Military Basic Allowance for Housing Program
Finding a place to live can sometimes be a difficult task for uniformed military men and women and their families. That’s why there’s the Basic Allowance for Housing Program, more commonly known as BAH. If you’re in service and not in a place where government housing is available, you can receive a monthly allowance to pay for your living expenses. This non-taxable money is mean to help ease the costs of rental and mortgage expenses.
Allowances are based on a few factors, including rank, geographic location, and whether or not you have dependents.
- Rank: This factor is pretty basic – the higher your rank, the higher your BAH.
- Location: BAH rates are set in accordance with average monthly rent, therefore differing in each area. In general, if you’re living in an area with a higher-priced real estate market, you’ll receive a higher allowance. Rates change each year, so it’s important to stay current on what your zip code’s rate will be. Be sure to keep in mind that location means the location of your duty, not of your primary residence.
- Dependent status: Because couples and families have higher living costs than those living on their own, if you have dependents, you’ll receive a larger allowance. However, the number of dependents does not matter – if you have one dependent or three dependents, your allowance will be the same.
When using your BAH to cover rental costs, you may end up saving money or spending money depending on your rent. In pricier areas or nicer accommodations that cost more, your BAH may not cover you fully and you may have to chip in some yourself. However, if your BAH comes out to be more than what you pay, you can use the extra to cover additional costs you might have, such as utilities.
As mentioned before, BAH rates do change each year, and the new rates are released sometime between December 15 and January. For 2010, service members have had an overall increase in their allowances. Depending on location, there have been up to 13.6% amount increases, but the average is about 2.5%. While these percentages are not as high as the 2009 increases, it still means that military members are receiving more government money for their housing, which is certainly a good thing.
To find out your BAH rate, plug in your zip code and ranking to this calculator.
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