An Evaluation of Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) Adequacy Standards and Recipient Housing Choices: Results from the 2025 BAH Adequacy Survey : Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) , March , 2026
An Evaluation of Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) Adequacy Standards and Recipient Housing Choices: Results from the 2025 BAH Adequacy Survey : Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) , March , 2026
From the report: “The Office of the Under Secretary of War for Personnel & Readiness contracted with CNA to answer the following compensation policy questions: Do current Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) adequacy standards (for housing size, type of home, etc.) and sampling methodologies result in BAH rates commensurate with actual servicemember choices? If not, why? CNA developed and administered the BAH Adequacy Survey to determine the extent to which BAH helps servicemembers secure their basic housing needs. The vast majority (84 percent) of BAH recipients are not living at their BAH standard and nearly half of BAH recipients overspend their BAH by 5 percent or more. Incongruencies between perceptions of BAH adequacy and reported costs indicate that BAH recipients’ understanding of BAH does not align with policy; they consider BAH inadequate even when it covers their spending. Based on our study, we provide recommendations aimed at improving servicemember housing experiences and future iterations of the BAH Adequacy Survey.”
Authors - Pikulin, Linda, Shing-Lai Cheng, Rosenquist, JaclynSubjects
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