Basic Allowance for Housing rates are set to drop an average of .6 percent in 2011, the DoD revealed yesterday.
Thanks to rate protection, however, most of us won't see our allowance change at all. Under that rule your rate can go up if your area's BAH climbs, but it will never fall when the rate goes down. Most of us should see our rates stay the same.
The pain is for those who are planning a PCS in the new year. Since you'll be entering your new area under the 2011 rate, that is what you should expect to receive. This is a real bummer for my family, for example, since we use on base housing right now in an area that is going to receive more BAH, but are PCSing (and planning to live off-post) in 2011 to an area that will be receiving less.
Some stations that will see a significant rise, according to the Military.com article, include:
... China Lake Naval Air Training Center, Calif. (up 14 percent); Barksdale AFB/ Shreveport, La. (9.5 percent); Minot AFB, N.D. (eight percent); Beale AFB, Calif. (seven percent) and Fort Benning, Ga. (up six percent).
And those that will see a significant drop include:
... Fayetteville, N.C., where average BAH is dropping eight percent. Other areas to see sharply lower rates are; Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. (down seven percent); Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C. (seven percent); Whiteman AFB, Mo. (five percent) and Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, N.C. (down five percent).
The rates for families stationed overseas are not changing.
You can find your 2011 rate using this handy calculator.
For more details and to learn more about the logic behind the changes, check out this story.
