Note: Whether it’s health care, retirement benefits, family support and child care, VA benefits or other programs, getting smart about the rewards you have earned is worth your time. Although it is not yet clear to what extent federal cuts will affect DOD programs — including quality-of-life initiatives — these benefits were in place as of this writing.
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The military’s housing stipend, known as the Basic Allowance for Housing, increased by an average of 5.4% per person in January 2025, the same percentage increase troops saw in 2024. Whether service members saw a larger or smaller increase than average depends on their location.
BAH rates are typically adjusted once a year and take effect Jan. 1. However, DOD in the post-pandemic years took additional steps to ease the burden of surging housing costs on service members. The Pentagon provided temporary out-of-cycle increases in BAH for some hard-hit areas in 2021 and 2022; it also bumped up the rate by 12.1%, on average, in 2023 — the largest increase in 15 years.
Meanwhile, the military is continuing to study how BAH is calculated and whether the stipend meets the needs of service members.
What is BAH?
The Basic Allowance for Housing provides compensation for the housing costs of active duty troops stationed in the 50 U.S. states who do not live on government-owned property. Stipend amounts are tied to local market rates and depend on recipients’ rank, whether they have dependents and where they are based.
The tax-free benefit is intended to cover 95% of the estimated average housing costs, including utilities, at each assigned duty post in the United States. Individual service members are expected to pay the remaining 5% of housing costs out of pocket. Congress or the Pentagon could boost the stipend to cover 100% of those projected expenses instead.
Most service members can choose where to live. Those living in privatized housing — owned and operated by civilian companies for the military — also receive BAH, but the allowance typically goes straight to their landlord each month.
If troops can find housing in the civilian community that’s cheaper than the BAH rate for their assigned location, they can pocket the difference. And if homes are more expensive than what BAH will cover, troops pay for the overage.
Those stationed in U.S. territories or overseas who are not provided government housing are eligible for an overseas housing allowance, which is calculated under a separate formula. That allowance partially offsets housing expenses at overseas duty locations when service members live in privately leased housing on the local economy.
How BAH is calculated
DOD conducts a survey to calculate median rental costs for 300 military housing areas, including Alaska and Hawaii. Calculations are based on the rental costs of a one- or two-bedroom apartment, a two- or three-bedroom townhome and a two- or three-bedroom single-family home. The BAH for junior enlisted, for example, might be based on the equivalent of a small apartment, while the allowance for more senior enlisted and officers might be based on the equivalent of a house.
Two rates — with and without dependents — are set for each location. Personnel with at least one dependent, whether a spouse or a child, qualify for the dependents rate. It does not increase for additional family members.
For dual-military couples with no children, both spouses get the without-dependents rate. If the couple has children, one spouse receives the with-dependent BAH rate, while the other gets the without-dependents rate.
BAH varies widely. For details of locations across the country, you can use the Defense Department’s official BAH calculator.
Service members receive BAH rate protection as long as they remain in their home, even if rates drop. However, if they move, are demoted or their dependency status changes, they will receive the rate for their new status.
If rates rise in a location, all service members receive the higher rates, regardless of when they arrived.
Find more information on BAH on DOD’s website.
Basic Needs Allowance
A new Basic Needs Allowance for low-income military families took effect Jan. 1, 2023. The payout is designed to serve as a safety net for individuals whose total family income, including the spouse’s income, falls below 150% of the annual federal poverty guidelines. But for many members, the housing allowance bumps them above the income threshold. The law was changed in late 2024 to expand eligibility to those whose total family income falls below 200% of the annual federal poverty guidelines.
Service officials continually screen service members and notify those who may be eligible. Once people are told they could qualify, they must submit an application and go through a final income screening to determine whether they can receive the benefit.
DOD policy allows service members who believe they may qualify for the benefit, but haven’t been screened as eligible, to apply on their own. They should contact their financial counselors for help.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families.” She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
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