This guide has 2026 BAH for every paygrade at Fort Drum, how far it goes against local rents, the TRICARE region, how New York taxes military pay, and the PCS tools for a move here.
Rates last verified August 2026 against the published source tables.
Home of the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) in upstate New York, supporting cold-weather and light infantry operations. Roughly 18,000 service members are assigned here.
Housing here is priced in the Fort Drum/Watertown, NY military housing area. 2026 BAH for an E-5 with dependents is $1,665 a month, against HUD's FY2027 fair market rent of $1,995 for a three-bedroom — about $330 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.
NY exempts federal active-duty pay. Care here falls under the TRICARE East region. Families living off post are served by Indian River Central School District.
New York. New York exempts military pay earned while on active federal duty for members domiciled in NY. Non-NY residents stationed in NY are protected by SCRA.
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 Fort Drum does not by itself change which state may tax you, and it does not create a filing obligation where you are stationed.
TRICARE East. Care at Fort Drum falls under the TRICARE East region, administered by Humana Military — enrollment and claims run through 800-444-5445.
| Pay grade | With dependents | Without dependents |
|---|---|---|
| E-1 | $1,569 | $1,356 |
| E-2 | $1,569 | $1,356 |
| E-3 | $1,569 | $1,356 |
| E-4 | $1,569 | $1,356 |
| E-5 | $1,665 | $1,422 |
| E-6 | $1,893 | $1,476 |
| E-7 | $2,103 | $1,578 |
| E-8 | $2,331 | $1,749 |
| E-9 | $2,526 | $1,896 |
| W-1 | $1,914 | $1,548 |
| W-2 | $2,196 | $1,713 |
| W-3 | $2,478 | $1,899 |
| W-4 | $2,544 | $1,938 |
| W-5 | $2,631 | $2,154 |
| O-1 | $1,701 | $1,470 |
| O-1E (Prior Enlisted) | $2,145 | $1,662 |
| O-2 | $1,890 | $1,638 |
| O-2E (Prior Enlisted) | $2,436 | $1,827 |
| O-3 | $2,469 | $1,902 |
| O-3E (Prior Enlisted) | $2,559 | $1,920 |
| O-4 | $2,655 | $2,115 |
| O-5 | $2,784 | $2,244 |
| O-6 | $2,805 | $2,457 |
| O-7+ | $2,823 | $2,496 |
Fort Drum draws its rates from the Fort Drum/Watertown, NY military housing area. In 2026 an E-5 with dependents receives $1,665 a month and an E-5 without dependents $1,422. An E-7 with dependents receives $2,103. 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 $330 a month short of a three-bedroom at the local benchmark. The benchmark is HUD's FY2027 fair market rent of $1,995 — 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.
Indian River Central School District serves families living off post at Fort Drum. 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.
Fort Drum falls in the TRICARE East region — the contractor there is Humana Military. 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.
New York exempts military pay earned while on active federal duty for members domiciled in NY. Non-NY residents stationed in NY are protected by SCRA. 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 Fort Drum 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.