2026 Fort Belvoir BAH Rates: DC053 Table and Planner

Updated August 2026 · Rates effective January 1, 2026.

The 2026 Fort Belvoir BAH rates range from $2,409 to $4,071 per month without dependents and $3,096 to $4,770 per month with dependents, depending on pay grade. Fort Belvoir is part of the Washington, DC Metro Area Military Housing Area, identified by DoD as MHA DC053.

See what your BAH could support

  1. Choose your pay grade and dependency status.
  2. Adjust the rate, taxes, insurance, HOA, and added budget.
  3. Compare the illustration with your complete monthly costs.
Build a home-price scenario
Zero-down VA planning illustration—not a preapproval or loan estimate.

Use the complete table below to compare monthly and annual Basic Allowance for Housing amounts by rank. Then use the housing and commute guidance to translate the allowance into a realistic Northern Virginia home-search budget.

E-5 with dependents$3,132/mo$37,584 per year
E-5 without dependents$2,832/mo$33,984 per year
Military Housing AreaDC053Washington, DC Metro Area

2026 Fort Belvoir BAH increase

For an E-5, the with-dependents rate increased from $2,952 in 2025 to $3,132 in 2026—an increase of $180 per month. The without-dependents rate increased from $2,679 to $2,832—an increase of $153 per month.

Source: 2026 Department of Defense BAH rate data for MHA DC053 and the official BAH Rate Lookup. Verify your individual entitlement with your servicing finance office before making a housing commitment.

Fort Belvoir BAH home-price scenario planner

Turn your published BAH into a zero-down VA-loan planning scenario. Adjust every assumption before treating the result as useful.

Illustrative PITI + HOA home-price scenario
Monthly BAH
Modeled P&I + tax + insurance + HOA
Principal + interest
Taxes + insurance + HOA

Planning estimate only: This is not a loan estimate, preapproval, or promise that BAH will qualify as income. It assumes a 30-year fixed VA loan with zero down and finances the selected funding fee. The displayed budget includes modeled principal, interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, and HOA or condo fees. It excludes utilities, maintenance, repairs, parking, tolls, commuting costs, and cash that may be needed at closing. Lenders also evaluate income, debts, credit, residual income, entitlement, appraisal, occupancy, and property eligibility.

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Compare Fort Belvoir commute and community tradeoffs in the paired PCS guide.

2026 Fort Belvoir BAH rates for enlisted members

Pay grade With dependents Without dependents
E-1 $3,096/mo$37,152/year $2,409/mo$28,908/year
E-2 $3,096/mo$37,152/year $2,409/mo$28,908/year
E-3 $3,096/mo$37,152/year $2,409/mo$28,908/year
E-4 $3,096/mo$37,152/year $2,409/mo$28,908/year
E-5 $3,132/mo$37,584/year $2,832/mo$33,984/year
E-6 $3,759/mo$45,108/year $3,057/mo$36,684/year
E-7 $3,855/mo$46,260/year $3,099/mo$37,188/year
E-8 $3,957/mo$47,484/year $3,261/mo$39,132/year
E-9 $4,128/mo$49,536/year $3,447/mo$41,364/year

2026 Fort Belvoir BAH rates for warrant officers

Pay grade With dependents Without dependents
W-1 $3,780/mo$45,360/year $3,096/mo$37,152/year
W-2 $3,894/mo$46,728/year $3,258/mo$39,096/year
W-3 $4,023/mo$48,276/year $3,471/mo$41,652/year
W-4 $4,167/mo$50,004/year $3,777/mo$45,324/year
W-5 $4,350/mo$52,200/year $3,876/mo$46,512/year

2026 Fort Belvoir BAH rates for officers

Pay grade With dependents Without dependents
O-1E $3,870/mo$46,440/year $3,129/mo$37,548/year
O-2E $4,002/mo$48,024/year $3,405/mo$40,860/year
O-3E $4,197/mo$50,364/year $3,753/mo$45,036/year
O-1 $3,213/mo$38,556/year $3,054/mo$36,648/year
O-2 $3,753/mo$45,036/year $3,126/mo$37,512/year
O-3 $4,020/mo$48,240/year $3,531/mo$42,372/year
O-4 $4,410/mo$52,920/year $3,855/mo$46,260/year
O-5 $4,692/mo$56,304/year $3,909/mo$46,908/year
O-6 $4,731/mo$56,772/year $3,999/mo$47,988/year
O-7/O-7+ $4,770/mo$57,240/year $4,071/mo$48,852/year

How Fort Belvoir BAH works

BAH follows the duty station

BAH is generally based on the permanent duty-station ZIP—not the ZIP code of the home you decide to rent or buy. Confirm the duty location used for your entitlement with your servicing finance office.

Dependents are a yes-or-no category

DoD publishes a with-dependents rate and a without-dependents rate. The allowance does not increase for each additional dependent.

Published rates may differ from a protected rate

Individual rate protection can prevent an eligible member from receiving a lower rate while the duty station, pay grade, and dependency status remain unchanged.

BAH is not a complete housing budget

DoD’s 2026 component breakdown for DC053 attributes about 89% of the modeled housing cost to rent and 11% to utilities. Your actual utilities, parking, tolls, maintenance, HOA fees, and other costs can differ.

What the allowance means for a Northern Virginia home search

A BAH figure is a starting point—not a recommended rent or mortgage payment. Lorton and Mount Vernon may shorten the geography to Fort Belvoir, while Kingstowne, Springfield, Woodbridge, or Stafford may change the available housing mix. The usable gate, exact worksite, transportation costs, and commute reliability belong in the same budget decision.

Before deciding what is affordable, compare the full monthly cost:

  • Rent or mortgage payment
  • Utilities and maintenance
  • Condo or homeowners-association fees
  • Parking, tolls, fuel, and first-mile transit
  • Homeowners or renters insurance
  • PCS timing, temporary lodging, deposits, and closing costs
Ask A Walker Fort Belvoir orientation graphic
Duty-station first: confirm the exact Fort Belvoir worksite and usable gate before translating BAH into a housing search.
Kingstowne community entrance in Alexandria, Virginia
Commute and housing together: Kingstowne, Lorton, Springfield, Woodbridge, and Stafford represent different gate, housing-type, and complete-cost tradeoffs.

Where VA financing has been most common

An Ask A Walker analysis of 374,005 Northern Virginia closed sales from August 2016 through July 2026 identified 49,986 purchases using VA financing. Stafford had the highest county-level share, while Fairfax recorded the greatest number of VA-financed purchases. Financing type does not identify a buyer’s duty station, so these figures show VA-loan usage—not Fort Belvoir assignments.

Stafford · 2255438.6%

4,300 VA purchases

Stafford · 2255636.6%

1,666 VA purchases

Alexandria · 2231524.6%

1,221 VA purchases

Springfield · 2215323.7%

1,053 VA purchases

Alexandria · 2230922.2%

996 VA purchases

Lorton · 2207921.3%

915 VA purchases

Method: Share equals VA-financed purchases divided by all closed sales in each ZIP. ZIP examples shown have substantial ten-year sales volume. Results are aggregated from the Ask A Walker market warehouse; no transaction-level records are published.

Estimate VA funding fees and cash needed with the detailed Northern Virginia VA Loan Calculator.

Verify your official rate

Use the DoD calculator with your permanent duty-station ZIP, year, and pay grade. Your finance office is the authoritative source for entitlement questions and rate-protection situations.

Open the official DoD BAH Rate Lookup.

Frequently asked questions

What is the 2026 Fort Belvoir BAH rate for an E-5?

An E-5 assigned to the Washington, DC Metro Area receives $3,132 per month with dependents or $2,832 per month without dependents under the published 2026 table.

What Military Housing Area covers Fort Belvoir?

Fort Belvoir is in the Washington, DC Metro Area Military Housing Area, identified as MHA DC053.

Is Fort Belvoir BAH based on where I live?

BAH is generally based on the permanent duty-station ZIP code. Choosing a home in a different Northern Virginia community does not automatically change the Fort Belvoir duty-station rate.

Does BAH increase with each dependent?

No. DoD distinguishes between members with dependents and members without dependents; it does not publish a separate rate for each family size.

Can my BAH decrease when a new annual table is published?

Individual rate protection may preserve the prior higher rate while your duty station, pay grade, and dependency status remain unchanged. PCS, a reduction in pay grade, or a dependency-status change can end that protection.

Turn your Fort Belvoir BAH into a practical housing plan

Compare communities by commute, housing type, and complete monthly cost. If you want a personalized shortlist, answer five short questions and then choose whether to schedule a one-hour video consultation.

Read the Fort Belvoir PCS Guide
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