Military housing allowance covers typical rent near 13 big bases, but a three-bedroom is a stretch

The Basic Allowance for Housing that service members get for living off base rose an average of 4.2% for 2026, the Department of War said when it released the rates in December. We compared those rates with typical rent in the cities next to 13 large bases, and the allowance comes out ahead of typical rent in every one. Whether it covers the home a family actually needs depends on rank and on the market.

For an E-4 with dependents, a junior enlisted rank, the 2026 allowance runs from $1,578 a month at Camp Lejeune to $3,666 in San Diego. That beats the typical rent in every city we checked, by as little as $146 in El Paso and as much as $630 in San Diego and Tacoma.

Three bedrooms is a different story. Our estimated three-bedroom rent tops the E-4 family rate in 10 of the 13 cities, by $10 a month near Fort Campbell up to $679 near Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas.

Two-bedroom rent is within reach everywhere. The E-4 family rate tops our two-bedroom estimate in all 13 cities, though only by $74 in Las Vegas.

Single junior enlisted members are in decent shape. The E-4 rate without dependents covers our one-bedroom estimate in every city, but with little left near Nellis ($54), Fort Carson ($68), and Joint Base San Antonio ($93). An O-3 with dependents can cover a three-bedroom in 11 of the 13 cities. The exceptions are Colorado Springs, $150 short, and Las Vegas, $238 short.

BAH is meant to cover more than rent. The department says median market rents plus utilities such as electricity, heat, and water and sewer go into the calculation, and it keeps a cost-sharing element of 5% of the national average housing cost by pay grade, so members are expected to pay a small part themselves. Our figures are rent alone, so utilities come on top of every number in the table.

The comparisons are also rough by design. BAH is set for a military housing area that's usually bigger than one city, and our bedroom figures are estimates based on HUD fair market rents, scaled to each city's typical rent from the Zillow Observed Rent Index for August 2026. The department also promises that a member who stays eligible at the same location won't see their rate go down, even if local rents fall.

Near Fort Stewart, Hinesville is the clear outlier, with an E-4 family allowance $435 above our three-bedroom estimate. In Norfolk, typical rent is up 7.3% in a year, the fastest of the 13 cities, which could squeeze next year's margin. If orders move you before a lease is up, federal law lets service members end it early, which we explain in breaking a lease for a PCS or deployment.

Sources

• Department of War, 2026 BAH rate release (December 11, 2025), for the average increase, how rates are set, and cost sharing
• Defense Travel Management Office, 2026 BAH rate files, for E-4 and O-3 rates by military housing area
• RentDataNow city rent data, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index, August 2026, with bedroom estimates based on HUD fair market rents