This guide has 2026 BAH for every paygrade at Pine Bluff Arsenal, how far it goes against local rents, the TRICARE region, how Arkansas taxes military pay, and the PCS tools for a move here.
Rates last verified August 2026 against the published source tables.
Pine Bluff Arsenal is an Army installation in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Housing here is priced in the Little Rock military housing area. 2026 BAH for an E-5 with dependents is $1,848 a month, against HUD's FY2027 fair market rent of $1,504 for a three-bedroom — about $344 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.
Military pay exempt from AR income tax. Arkansas is split between the TRICARE East and West regions by ZIP code, so which one covers you depends on your address. Families living off post are served by Pine Bluff School District.
Arkansas. Arkansas exempts active-duty military pay from state income tax.
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 Pine Bluff Arsenal does not by itself change which state may tax you, and it does not create a filing obligation where you are stationed.
Arkansas is split between two regions. Some Arkansas ZIP codes fall in TRICARE East, administered by Humana Military, and the rest in TRICARE West, administered by TriWest Healthcare Alliance. Which one covers you follows your home address rather than the installation, so check your ZIP at https://www.tricare.mil/About/Regions before you enroll.
| Pay grade | With dependents | Without dependents |
|---|---|---|
| E-1 | $1,758 | $1,341 |
| E-2 | $1,758 | $1,341 |
| E-3 | $1,758 | $1,341 |
| E-4 | $1,758 | $1,341 |
| E-5 | $1,848 | $1,548 |
| E-6 | $1,941 | $1,671 |
| E-7 | $1,959 | $1,758 |
| E-8 | $1,968 | $1,875 |
| E-9 | $2,061 | $1,887 |
| W-1 | $1,956 | $1,740 |
| W-2 | $1,965 | $1,872 |
| W-3 | $1,977 | $1,893 |
| W-4 | $2,100 | $1,932 |
| W-5 | $2,274 | $1,947 |
| O-1 | $1,869 | $1,665 |
| O-1E (Prior Enlisted) | $1,962 | $1,845 |
| O-2 | $1,938 | $1,824 |
| O-2E (Prior Enlisted) | $1,971 | $1,884 |
| O-3 | $1,974 | $1,902 |
| O-3E (Prior Enlisted) | $2,127 | $1,929 |
| O-4 | $2,328 | $1,935 |
| O-5 | $2,598 | $1,950 |
| O-6 | $2,619 | $1,965 |
| O-7+ | $2,634 | $1,977 |
Pine Bluff Arsenal draws its rates from the Little Rock military housing area. In 2026 an E-5 with dependents receives $1,848 a month and an E-5 without dependents $1,548. An E-7 with dependents receives $1,959. 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 $344 a month left over. The benchmark is HUD's FY2027 fair market rent of $1,504 — 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.
Pine Bluff School District serves families living off post at Pine Bluff Arsenal. 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.
Arkansas is one of four states TRICARE splits by ZIP code, so Pine Bluff Arsenal does not settle it: some ZIP codes in the state are East (Humana Military) and the rest are West (TriWest Healthcare Alliance). Check the address you will actually live at against TRICARE's own ZIP lookup before enrolling. 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.
Arkansas exempts active-duty military pay from state income tax. 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 Pine Bluff Arsenal 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.