2023 BAH Calculator

Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is a financial benefit provided to military members to help cover the cost of housing. 

Currently, lawmakers are in talks to get a defense spending bill on the books for 2024. However, at this time, there are no official BAH rates announced for 2024. The Department of Defense has asked for 3.9% increase, but since both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives have not come to an agreement, nothing is final. Be sure to stay with veteran.com to track the latest on any changes in allowances or pay through a defense spending bill.

BAH rates increased by 12.1% in 2023. Use the BAH calculator below to determine your 2023 BAH rate. The calculator requires your pay grade, duty station and zip code to calculate your BAH rate both with and without dependents. 

If unsure of your duty station zip code, use the USPS zip code lookup tool.

Note: The Department of Defense (DoD) bases BAH on the duty station’s zip code, not the residence zip code. Those stationed overseas should use the DoD’s Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) tool.

Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)

Service members assigned to permanent duty in the United States — including Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia — are eligible for BAH if government or base housing is unavailable. Military pay grade, location and dependency status determine BAH rates.

Uniformed services eligible for BAH include the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Space Force, Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Officer Corps.

Veterans, dependents, National Guard and reserve service members can use the Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) Calculator to see estimated monthly housing payments for the GI Bill, which can differ from BAH.

How to Calculate BAH

The DoD collects housing market data from over 300 markets yearly to determine BAH for each area. Data collection includes median rents and utilities to comprise the total housing cost of a particular military housing market.

After verifying the data with local real estate professionals, military housing offices and local leadership, the DoD sets the BAH rate.a

Remember, in order to get an accurate calculation, you’re required to input your zip code, duty station and pay grade. You’ll also have to state whether or not you have dependents. The calculator provides the BAH rate for servicemembers both with and without dependents and shows the monthly and yearly figures. You can access prior years’ rates in the calculator for historical reference.

Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA)

The Department of Veterans Affairs allowance for GI Bill recipients is called a Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA). Veterans, National Guard and reserve service members, military spouses and children using the GI Bill are eligible for MHA funds to help offset housing costs.

Active-duty military members, military spouses and children who live on base can use the GI Bill and receive BAH, but they are ineligible for MHA.

While MHA uses the same BAH rates, the calculations differ.

For MHA rates, use the MHA calculator here.