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 Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)
BAH is an allowance to offset the cost of housing when you do not receive government-provided housing. Your BAH depends upon your location, pay grade and whether you have dependents. BAH rates are set by surveying the cost of rental properties in each geographic location. The rates are established such that members in each pay grade, independent of location, pay approximately the same out-of-pocket costs. Therefore, BAH rates in high-cost areas will be much greater than those in low-cost areas. BAH rates are published on the Per Diem Committee web page - Click here for more information.
Additionally, there are different types of BAH to compensate for special situations.
BAH Levels and Increases
The Secretary of Defense announced a major FY2001 Budget initiative to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for off-base housing in the United States. This action reduced service members' out-of-pocket costs for housing from an average of 18.8 percent of monthly housing costs in 2000 to 15 percent in 2001, with continued reductions each year thereafter. Average out-of-pocket costs were entirely eliminated in 2005.
Average rental costs in particular locations fluctuate, both up and down. Until 2005 when the transition from the old Basic Allowance for Quarters and Variable Housing Allowance (BAQ/VHA) to BAH is complete, BAH rates did not decrease at any location. Beginning in 2006, BAH rates for an area may follow both the increases and decreases of average rental costs, but no individual’s rate will decrease.
For additional information concerning BAH, contact Office of the Secretary of Defense.
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