In the noble pursuit of safeguarding our nation’s freedom and security, our military personnel make immense sacrifices, including extended periods of time away from their families and loved ones. Recognizing the importance of ensuring their welfare, the United States Armed Forces provide various benefits to assist servicemembers, like the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), an imprescriptible component that alleviates the burden of finding the best place to live.
The calculation of BAH takes considers several factors, including the servicemember’s rank, location, and whether they have dependents. To ensure fairness, BAH rates are determined annually, using data collected by the Department of Defense (DoD) on housing costs in specific geographic areas. These rates are then adjusted to reflect changes in the housing market, ensuring that military personnel receive adequate compensation for their housing expenses.
BAH subsidizations for military personnel in Texas: How much could you claim?
In 2023, Texas experienced a notable boost in BAH rates, bringing relief and better opportunities for military personnel residing in the Lone Star State. This increase comes as a significant development, providing a substantial financial benefit to those serving their country. While the national average witnessed a commendable rise of 12.11%, Texas duty stations, while slightly lower, still enjoyed a respectable average increase of 11.5%.
To define how much money you will receive in BAH benefits, you must first determine how much could be paid, depending on the Texas county where you are living or deployed at. We are going to share a couple of examples of possible scenarios that would determine how much in BAH benefits a military officer could receive.
A military man who lives in Austin, Texas (Military Housing Area: TX272) and his pay grade is E01, would receive $2,163 with dependents and $1,626 without dependents. If that serviceman was in El Paso (Military Housing Area: TX279) and his pay grade is W05, he will receive $1,977 with dependents and $1,770 without dependents.
Now, for Houston (Military Housing Area: TX282), an O07 officer with dependents could claim $3,171, and $2,499 without dependents.
Finding out the BAH benefits you could claim
The website veteran.com it has a complete guide to the BAH benefits you can collect if you are living or deployed in Texas. You could find all the information for the next cities: Abilene, Dyess, Austin, Beaumont, College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Laughlin Air Force Base/Del Rio, El Paso, Brownsville, Houston, Lubbock, Goodfellow Air Force Base, San Antonio, Fort Hood, Wichita Falls/Sheppard Air Force Base, Fort Worth, and Waco.
These are the covered military bases in Texas:
- Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas
- Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, Houston
- Fort Bliss, Fort Bliss, Texas
- Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas
- Goodfellow Air Force Base, Goodfellow AFB, Texas
- Joint Base San Antonio (Lackland, Randolph, Sam Houston), Lackland AFB, Texas
- Laughlin Air Force Base, Laughlin AFB, Texas
- Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas
- Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas
- Naval Air Station Kingsville, Kingsville, Texas
- Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, Texas
- Sheppard Air Force Base, Sheppard AFB, Texas
- U.S. Army Cadet Command 5th Brigade, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio
- U.S. Army Recruiting Command, 5th Medical Recruiting Battalion, San Antonio
- U.S. Army Recruiting Command,, Dallas Battalion, Irving, Texas
- U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Houston Battalion, Houston
- U.S. Army Recruit Command, San Antonio Battalion, Fort Sam Houston, Texas