Methodology
Methodology and checks
Every rate on this site is copied from the Defense Travel Management Office's annual BAH files. Nothing is estimated or projected.
Data
- Rates: DTMO "All BAH rates" ASCII download for 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026: with-dependents and without-dependents files (24 pay grades each), housing-area names, and the ZIP-to-housing-area file (40,959 ZIP codes in 2026).
- Abilene/Dyess AFB (TX270): the 2026 files include DTMO's temporary increase effective 16 May 2026. The original 1 January rates come from DTMO's Excel file and are used only for 2025-to-2026 comparisons.
- Rent/utility split, cost-sharing amounts and non-locality rates: DTMO supplemental documents for 2026.
- Counties: each ZIP's county is the county with the largest land overlap in the Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA-to-county relationship file. ZCTAs approximate ZIP codes, so county lists are indicative.
- Installations: 127 installations with a ZIP code on or at the installation; each ZIP is checked against DTMO's ZIP file at every build.
Updates
DTMO publishes new rates each December. One command downloads the new files, rebuilds every page and re-runs the checks below; the 2027 tables will replace these when they are out.
Verification
On 2026-10-28 we checked 20 random lookups (ZIP → housing area → grade and dependency) produced by this site's data against DTMO's separately published Excel version of the 2026 tables (2026 BAH Rates - Updated with TX270 Temporary Increase.xlsx). 20 of 20 matched exactly. A full comparison of all 16,224 rates (338 areas × 24 grades × 2) found 0 differences. ZIP-to-housing-area assignments come from DTMO's ZIP file; DTMO's interactive calculator blocks automated access, so it was not queried.
| ZIP | Grade | MHA | This site | DTMO table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99551 | E-7 without | AK404 | $2,283 | $2,283 | ✓ |
| 90031 | W-5 without | CA037 | $4,341 | $4,341 | ✓ |
| 94564 | O-5 with | CA018 | $5,133 | $5,133 | ✓ |
| 08888 | E-7 without | NJ203 | $3,219 | $3,219 | ✓ |
| 93616 | E-3 with | CA022 | $2,175 | $2,175 | ✓ |
| 33804 | E-2 with | ZZ830 | $2,097 | $2,097 | ✓ |
| 07606 | E-7 without | NJ202 | $4,299 | $4,299 | ✓ |
| 77611 | E-2 without | TX273 | $1,251 | $1,251 | ✓ |
| 85252 | E-5 with | AZ013 | $2,289 | $2,289 | ✓ |
| 24328 | E-5 without | ZZ640 | $1,161 | $1,161 | ✓ |
| 42275 | O-6 with | ZZ750 | $2,601 | $2,601 | ✓ |
| 02205 | E-8 without | MA120 | $4,803 | $4,803 | ✓ |
| 72165 | E-6 with | ZZ510 | $1,626 | $1,626 | ✓ |
| 37314 | W-1 without | ZZ560 | $1,257 | $1,257 | ✓ |
| 96101 | O-4 without | ZZ750 | $2,019 | $2,019 | ✓ |
| 34608 | W-1 without | ZZ880 | $2,610 | $2,610 | ✓ |
| 94806 | E-6 with | CA018 | $4,113 | $4,113 | ✓ |
| 06723 | W-2 with | CT051 | $3,786 | $3,786 | ✓ |
| 94922 | W-2 without | CA027 | $3,408 | $3,408 | ✓ |
| 01128 | W-5 with | MA126 | $3,702 | $3,702 | ✓ |
Files used
The full list of downloaded files, with download dates and checksums, is on the sources page.