Laughlin Air Force Base: BAH and housing

Laughlin Air Force Base is an Air Force base in Del Rio, Texas. For an E-5 with dependents, the housing allowance comes to $1,470 a month, the 9th-lowest of the 119 bases we track, $30 more than the $1,440 HUD fair-market rent for a 3-bedroom in ZIP 78841. Homes in Del Rio have a median value of $160,400 (median rent $895), which makes it one of the most affordable markets on the list (11th-lowest of 114). Average daily highs of 85°F make it the 3rd-warmest base by that measure (tied).

Data: DTMO 2026 BAH for MHA TX278, HUD rents for ZIP 78841, Census ACS for Del Rio city, NOAA normals at Del Rio International Airport, TX. Jump to sources · Methodology

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

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

Pay grade

Dependents

$1,209/mo

Monthly BAH at E-5 pay grade without dependents.

Laughlin Air Force Base: $1,209

Typical 2-bedroom rent nearby: $1,060/mo
BAH vs that rent: $149/mo left over

Key facts for living at Laughlin Air Force Base

Key facts for living at Laughlin Air Force Base
Host state	Texas
State income tax	None on wages (bases in no-income-tax states)
Top state income-tax rate	0.0%
Average sales tax (state + local)	8.20%
Average property tax (real estate)	1.40%
Personal property tax (vehicles)	No
Median home value	$304,099
Military housing area	TX278 — LAUGHLIN AFB/DEL RIO, TX
Climate (annual high / low)	85° / 63°F
Annual precipitation	19.8 in
Official site	Laughlin Air Force Base

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PCS checklist for Laughlin Air Force Base

Update DEERS and your page-2 / dependency status before BAH starts at the new MHA (TX278).
Look up your exact BAH for rank and dependents on the DTMO BAH lookup (ZIP 78843).
Off-base 2-bedroom HUD FMR in Val Verde County is $1,064/mo. On-base housing is separate.
Get a TX driver license within 90 days and title the car within 30 days. See Texas.
Confirm reporting instructions on the official Laughlin Air Force Base site.

How Laughlin Air Force Base compares

E-5 with-dependents BAH is higher at Hanscom Air Force Base ($4,188 vs $1,470).

Use the picker above for any other compatible installation. Published PCS pages that include Laughlin 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 Laughlin Air Force Base (TX278). Confirm current rates on the DTMO BAH lookup.
2-bedroom Fair Market Rent. HUD FY2026 FMR — Val Verde County $1,064.
Off-base ZIP rent (HUD Small Area FMR). FY2026 ZIP 2- and 3-bedroom 40th-percentile rents from the HUD Small Area FMR tables: 78841 (Del Rio) $1,060 / $1,440.
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 Del Rio city, Texas ($160,400, $895/mo). Owner-reported values, not transaction prices.
Climate normals (1991–2020). NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals — Del Rio International Airport, TX (USW00022010).
Host-state wage tax. Statewide listed rates for Texas 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 Texas. 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 Texas. On-base housing is not in this figure.
Vehicle title tax and new-resident clocks. Texas motor-vehicle agency (license 90 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 Texas. 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 Texas. Backdrop for off-base purchase prices; on-base housing and BAH are separate.

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