PCS to Jacksonville

Houses along a canal

 Three gates, not one town

NAS Jacksonville sits on the west bank of the St. Johns, about ZIP 32212. That is the air station. A house on the Westside or in Orange Park is the commute that usually holds up. A beach address can look easy on a map and still be a long duty morning.

Naval Station Mayport is at the mouth of the river. Blount Island Command is on the east side, north of the Dames Point Bridge. It is a different installation from Mayport. Read the orders. The gate name is the housing plan.

 Neighborhoods by gate

Orange Park is Clay County, ZIP 32073, along Blanding Boulevard and out by Doctors Lake. For a lot of NAS Jacksonville families it is a straight shot toward the air station. The Jacksonville Westside is the other NAS answer, on the same west bank as the base. Close still means you check the roof, the electrical, and the flood map. An older house near the gate can be the right house. It can also be a project.

Arlington is east of the St. Johns, along the Arlington Expressway, Fort Caroline, and Regency. That is where a Mayport commute lives. The houses are older. Check flood and insurance before you fall in love with the price. The Beaches are three cities and three city halls: Atlantic Beach 32233, Neptune Beach 32266, and Jacksonville Beach 32250. Schools there are Duval. The roads are A1A, Beach Boulevard, and Atlantic Boulevard. Evacuation and flood insurance are the grown-up part of that search. Blount Island housing is the east side, north of the Dames Point Bridge. Mandarin, south Duval around 32257 and 32258, is a long Mayport drive. Do not put a Mayport sailor in Mandarin because a friend liked the trees.

 BAH for MHA FL058

Jacksonville housing allowance is MHA FL058. As of fall 2026, these are the January 1, 2026 rates people ask for first. E-5 with dependents is $2,181 a month, and $1,803 without dependents. E-6 with dependents is $2,241. E-7 with dependents is $2,283. O-3 with dependents is $2,364. This is a short list, not a full pay chart. Other grades need their own line.

Dependency status changes the number. So does the rate year. Look yours up on the DTMO BAH Rate Lookup before you cap a rent or a mortgage payment. BAH is an allowance tied to grade. It does not promise that a certain house will fit. Bring the figure to the lender and to the search. Do not let a group chat set it.

 Timeline, then the 90-day plan

This page is the installation map. The week-by-week countdown is the 90-day PCS plan. Use that when the orders are real and you have a report date. We are not rewriting that calendar here.

The short version still matters. Write down the report date, the detachment date, and whether this tour is a buy or a rent. A VA buyer generally certifies an intent to occupy within 60 days. Active-duty PCS timing has its own rules. The lender and the VA occupancy certification control it. We will not invent a 12-month waiver. If the date is tight, call (904) 309-0609 and we will say what can close before you report and what should wait until you are on deck.

 Schools, flood, and the drive

As of fall 2026, Florida DOE grades for the 2025-26 cycle list Clay, Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns as A districts. Duval is an A for a second year. An A district is not an A campus. Look up the street on the district locator and on fldoe.org. Then drive the gate at the hour you will actually leave for duty.

Clay can fit NAS Jacksonville, and Orange Park is the example. Duval covers the Westside, Arlington, and the Beaches. A St. Johns address can be a long Mayport morning or a long air-station morning. Do not pick a county because someone ranked it and ignore the gate. On the Beaches, and in parts of Arlington, flood insurance and evacuation are part of the house. Jacksonville evacuation zones run A through F. Zone A goes first. We will not assign your street to a zone on this page. Use the City of Jacksonville JaxReady Know Your Zone map. A FEMA flood zone is not an evacuation zone.

 Before you write on a Jacksonville house

If the loan is VA, start with the lender and the certificate of eligibility. Full entitlement has no VA-set county cap. Partial entitlement math here uses the FHFA one-unit conforming limit. The existing site states that 2026 figure for Duval, Clay, St. Johns, and Nassau as $832,750. Do not swap in an FHA limit.

The VA appraisal is the lender's valuation, and it checks VA minimum property requirements. A home inspection is your own look at the house, under a separate contract. Tidewater is the notice when a VA value may come in short. Keep those three ideas apart. On an older Arlington or Westside house, ask about the roof, the electrical, and the insurance quote in the same week you tour. On Orange Park, the commute may be easy and the house may still need a real inspection.

 Buying from out of town

A lot of PCS buyers do not get a month of Saturdays in Jacksonville. You might get a house-hunting trip. You might write from the departing duty station. The photos still have to survive a flood check, an insurance quote, and a real inspection.

Tell us the gate before you send a list of favorites. A Westside house can be right for NAS Jacksonville and wrong for Mayport. A beach house can be right for Mayport and a hard drive to Blount Island. Call (904) 309-0609 when you have orders, even if the flight is not booked. We would rather walk the commute on a map now than unwind a contract later.

 Keep going

• 90-day PCS plan
• NAS Jacksonville or Mayport
• Military relocation help

Call (904) 309-0609.