Hanscom Air Force Base: BAH and housing

Hanscom Air Force Base is an Air Force base in Bedford, Massachusetts. For an E-5 with dependents, the housing allowance comes to $4,188 a month, the 2nd-highest of the 119 bases we track, $198 more than the $3,990 HUD fair-market rent for a 3-bedroom in ZIP 01730. Homes in Lexington have a median value of $1,203,100 (median rent $2,891), which makes it the priciest market on the list (114 bases with Census home values). Normal daily temperatures run from 40°F to 61°F on average, with 43 inches of precipitation a year.

Data: DTMO 2026 BAH for MHA MA377, HUD rents for ZIP 01730, Census ACS for Lexington CDP, NOAA normals at Bedford Hanscom Field, MA. Jump to sources · Methodology

What is my BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) at Hanscom Air Force Base?

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

Pay grade

Dependents

$3,516/mo

Monthly BAH at E-5 pay grade without dependents.

Hanscom Air Force Base: $3,516

Typical 2-bedroom rent nearby: $3,330/mo
BAH vs that rent: $186/mo left over

Key facts for living at Hanscom Air Force Base

Key facts for living at Hanscom Air Force Base
Host state	Massachusetts
State income tax	5% plus 4% surtax on income over $1M
Top state income-tax rate	9.0%
Average sales tax (state + local)	6.25%
Average property tax (real estate)	1.00%
Personal property tax (vehicles)	Yes — 2.25% effective
Median home value	$667,829
Military housing area	MA377 — HANSCOM AFB, MA
Climate (annual high / low)	61° / 40°F
Annual precipitation	42.6 in
Official site	Hanscom Air Force Base

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PCS checklist for Hanscom Air Force Base

Update DEERS and your page-2 / dependency status before BAH starts at the new MHA (MA377).
Look up your exact BAH for rank and dependents on the DTMO BAH lookup (ZIP 01731).
Off-base 2-bedroom HUD FMR in Middlesex County is $2,941/mo. On-base housing is separate.
Get an MA driver license within 30 days and title the car within 30 days. See Massachusetts.
Confirm reporting instructions on the official Hanscom Air Force Base site.

How Hanscom Air Force Base compares

E-5 with-dependents BAH is lower at Altus Air Force Base ($1,254 vs $4,188).

Use the picker above for any other compatible installation. Published PCS pages that include Hanscom Air Force Base 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 Hanscom Air Force Base (MA377). Confirm current rates on the DTMO BAH lookup.
2-bedroom Fair Market Rent. HUD FY2026 FMR — Middlesex County $2,941.
Off-base ZIP rent (HUD Small Area FMR). FY2026 ZIP 2- and 3-bedroom 40th-percentile rents from the HUD Small Area FMR tables: 01730 (Lexington) $3,330 / $3,990.
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 Lexington CDP, Massachusetts ($1,203,100, $2,891/mo). Owner-reported values, not transaction prices.
Climate normals (1991–2020). NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals — Bedford Hanscom Field, MA (USW00014702).
Host-state wage tax. Statewide listed rates for Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts. 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 Massachusetts. On-base housing is not in this figure.
Vehicle title tax and new-resident clocks. Massachusetts motor-vehicle agency (license 30 days, title 30 days; title tax 6.25%). 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 Massachusetts. 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 Massachusetts. Backdrop for off-base purchase prices; on-base housing and BAH are separate.

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