Army · Watertown, NY

Fort Drum: BAH and housing

Fort Drum is an Army post in Watertown, New York. E-5 BAH with dependents is $1,665 a month (90th-highest of 119 among the bases we track), $85 less than the $1,750 HUD fair-market rent for a 3-bedroom in ZIP 13601. In Watertown, the median home value is $158,600 and the median rent is $967, one of the most affordable markets on the list (9th-lowest of 114). Average daily lows of 35°F make it the 7th-coldest base by that measure (tied).

Data: DTMO 2026 BAH for MHA NY225, HUD rents for ZIP 13601, Census ACS for Watertown city, NOAA normals at Watertown International Airport, NY. Jump to sources · Methodology

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

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

Pay grade

Dependents

$1,422/mo

Monthly BAH at E-5 pay grade without dependents.

Fort Drum: $1,422

Typical 2-bedroom rent nearby: $1,290/mo
BAH vs that rent: $132/mo left over

Key facts for living at Fort Drum

Key facts for living at Fort Drum
Host state	New York
State income tax	4%–10.9% state; NYC adds local tax
Top state income-tax rate	10.9%
Average sales tax (state + local)	8.54%
Average property tax (real estate)	1.30%
Personal property tax (vehicles)	No
Median home value	$513,450
Military housing area	NY225 — FORT DRUM/WATERTOWN, NY
Climate (annual high / low)	55° / 35°F
Annual precipitation	37.1 in
Official site	Fort Drum

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PCS checklist for Fort Drum

Update DEERS and your page-2 / dependency status before BAH starts at the new MHA (NY225).
Look up your exact BAH for rank and dependents on the DTMO BAH lookup (ZIP 13602).
Off-base 2-bedroom HUD FMR in Jefferson County is $1,405/mo. On-base housing is separate.
Get an NY driver license within 30 days and title the car within 30 days. See New York.
Confirm reporting instructions on the official Fort Drum site.

How Fort Drum compares

E-5 with-dependents BAH is higher at Fort Hamilton ($5,070 vs $1,665).

Use the picker above for any other compatible installation. Published PCS pages that include Fort Drum 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 Drum (NY225). Confirm current rates on the DTMO BAH lookup.
2-bedroom Fair Market Rent. HUD FY2026 FMR — Jefferson County $1,405.
Off-base ZIP rent (HUD Small Area FMR). FY2026 ZIP 2- and 3-bedroom 40th-percentile rents from the HUD Small Area FMR tables: 13601 (Watertown) $1,290 / $1,750.
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 Watertown city, New York ($158,600, $967/mo). Owner-reported values, not transaction prices.
Climate normals (1991–2020). NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals — Watertown International Airport, NY (USW00094790).
Host-state wage tax. Statewide listed rates for New York 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 New York. 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 New York. On-base housing is not in this figure.
Vehicle title tax and new-resident clocks. New York motor-vehicle agency (license 30 days, title 30 days; title tax 8.00%). 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 New York. 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 New York. Backdrop for off-base purchase prices; on-base housing and BAH are separate.

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