BAH Rent Math for Jacksonville Rental Investors

Basic Allowance for Housing, or BAH, is the monthly housing allowance the Department of Defense pays service members who live off base. Because Jacksonville has two large Navy installations, investors and landlords often use BAH as a reference when they estimate rent. Used carefully, it is a helpful check. Used carelessly, it leads to overestimating income. This page is part of our Jacksonville real estate investing guide.

How BAH is set

The Defense Travel Management Office publishes BAH rates every year, and new rates take effect on January 1. Each rate depends on three things:

  • Location. Rates are set by Military Housing Area, based on the service member's permanent duty station, not on where they choose to live. NAS Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport fall in the Jacksonville, FL housing area.
  • Pay grade. Higher grades receive higher rates.
  • Dependency status. There is a rate with dependents and a rate without dependents. The number of dependents does not change it.

The rates are built from local rent and utility costs for set housing types, so they track the Jacksonville rental market over time.

How to look up the current rate

  1. Go to the official DoD BAH rate lookup.
  2. Choose the year and enter a Jacksonville duty-station ZIP code, such as 32212 for NAS Jacksonville or 32228 for Naval Station Mayport.
  3. Read the rates for the pay grades you want to compare, with and without dependents.
  4. Write down the year. Rates change every January, so check again before you use an old number.

2026 BAH Rates in Jacksonville (FL058)

These are the official 2026 Basic Allowance for Housing rates for Military Housing Area JACKSONVILLE, FL (FL058), looked up with ZIP 32212 (NAS Jacksonville). Rates are monthly.

Pay grade With dependents Without dependents
E-5 $2,181 $1,803
E-7 $2,283 $2,049
O-3 $2,364 $2,211

Source: official DoD BAH Rate Lookup for ZIP 32212, calendar year 2026. Rates can change, and they vary by duty-station ZIP and pay grade, so verify the current figure for your own ZIP and rank before you rely on it.

A worked example with these rates

Suppose you are looking at a three-bedroom rental near NAS Jacksonville. An E-5 with dependents in FL058 receives $2,181 per month in BAH for 2026. That figure is a ceiling reference for rent plus typical utilities, not a guaranteed lease amount.

  1. Pull recently leased comps from the MLS for similar homes in the same area.
  2. Compare the asking rent on your property with those leased comps and with the $2,181 BAH figure.
  3. If the asking rent sits near or above $2,181, ask whether leased comps support that number, or whether the tenant would have little left for utilities.
  4. If leased comps come in well below $2,181, price to the comps. BAH alone does not set the market.

Run the same check for other grades in the table (for example E-7 with dependents at $2,283, or O-3 with dependents at $2,364) when the likely tenant pool is different. Always re-check the official calculator for the year and ZIP you are using.

BAH is not rent

A BAH rate tells you what the government expects housing to cost for a pay grade in this area. It does not tell you what a specific house will lease for. The real answer comes from recently leased comparable homes: same area, similar size, similar condition. Ask your agent for leased comps from the MLS, not just active asking rents.

Keep in mind that BAH covers rent and average utilities, a tenant may choose to spend less than the full amount on rent, and every applicant must be treated the same way under fair housing law. Price the home to the market, not to a pay grade.

A simple way to run the numbers

  1. Estimate monthly rent from leased comps.
  2. Compare it with current BAH rates to see whether the estimate looks reasonable for the area.
  3. Subtract monthly principal and interest, property taxes, insurance, HOA dues, and management.
  4. Set aside money for repairs, reserves, and vacancy between leases.
  5. Look at what is left. If it only works at the top of the rent range, the deal is thin.

Use real quotes for every line. Rentals do not get the homestead exemption, so read the Florida property tax guide before you estimate taxes.

Common mistakes

  • Assuming rent will equal the highest BAH rate in the area.
  • Using last year's rates.
  • Ignoring the summer moving season, when many leases turn over at once.
  • Leaving out vacancy, turnover cleaning, and repairs.

Related guides

Questions about a specific property? Call Matt Strickland at (904) 309-0609 or send us a message.