This guide has 2026 BAH for every paygrade at China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, how far it goes against local rents, the TRICARE region, how California taxes military pay, and the PCS tools for a move here.
Rates last verified August 2026 against the published source tables.
China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station is a Navy installation in Ridgecrest, California.
Housing here is priced in the China Lake military housing area. 2026 BAH for an E-5 with dependents is $1,563 a month, against HUD's FY2027 fair market rent of $2,293 for a three-bedroom — about $730 a month short of the rent. BAH is paid on top of base pay and is not taxed, and the rate is the same whether you rent or buy.
CA taxes military pay for CA domiciliaries. Care here falls under the TRICARE West region. Families living off post are served by Sierra Sands Unified School District.
California. California taxes all military pay if CA is your state of legal domicile. Only combat-zone pay is excluded. CA has no broad military exemption — one of the least favorable states for home-of-record.
SCRA. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act your military pay is taxed by the state you are domiciled in, not by the one your duty station sits in. Being assigned to China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station does not by itself change which state may tax you, and it does not create a filing obligation where you are stationed.
TRICARE West. Care at China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station falls under the TRICARE West region, administered by TriWest Healthcare Alliance — enrollment and claims run through 888-TRIWEST (874-9378).
| Pay grade | With dependents | Without dependents |
|---|---|---|
| E-1 | $1,524 | $1,344 |
| E-2 | $1,524 | $1,344 |
| E-3 | $1,524 | $1,344 |
| E-4 | $1,524 | $1,344 |
| E-5 | $1,563 | $1,428 |
| E-6 | $1,767 | $1,485 |
| E-7 | $1,905 | $1,530 |
| E-8 | $2,058 | $1,611 |
| E-9 | $2,238 | $1,680 |
| W-1 | $1,785 | $1,527 |
| W-2 | $1,968 | $1,608 |
| W-3 | $2,157 | $1,683 |
| W-4 | $2,268 | $1,794 |
| W-5 | $2,403 | $1,941 |
| O-1 | $1,596 | $1,482 |
| O-1E (Prior Enlisted) | $1,932 | $1,560 |
| O-2 | $1,764 | $1,554 |
| O-2E (Prior Enlisted) | $2,130 | $1,650 |
| O-3 | $2,154 | $1,689 |
| O-3E (Prior Enlisted) | $2,289 | $1,755 |
| O-4 | $2,445 | $1,911 |
| O-5 | $2,658 | $1,995 |
| O-6 | $2,676 | $2,136 |
| O-7+ | $2,694 | $2,172 |
China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station draws its rates from the China Lake military housing area. In 2026 an E-5 with dependents receives $1,563 a month and an E-5 without dependents $1,428. An E-7 with dependents receives $1,905. The rate depends on the housing area, your paygrade and whether you have dependents — not on your ZIP code, and not on whether you rent or buy.
For an E-5 with dependents, it falls roughly $730 a month short of a three-bedroom at the local benchmark. The benchmark is HUD's FY2027 fair market rent of $2,293 — a 40th-percentile gross rent, so it includes tenant-paid utilities and half the local market rents for more. Anything above that benchmark comes out of pocket, and anything below it you keep: BAH pays the same rate whatever your actual rent turns out to be.
No. BAH is a non-taxable allowance, so it does not appear as taxable wages on your W-2 and no federal or state income tax is withheld from it. That makes a dollar of BAH worth noticeably more than a dollar of base pay, which is why comparing a civilian salary against base pay alone understates military compensation.
Sierra Sands Unified School District serves families living off post at China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station. Enrollment normally needs the previous school's records, immunizations and proof of address, and the installation's School Liaison Officer can start that before you arrive.
China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station falls in the TRICARE West region — the contractor there is TriWest Healthcare Alliance. Your region decides who pays your claims and where referrals are authorized, so a PCS that crosses regions means transferring your enrollment — Prime enrollment does not follow you automatically, and letting it lapse drops you to TRICARE Select with its cost shares.
California taxes all military pay if CA is your state of legal domicile. Only combat-zone pay is excluded. CA has no broad military exemption — one of the least favorable states for home-of-record. Being stationed in a state does not by itself make you a resident of it: state income tax follows your state of legal residence, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects that against an involuntary PCS.
Most of it is reimbursed rather than paid. A PCS to China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station normally pays a dislocation allowance, a mileage allowance for driving your own vehicle, per diem for you and each dependent while you travel, and temporary lodging once you arrive. Choosing a personally procured move pays you the government's cost for the same shipment, so the profit — and the tax on it — depends on your weight and the distance. The PCS calculator estimates all of those for this destination.