Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is a reimbursement paid to active military personnel living with the U.S. but not living in government furnished housing such as barracks.
Your monthly BAH pay is based on your location, rank and dependency status. The country is divided into 381 Military Housing Areas (MHAs). MHAs are named after the closest military base or major city. These differing locality rates allow for granular calculation of average cost of renting in your area.
BAH rates are set by the Department of Defense. Rates are designed to cover the median cost of rental housing in the area surrounding your duty station.
Military personnel with dependents are paid a slightly higher allowance than those without dependents. Allowance rates are based on the Military Housing Area where your duty station is, not where you live. If you choose to live farther away from your duty station and commute your housing allowance may not equal your expenses exactly. If you spend more on housing than your allowance you would have to pay the remainder out-of-pocket. If you spend less than your allowance on housing you can keep the extra.
Dual Allowance occurs when a uniformed member is married to a uniformed member. Dual military couples without dependents will each receive their regular BAH. For military couples with dependents the higher ranking member will receive their with-dependents rate while the lower ranking service member will receive their without-dependents allowance.
Should you be in the midst of a divorce or contemplating divorce, contact the Law Offices of Renee Lazar at 978-844-4095 to schedule a FREE one hour no obligation consultation with an attorney experienced in handling Massachusetts military divorce cases.