New BAH Rates
When do new BAH rates come out?
In December. The Defense Department's yearly timeline shows new Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates released in December and starting in January.Until then, if you are staying put, plan on the BAH you have now.
This page shows how the rates are set each year, why yours can change, and what keeps it from going down.
Start Here
How the BAH year runs
BAH rates are set again every year, for about 300 housing areas around bases and cities in the United States. The Defense Department's BAH guide shows the year on a timeline. Here it is in four steps.
Spring and summer: rent prices are gathered
The Defense Department gathers what rent and utilities cost in each housing area. It does this during peak moving season, in the spring and summer, when housing markets are most active.
Late summer to fall: the numbers are checked
The Defense Department and the military services review the housing costs. Then the Defense Department works out the new rates.
December: the new rates come out
The services weigh in on the final rates, the Defense Department approves them, and then it releases them. It released the 2025 rates on December 13, 2024, and the 2026 rates on December 11, 2025.
January 1: the new rates start
Federal law says new BAH rates take effect on the same day as the yearly basic pay raise. The law sets that raise for January 1 of each year.
The rents come first. BAH for next year is built from rent prices gathered this spring and summer, so it is not known until the Defense Department releases it.
Sources: BAH Primer, January 2026 (Annual BAH Rate Determination Timeline, page 16). BAH Data Collection, Defense Travel Management Office. DoD Releases 2025 Basic Allowance for Housing Rates, December 13, 2024. Department of War Releases 2026 Basic Allowance for Housing Rates, December 11, 2025. 37 U.S.C. 403(b)(4) and 37 U.S.C. 1009(a). Retrieved 19 October 2026.
Right Now
Where the 2027 rates stand
On October 19, 2026, the newest year in the Defense Department's BAH calculator was 2026. The 2027 rates were not out yet.
When they come out, look up yours in the BAH calculator with your duty station's ZIP code, the year and your pay grade.
Source: BAH rate lookup, Defense Travel Management Office. Checked 19 October 2026.
Up Or Down
Is BAH going up?
Your new rate is not known until the Defense Department releases it. The rate for your area can go up or down.
The Defense Department says rental markets can rise or fall from year to year, and BAH follows them. Each release gives an average change for the whole country. The Defense Department says different rental markets move in different ways, so the change where you live can differ from the average.
The pay raise does not set BAH. The two start on the same day, but federal law bases BAH on housing costs in each area, measured for civilians with incomes like yours. For the 2027 pay raise, see our October 2026 Intel.
Sources: BAH Rate Changes and Rate Protection, Defense Travel Management Office. Department of War Releases 2026 Basic Allowance for Housing Rates, December 11, 2025. 37 U.S.C. 403(b)(1) and (2). Retrieved 19 October 2026.
If Rates Drop
What keeps your BAH from going down
If you keep getting BAH in the same area without a break, a lower new rate does not lower your BAH. This is called rate protection.
The Defense Department pays you the larger of two amounts: the new rate published for January 1, or the BAH you were paid on December 31. You still get any increase.
Rate protection ends when:
- You make a permanent change of station (PCS).
- Your pay grade goes down.
- You go from having dependents to not having them, or the other way. BAH only looks at whether you have dependents, not how many.
A promotion does not end it. If the rate for your new, higher grade is lower than what you were paid, you keep the higher amount.
So a lower new rate reaches only people new to the area, or people with a break in BAH or a change on the list above.
Sources: BAH Rate Changes and Rate Protection and Basic Allowance for Housing (Individual Rate Protection), Defense Travel Management Office. 37 U.S.C. 403(b)(6). Retrieved 19 October 2026.
Your Home Decision
Signing a lease or buying before December
If you sign a lease or buy a home in the fall, next year's BAH is not known yet. If you are staying put, budget on the BAH you have now.
Staying at your duty station? Rate protection means a new rate will not lower your BAH, as long as nothing on the list above changes. It can still go up.
Moving on orders? After a PCS, you get the new duty station's rate, unless an exception is approved. The Defense Department says that if the new station's housing costs less, your BAH there will be lower. Look up the new station in the BAH calculator before you sign anything there.
Own a home? BAH is set from rents, not from what homes cost, so a new rate does not track your mortgage payment.
Sources: DoD Financial Management Regulation, Volume 7A, Chapter 26 (para 10.13.4), retrieved 15 October 2026. BAH Rate Changes and Rate Protection, Defense Travel Management Office. BAH Primer, January 2026. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
What To Ask
Questions for your finance office
The Defense Department says your local finance office or command is the first place to ask about your own BAH. Ask them:
- Is my BAH rate protected, and what would end it?
- If I get orders, when does my BAH change to the new duty station's rate?
Find your installation's finance office on MilitaryINSTALLATIONS.
This page is not legal, tax or financial advice. Your finance office can tell you how BAH rules apply to you.
A page can tell you when BAH changes.An agent who knows military moves can help you weigh a home against your orders and your next move.
Mission Ready Operators know how military life, rank and benefits work, and how orders and moving dates work. Questions about your own BAH belong with your finance office.
Last reviewed October 2026 · Maintained by My Military HQ
Common Questions
Questions people ask about new BAH rates
When do new BAH rates come out?
In December. The Defense Department's yearly timeline for the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) shows new rates released in December and taking effect in January. It released the 2025 rates on December 13, 2024, and the 2026 rates on December 11, 2025.
When do new BAH rates take effect?
January 1. Federal law says new BAH rates take effect on the same day as the yearly basic pay raise, and it sets that raise for January 1 of each year. The Defense Department's releases of the 2025 and 2026 rates both said the new rates take effect January 1.
Is BAH going up next year?
That is not known until the Defense Department releases the new rates. It sets them from the rent prices it gathers each spring and summer, and the rate for an area can go up or down. If you stay in the same area with no break in BAH, and your pay grade and dependents do not change, a lower new rate does not lower your own BAH.
Can BAH go down?
The rate for an area can. The Defense Department says rental markets can go down as well as up. But if you keep getting BAH in that area without a break, you get the larger of the new January 1 rate or what you were paid on December 31. That ends if you make a permanent change of station (PCS), your pay grade goes down, or you go from having dependents to not having them, or the other way.
Why did my BAH go down?
The Defense Department names three ways: a permanent change of station (PCS) to a duty station with lower housing costs, a reduction in pay grade, or a change between having dependents and not having them. It says a promotion does not lower BAH. Your finance office can tell you what happened to yours.
Does the military pay raise increase BAH?
They are set separately. Federal law starts new BAH rates on the same day as the yearly basic pay raise, but it bases BAH on housing costs in each area, measured for civilians with incomes like yours. The Defense Department gathers those rent and utility prices each year.
Sources
Where every fact came from
Every rule on this page comes from federal law or the Defense Department. Where they do not say something, we left it out.
- How the BAH year runs, from the guide's timeline, and BAH set from rents, not home prices. BAH Primer, January 2026, Defense Department (Annual BAH Rate Determination Timeline, page 16, and page 1). Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- About 300 housing areas in the United States, and rent prices gathered in the spring and summer. BAH Data Collection, Defense Travel Management Office. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- The 2025 and 2026 release dates, January 1 start dates, and areas moving differently from the average. DoD Releases 2025 Basic Allowance for Housing Rates, December 13, 2024, and Department of War Releases 2026 Basic Allowance for Housing Rates, December 11, 2025, war.gov. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- New rates start with the pay raise on January 1, BAH based on housing costs, and rate protection. 37 U.S.C. 403(b)(1), (2), (4) and (6) and 37 U.S.C. 1009(a), United States Code. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- Rates going up or down, rate protection, what ends it, promotions, a lower rate after a PCS to a place where housing costs less, and the finance office as the first place to ask. BAH Rate Changes and Rate Protection and Basic Allowance for Housing, Defense Travel Management Office. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- BAH based on your duty station at the time, unless an exception is approved. DoD Financial Management Regulation, Volume 7A, Chapter 26, May 2025 (para 10.13.4). Retrieved 15 October 2026.
- Where the 2027 rates stand, and looking up your rate. BAH rate lookup, Defense Travel Management Office. Checked 19 October 2026.
- Finding your finance office. MilitaryINSTALLATIONS, Military OneSource. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
What we left out on purpose. We give no BAH rates, dollar amounts or average changes: they change every year, so use the calculator. We do not guess what next year's rates will be. How much of your housing cost BAH leaves for you to pay, temporary rate increases, Guard and Reserve members on orders, and overseas housing allowance each have their own rules: ask your finance office.
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