with dependents and without dependents entries. They do not provide a separate increment for a second child or another additional dependent. Comparing the categories helps explain the published schedule, but selecting one here does not establish that a particular person qualifies as a dependent or that a member is authorized to receive that category.

Likewise, the 2026 locality schedule has a single E-1 column within each category. It does not have a separate BAH entry for less than four months of service. A threshold used in basic pay is not a reason to reduce the housing allowance table entry. Read each allowance’s own source rather than carrying a condition from a different pay table into this historical rate comparison.

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Compare years using the same lookup conditions

A meaningful comparison holds the MHA, pay grade, and dependent category constant and identifies the source date for each year. Changing a grade or location at the same time answers a different question. If a later ZIP mapping differs, confirm whether the area definition or mapping changed before treating the amounts as a simple increase or decrease for the same locality.

The existence of a 2026 snapshot does not supply a 2025 baseline or a future 2027 rate. A year comparison needs the actual published entry for both years. Without both, a percentage calculation would be an assumption. This page does not apply a general national adjustment to derive missing values, and it does not present an absent comparison as a zero percent change.

Distinguish a historical table from a personal payment

A service member’s payment during 2026 could differ from a newly published amount because of individual rate protection or circumstances outside a locality lookup. The table alone does not show a protected prior amount, government housing, the dates covered by orders, or an authorized location exception. A historical amount is evidence of a published schedule, not a decision that a past payment was correct or incorrect.

For a payment question, retain the relevant year, MHA, grade, dependent category, monthly amount, source date, and effective period. Bring those public lookup details to the servicing finance office along with the personal records it requests through its official process. The website does not need copies of those records to explain its public table. Its purpose is to keep the reference year and source clear.

Why the 2026 page stays available

A new annual release should not overwrite the identity of a previous dataset. This page remains a 2026 reference for checking old comparisons, documenting the retained import, and understanding the temporary adjustment. Current year pages can change their active dataset after a verified release; the historical label here continues to describe the snapshot that was actually downloaded in November 2026.

The data source page records the official publication and the retrieval method. All 18,252 combinations of MHA, grade, and dependent category in this snapshot agreed with the specified comparison CSV. That check supports the import but does not turn this independent website into a government publisher. Official notices and applicable rules remain the authority when a historical source or a personal entitlement requires further interpretation.