E-8 with dependents at San Antonio (JBSA) draws $2,121 per month in 2026
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San Antonio, TX
E-8 · with dependents
$2,121/ month
$25,452 / year
At E-8, this is #14 of 17 stations loaded · high Camp Pendleton $4,596 · low Fort Riley $1,911
MHA code pending — loads with the DTMO ZIP file
Your grade is calledARMYMSG / 1SGUSMCMSgt / 1stSgtNAVYSCPOUSAFSMSgt
Untaxed — matching it with taxable pay takes$2,719 / mo gross
Other dependency status here$1,920 without dependents
In government quarters, no dependents$50.10 / mo partial
MHA
Most JBSA grades went DOWN for 2026 — see the rate-protection flag below.
RATE PROTECTION
Already stationed here? You don't take this cut. BAH rate protection holds you at your prior year's amount as long as your duty location, grade and dependency status stay the same. The lower 2026 number applies to members arriving on new orders, and to you if you promote, change dependency status, or PCS.
E-8 with dependents, every station0 – $4,596 / month
Camp Pendleton$4,596
San Diego$4,488
Honolulu County$4,302
JB Elmendorf-Richardson$3,240
JB Lewis-McChord$3,072
Norfolk$2,661
Fort Stewart$2,556
Fort Carson$2,553
Fort Campbell$2,400
Fort Drum$2,331
Fort Hood$2,238
Fort Bliss$2,187
Fort Bragg$2,142
San Antonio (JBSA)$2,121
Camp Lejeune$2,049
Fort Benning$2,037
Fort Riley$1,911
San Antonio (JBSA) is #14 of 17. The spread between
the dearest and cheapest station at this grade is $2,685 a month —
$32,220 a year, untaxed.
Every pay grade at San Antonio (JBSA)0 – $2,490 / month
E-1$1,728
E-2$1,728
E-3$1,728
E-4$1,728
E-5$1,869
E-6$2,094
E-7$2,112
E-8$2,121
E-9$2,157
W-1$2,109
W-2$2,118
W-3$2,130
W-4$2,178
W-5$2,280
O-1E$2,115
O-2E$2,124
O-3E$2,196
O-1$1,905
O-2$2,091
O-3$2,127
O-4$2,307
O-5$2,457
O-6$2,475
O-7$2,490
Promoting to E-9 here adds $36 a
month. The pay chart moves this allowance far less than the map does.
01
Where you are stationed outweighs what you are paid. Moving from San Antonio (JBSA) to Camp Pendleton at E-8 is worth $2,475 a month — about 69 promotions worth of housing allowance, at $36 per grade here.
02
Dependency status is worth 10% here. That is a status your finance office determines, not a box you tick — and it is the single largest lever on this page that is not a change of address.
03
None of it is taxed. $2,121 a month of BAH takes more than $2,121 of basic pay to match, which is why comparing a civilian salary against military base pay alone understates the gap.
Ad slot — in-content, after the answerPlaced below the number, never above it. VA-loan and PCS-move advertisers bid here.
Things the rate table doesn't tell you
01
“With dependents” is a dependency status, not a marital status. A single member paying child support can be authorized BAH-Diff; a married dual-military couple with no children is not automatically the with-dependents rate for both. If your situation is unusual, your finance office decides — not this table.
02
O-8, O-9 and O-10 draw the same BAH as O-7. The table stops there for a reason, not because it is missing rows.
03
This is CONUS BAH only. Overseas is OHA, which works differently — it reimburses actual rent up to a cap, with separate utility and move-in allowances. Alaska and Hawaii are BAH; Germany, Japan and Korea are OHA.