Naval Station Norfolk: BAH and housing

Naval Station Norfolk is a naval station in Norfolk, Virginia. An E-5 with dependents receives $2,430 a month in BAH here (tied for 37th-highest of 119 among the bases we track), $140 more than the $2,290 HUD fair-market rent for a 3-bedroom in ZIP 23505. Norfolk is a mid-range market among the bases we cover (53rd-highest of 114): the median home is worth $289,900 and the median rent is $1,321. Normal daily temperatures run from 53°F to 70°F on average, with 46 inches of precipitation a year.

Data: DTMO 2026 BAH for MHA VA298, HUD rents for ZIP 23505, Census ACS for Norfolk city, NOAA normals at Norfolk NAS, VA. Jump to sources · Methodology

What is my BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) at Naval Station Norfolk?

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

Pay grade

Dependents

$1,908/mo

Monthly BAH at E-5 pay grade without dependents.

Naval Station Norfolk: $1,908

Typical 2-bedroom rent nearby: $1,650/mo
BAH vs that rent: $258/mo left over

Key facts for living at Naval Station Norfolk

Key facts for living at Naval Station Norfolk
Host state	Virginia
State income tax	Top listed rate 5.75%
Top state income-tax rate	5.75%
Average sales tax (state + local)	5.77%
Average property tax (real estate)	0.78%
Personal property tax (vehicles)	Yes — 3.97% effective
Median home value	$416,963
Military housing area	VA298 — NORFOLK/PORTSMOUTH, VA
Climate (annual high / low)	70° / 53°F
Annual precipitation	45.7 in
Official site	Naval Station Norfolk

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PCS checklist for Naval Station Norfolk

Update DEERS and your page-2 / dependency status before BAH starts at the new MHA (VA298).
Look up your exact BAH for rank and dependents on the DTMO BAH lookup (ZIP 23511).
Off-base 2-bedroom HUD FMR in Norfolk city is $1,713/mo. On-base housing is separate.
Get a VA driver license within 60 days and title the car within 30 days. See Virginia.
Confirm reporting instructions on the official Naval Station Norfolk site.

How Naval Station Norfolk compares

E-5 with-dependents BAH is higher at Naval Base San Diego ($3,975 vs $2,430).

Use the picker above for any other compatible installation. Published PCS pages that include Naval Station Norfolk are listed here.

Norfolk → JBPHHNaval Station Norfolk to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Norfolk → NBSDNaval Station Norfolk to Naval Base San Diego

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 Naval Station Norfolk (VA298). Confirm current rates on the DTMO BAH lookup.
2-bedroom Fair Market Rent. HUD FY2026 FMR — Norfolk city $1,713.
Off-base ZIP rent (HUD Small Area FMR). FY2026 ZIP 2- and 3-bedroom 40th-percentile rents from the HUD Small Area FMR tables: 23505 (Norfolk) $1,650 / $2,290.
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 Norfolk city, Virginia ($289,900, $1,321/mo). Owner-reported values, not transaction prices.
Climate normals (1991–2020). NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals — Norfolk NAS, VA (USW00013750).
Host-state wage tax. Statewide listed rates for Virginia 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 Virginia. 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 Virginia. On-base housing is not in this figure.
Vehicle title tax and new-resident clocks. Virginia motor-vehicle agency (license 60 days, title 30 days; title tax 5.30%). 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 Virginia. 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 Virginia. Backdrop for off-base purchase prices; on-base housing and BAH are separate.

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