Fort Meade is an Army installation in Fort Meade, Maryland. This guide covers 2026 BAH rates for every paygrade, TRICARE region, state tax treatment, on-base amenities, and PCS planning tools.
Rates last verified August 2026 against the published source tables.
Home of U.S. Cyber Command, the NSA, and DISA — the hub of military intelligence and cyber operations in the National Capital Region. Roughly 11,000 service members are assigned here.
Housing here is priced in the Fort G. G. Meade military housing area. 2026 BAH for an E-5 with dependents is $2,901 a month, against HUD's FY2026 fair market rent of $2,358 for a three-bedroom — about $543 a month clear 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.
MD provides military pay subtraction. Care here falls under the TRICARE East region. Families living off post are served by Anne Arundel County Public Schools.
| Pay grade | With dependents | Without dependents |
|---|---|---|
| E-1 | $2,739 | $2,178 |
| E-2 | $2,739 | $2,178 |
| E-3 | $2,739 | $2,178 |
| E-4 | $2,739 | $2,178 |
| E-5 | $2,901 | $2,436 |
| E-6 | $3,276 | $2,592 |
| E-7 | $3,327 | $2,745 |
| E-8 | $3,378 | $2,982 |
| E-9 | $3,507 | $3,087 |
| W-1 | $3,297 | $2,694 |
| W-2 | $3,345 | $2,979 |
| W-3 | $3,414 | $3,102 |
| W-4 | $3,543 | $3,282 |
| W-5 | $3,708 | $3,336 |
| O-1 | $2,952 | $2,577 |
| O-1E (Prior Enlisted) | $3,333 | $2,898 |
| O-2 | $3,273 | $2,850 |
| O-2E (Prior Enlisted) | $3,402 | $3,063 |
| O-3 | $3,411 | $3,138 |
| O-3E (Prior Enlisted) | $3,570 | $3,270 |
| O-4 | $3,759 | $3,321 |
| O-5 | $4,014 | $3,345 |
| O-6 | $4,047 | $3,390 |
| O-7+ | $4,077 | $3,450 |
Fort Meade draws its rates from the Fort G. G. Meade military housing area. In 2026 an E-5 with dependents receives $2,901 a month and an E-5 without dependents $2,436. An E-7 with dependents receives $3,327. 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 covers a three-bedroom at the local benchmark with $543 a month left over. The benchmark is HUD's FY2026 fair market rent of $2,358 — 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.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools serves families living off post at Fort Meade. 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 Meade falls in the TRICARE East region. The region determines which contractor administers your care 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.
Maryland provides a military pay subtraction for active-duty members. Consult the Maryland Comptroller for current limits and eligibility. 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 Meade 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.