Army · Frederick, MD

Fort Detrick: BAH and housing

Fort Detrick is an Army post in Frederick, Maryland. For an E-5 with dependents, the housing allowance comes to $2,682 a month (28th-highest of 119 among the bases we track), $332 more than the $2,350 HUD fair-market rent for a 3-bedroom in ZIP 21705. Homes in Frederick have a median value of $401,500 (median rent $1,764), which makes it a higher-cost market among the bases we cover (30th-highest of 114). Normal daily temperatures run from 47°F to 67°F on average, with 44 inches of precipitation a year.

Data: DTMO 2026 BAH for MHA MD130, HUD rents for ZIP 21705, Census ACS for Frederick city, NOAA normals at Frederick Police Barracks, MD. Jump to sources · Methodology

What is my BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) at Fort Detrick?

This calculator uses 2026 DTMO (Defense Travel Management Office) rates for selected pay grade and dependent status.

Pay grade

Dependents

$2,160/mo

Monthly BAH at E-5 pay grade without dependents.

Fort Detrick: $2,160

Typical 2-bedroom rent nearby: $1,860/mo
BAH vs that rent: $300/mo left over

Key facts for living at Fort Detrick

Key facts for living at Fort Detrick
Host state	Maryland
State income tax	Top listed rate 6.5%
Top state income-tax rate	6.5%
Average sales tax (state + local)	6.00%
Average property tax (real estate)	0.92%
Personal property tax (vehicles)	No
Median home value	$434,258
Military housing area	MD130 — FORT DETRICK, MD
Climate (annual high / low)	67° / 47°F
Annual precipitation	43.5 in
Official site	Fort Detrick

More about living in Maryland

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PCS checklist for Fort Detrick

Update DEERS and your page-2 / dependency status before BAH starts at the new MHA (MD130).
Look up your exact BAH for rank and dependents on the DTMO BAH lookup (ZIP 21702).
Off-base 2-bedroom HUD FMR in Frederick County is $2,246/mo. On-base housing is separate.
Get an MD driver license within 60 days and title the car within 60 days. See Maryland.
Confirm reporting instructions on the official Fort Detrick site.

How Fort Detrick compares

E-5 with-dependents BAH is higher at Fort Hamilton ($5,070 vs $2,682).

Use the picker above for any other compatible installation. Published PCS pages that include Fort Detrick are listed here.

Sources

Housing figures below are for the installation (MHA, HUD rent, climate). Host-state tax rates are statewide averages — not a tax return. County add-ons can differ, and wage tax on military pay follows legal residence, not the duty station.

BAH (with and without dependents). DTMO CY2026 BAH tables for Fort Detrick (MD130). Confirm current rates on the DTMO BAH lookup.
2-bedroom Fair Market Rent. HUD FY2026 FMR — Frederick County $2,246.
Off-base ZIP rent (HUD Small Area FMR). FY2026 ZIP 2- and 3-bedroom 40th-percentile rents from the HUD Small Area FMR tables: 21705 (Frederick) $1,860 / $2,350.
Off-base city home value and rent. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year 2020–2024 tables B25077 (median value of owner-occupied homes) and B25064 (median gross rent) for Frederick city, Maryland ($401,500, $1,764/mo). Owner-reported values, not transaction prices.
Climate normals (1991–2020). NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals — Frederick Police Barracks, MD (USC00183348).
Host-state wage tax. Statewide listed rates for Maryland from the Tax Foundation 2026 individual income-tax tables. On this page they describe the host state, not automatically the tax on a military LES (legal residence can stay put). BAH is untaxed.
Combined sales tax near the installation. Tax Foundation January 2026 state-and-local sales-tax averages for Maryland. Used as an off-base shopping stand-in; city and county add-ons vary.
Effective property tax if you buy off-base. Tax Foundation 2026 property taxes by state for Maryland. On-base housing is not in this figure.
Vehicle title tax and new-resident clocks. Maryland motor-vehicle agency (license 60 days, title 60 days; title tax 6.00%). These are host-state motor-vehicle rules, not BAH.
Vehicle personal-property tax on the host-state snapshot. WalletHub 2026 vehicle property-tax table for Maryland. This is a statewide car-tax flag, not real-estate tax and not BAH.
Statewide median home value on the host-state snapshot. Experian / Zillow March 2026 state medians for Maryland. Backdrop for off-base purchase prices; on-base housing and BAH are separate.

Data last updated: September 2026. How the data is compiled