Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, offers housing for active-duty airmen and their families. (Daniel Barnhorst/U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON — Housing allowance rates for service members will increase by an average of 5.4% beginning Jan. 1, the Defense Department announced Friday.
The increased monthly rates represent an estimated $29.2 billion that will be paid to approximately 1 million service members. These amounts, paid monthly, will range from $90 to $202 per service member. The exact amount will vary by pay grade, family size and location of duty station.
“While average [basic allowance for housing] rates increased, different rental markets experienced different market trends, and the 2025 [basic allowance for housing] rates reflect those geographic market condition differences,” according to the Defense Department’s announcement.
Basic allowance for housing, or BAH, provides service members with a comparable allowance based on civilian housing markets within the 50 U.S. states when they live off-base. The housing allowance is not intended to cover all housing costs for a service member. Actual out-of-pocket expenses might be higher or lower than the prescribed rate based on a service member’s choice of housing.
Allowances reflect the costs, including rent and utilities, associated with household rentals by location. Urban areas usually offer higher BAH rates than rural areas due to the generally higher cost of housing.
Rental prices typically change between 2% and 5% from year to year, the Defense Department said. Thus, the housing allowance changes occur almost annually.
But a federal watchdog report in October found allowance boosts in recent years have been insufficient, as service members assigned to locations with high-priced housing markets have resorted to living in recreational vehicles, leaving families behind or working two jobs. The Government Accountability Office said the Pentagon needs to deepen its understanding of property markets in areas with housing shortages, such as Mountain Home, Idaho, Key West, Fla., and Hawaii.
To ensure the housing allowance stays on par with local housing markets, the Defense Department collects rental housing cost data annually for 299 military housing areas across the country, including Alaska and Hawaii.
The rate-setting process considers data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, rental listing websites, and input from the services and local military installation housing offices.
“The department is committed to the preservation of a compensation and benefit structure that provides members with an adequate standard of living to sustain a trained, experienced, and ready force now and in the future,” the Defense Department said.
Service members can calculate their housing allowance by using the Basic Allowance for Housing calculator at: https://www.travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Basic-Allowance-for-Housing/BAH-Rate-Lookup/.
