Malmstrom Air Force Base: BAH and housing

Malmstrom Air Force Base is an Air Force base in Great Falls, Montana. An E-5 with dependents receives $1,608 a month in BAH here (96th-highest of 119 among the bases we track), $172 less than the $1,780 HUD fair-market rent for a 3-bedroom in ZIP 59403. Great Falls is a mid-range market among the bases we cover (64th-highest of 114): the median home is worth $257,000 and the median rent is $900. Average daily lows of 35°F make it the 7th-coldest base by that measure (tied).

Data: DTMO 2026 BAH for MHA MT175, HUD rents for ZIP 59403, Census ACS for Great Falls city, NOAA normals at Great Falls 16th St, MT. Jump to sources · Methodology

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

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

Pay grade

Dependents

$1,392/mo

Monthly BAH at E-5 pay grade without dependents.

Malmstrom Air Force Base: $1,392

Typical 2-bedroom rent nearby: $1,280/mo
BAH vs that rent: $112/mo left over

Key facts for living at Malmstrom Air Force Base

Key facts for living at Malmstrom Air Force Base
Host state	Montana
State income tax	Top listed rate 5.65%
Top state income-tax rate	5.65%
Average sales tax (state + local)	0.00%
Average property tax (real estate)	0.61%
Personal property tax (vehicles)	Yes — 1.13% effective
Median home value	$472,698
Military housing area	MT175 — MALMSTROM SFB/GREAT FALLS, MT
Climate (annual high / low)	59° / 35°F
Annual precipitation	15.4 in
Official site	Malmstrom Air Force Base

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PCS checklist for Malmstrom Air Force Base

Update DEERS and your page-2 / dependency status before BAH starts at the new MHA (MT175).
Look up your exact BAH for rank and dependents on the DTMO BAH lookup (ZIP 59402).
Off-base 2-bedroom HUD FMR in Cascade County is $1,284/mo. On-base housing is separate.
Get an MT driver license within 60 days and title the car within 60 days. See Montana.
Confirm reporting instructions on the official Malmstrom Air Force Base site.

How Malmstrom Air Force Base compares

E-5 with-dependents BAH is higher at Hanscom Air Force Base ($4,188 vs $1,608).

Use the picker above for any other compatible installation. Published PCS pages that include Malmstrom 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base (MT175). Confirm current rates on the DTMO BAH lookup.
2-bedroom Fair Market Rent. HUD FY2026 FMR — Cascade County $1,284.
Off-base ZIP rent (HUD Small Area FMR). FY2026 ZIP 2- and 3-bedroom 40th-percentile rents from the HUD Small Area FMR tables: 59403 (Great Falls) $1,280 / $1,780.
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 Great Falls city, Montana ($257,000, $900/mo). Owner-reported values, not transaction prices.
Climate normals (1991–2020). NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals — Great Falls 16th St, MT (USC00243749).
Host-state wage tax. Statewide listed rates for Montana 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 Montana. 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 Montana. On-base housing is not in this figure.
Vehicle title tax and new-resident clocks. Montana motor-vehicle agency (license 60 days, title 60 days; title tax 0.00%). 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 Montana. 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 Montana. Backdrop for off-base purchase prices; on-base housing and BAH are separate.

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