BAH 2026 · housing area
BAH at Camp Lejeune for 2026
The 2026 housing allowance of the Camp Lejeune housing area around Jacksonville, North Carolina, where Marines of every grade draw from one of the lowest tables on the East Coast.
BAH 2026 in Camp Lejeune
E-5 with dependents
$1,584
| Per year, tax free | $19,008 |
| Without dependents | $1,476 |
| Difference | $108 |
A Marine E-5 with dependents at Camp Lejeune receives $1,584 a month of BAH in 2026 and $1,476 without dependents; a married E-3 receives $1,578 and a married O-3 $2,085. The Defense Travel Management Office groups only 14 ZIP codes in the Camp Lejeune, NC housing area (NC178), centered on Jacksonville and covering the base and Marine Corps Air Station New River. It is one of the lowest tables of any large installation: 265 of 338 housing areas for the E-5 family rate. The most striking feature is at the bottom of the scale, where an E-5 family receives only $6 more than an E-1 to E-4 family, $1,578. The jump comes at E-6: $1,944, because the housing standard the DoD prices for that grade is a larger home. The table rose about 1.5% for an E-5 from 2025.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Camp Lejeune BAH by grade
| Grade | With dependents | Without dependents |
|---|---|---|
| E-1 | $1,578 | $1,323 |
| E-3 | $1,578 | $1,323 |
| E-4 | $1,578 | $1,323 |
| E-5 | $1,584 | $1,476 |
| E-6 | $1,944 | $1,569 |
| E-7 | $1,995 | $1,593 |
| E-8 | $2,049 | $1,662 |
| E-9 | $2,160 | $1,761 |
| W-1 | $1,962 | $1,590 |
| W-2 | $2,016 | $1,659 |
| O-1 | $1,635 | $1,566 |
| O-2 | $1,941 | $1,596 |
| O-3 | $2,085 | $1,809 |
| O-4 | $2,355 | $1,989 |
| O-5 | $2,553 | $2,016 |
| O-6 | $2,571 | $2,064 |
A small area in a military town
With 14 ZIP codes, from 28445 to 28584, the Camp Lejeune housing area is compact: Jacksonville, Sneads Ferry, Hubert, Richlands and the communities around the New River. The DTMO surveys rents for each housing profile in those ZIP codes every year, and the rate follows what it finds there rather than state or national averages. Coastal towns farther away, such as Wilmington, form other areas with higher rates; a Marine assigned to Camp Lejeune keeps the Lejeune rate wherever the family chooses to live.
From 2025 to 2026
| Grade | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-3 | $1,554 | $1,578 | +$24 (+1.5%) |
| E-5 | $1,560 | $1,584 | +$24 (+1.5%) |
| E-6 | $1,857 | $1,944 | +$87 (+4.7%) |
| E-7 | $1,920 | $1,995 | +$75 (+3.9%) |
| E-9 | $2,100 | $2,160 | +$60 (+2.9%) |
| O-1 | $1,602 | $1,635 | +$33 (+2.1%) |
| O-3 | $2,028 | $2,085 | +$57 (+2.8%) |
| O-5 | $2,472 | $2,553 | +$81 (+3.3%) |
The E-5 family rate moved from $1,560 to $1,584. Behind it, rent accounts for about 83% of the housing cost measured by the DTMO in the area and utilities for 17%, and the published rate carries the 5% cost share that every member pays out of pocket by design.
Marines, sailors and the junior grades
Camp Lejeune has a young population, and the junior enlisted rate matters to more families here than at most installations. An E-3 family receives $1,578, a figure that, with basic pay and BAS, makes up most of a young Marine's income; the military pay calculator adds the three. Navy corpsmen and chaplains assigned to Marine units receive the same rates as Marines of the same grade. A Marine who is promoted to staff sergeant, or who marries, should check that the finance office updates the rate from the effective date: the change is not retroactive without the paperwork. For North Carolina's Army post, see Fort Bragg, and for the West Coast Marine base, Camp Pendleton.
Officers at Camp Lejeune
Officer rates rise from $1,635 for an O-1 to $2,571 for an O-6 with dependents. Without dependents, an O-3 receives $1,809. Warrant officers, including Marine gunners, draw $1,962 as a WO1 and $2,016 as a CWO2 with a family.
Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point
Marines often move between the two North Carolina air and ground bases. Cherry Point's housing area pays an E-5 family $1,851 in 2026 and an O-3 family $2,421, against $1,584 and $2,085 at Camp Lejeune. Cherry Point pays more for both grades, $267 a month more for the E-5 family. A transfer between them changes BAH from the report date at the new command, so a family that keeps the same rental home after a move from Cherry Point to Camp Lejeune sees the allowance fall while the rent stays the same.
Marines reporting to the School of Infantry East or to a unit at Camp Lejeune for a course of less than twenty weeks are usually on temporary duty and keep the BAH of their permanent station instead of this table.