Joint Base Lewis-McChord: BAH and housing

Joint Base Lewis-McChord is a joint base shared by the Army and Air Force in Tacoma, Washington. For an E-5 with dependents, the housing allowance comes to $2,556 a month (31st-highest of 119 among the bases we track), $44 less than the $2,600 HUD fair-market rent for a 3-bedroom in ZIP 98444. Homes in Tacoma have a median value of $479,600 (median rent $1,676), which makes it a higher-cost market among the bases we cover (19th-highest of 114). Washington does not tax wage income, which can matter for a working spouse; see all bases in no-income-tax states.

Data: DTMO 2026 BAH for MHA WA311, HUD rents for ZIP 98444, Census ACS for Tacoma city, NOAA normals at Tacoma Narrows Airport, WA. Jump to sources · Methodology

What is my BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord?

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

Pay grade

Dependents

$2,121/mo

Monthly BAH at E-5 pay grade without dependents.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord: $2,121

Typical 2-bedroom rent nearby: $1,860/mo
BAH vs that rent: $261/mo left over

Key facts for living at Joint Base Lewis-McChord

Key facts for living at Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Host state	Washington
State income tax	None on wages (bases in no-income-tax states)
Top state income-tax rate	0.0%
Average sales tax (state + local)	9.51%
Average property tax (real estate)	0.75%
Personal property tax (vehicles)	No
Median home value	$609,756
Military housing area	WA311 — TACOMA, WA
Climate (annual high / low)	60° / 44°F
Annual precipitation	42.0 in
Official site	Joint Base Lewis-McChord

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PCS checklist for Joint Base Lewis-McChord

Update DEERS and your page-2 / dependency status before BAH starts at the new MHA (WA311).
Look up your exact BAH for rank and dependents on the DTMO BAH lookup (ZIP 98433).
Off-base 2-bedroom HUD FMR in Pierce County is $1,971/mo. On-base housing is separate.
Get a WA driver license within 30 days and title the car within 30 days. See Washington.
Confirm reporting instructions on the official Joint Base Lewis-McChord site.

How Joint Base Lewis-McChord compares

E-5 with-dependents BAH is higher at Fort Hamilton ($5,070 vs $2,556).

Use the picker above for any other compatible installation. Published PCS pages that include Joint Base Lewis-McChord are listed here.

Bragg → JBLMFort Bragg to Joint Base Lewis-McChord JBLM → CarsonJoint Base Lewis-McChord to Fort Carson

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 Joint Base Lewis-McChord (WA311). Confirm current rates on the DTMO BAH lookup.
2-bedroom Fair Market Rent. HUD FY2026 FMR — Pierce County $1,971.
Off-base ZIP rent (HUD Small Area FMR). FY2026 ZIP 2- and 3-bedroom 40th-percentile rents from the HUD Small Area FMR tables: 98444 (Tacoma) $1,860 / $2,600.
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 Tacoma city, Washington ($479,600, $1,676/mo). Owner-reported values, not transaction prices.
Climate normals (1991–2020). NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals — Tacoma Narrows Airport, WA (USW00094274).
Host-state wage tax. Statewide listed rates for Washington 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 Washington. 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 Washington. On-base housing is not in this figure.
Vehicle title tax and new-resident clocks. Washington motor-vehicle agency (license 30 days, title 30 days; title tax 6.50%). 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 Washington. 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 Washington. Backdrop for off-base purchase prices; on-base housing and BAH are separate.

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