GI Bill Housing Allowance Calculator
The Post-9/11 GI Bill Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) is generally the Department of Defense E-5-with-dependents Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate for your school's ZIP code, scaled by your rate of pursuit and your benefit percentage. Fully online students receive half the national average rate instead. Because BAH rates change yearly and vary by location, this calculator takes the applicable monthly rate as an editable input from the VA and DoD sources. Enter your rate, rate of pursuit and tier to estimate your monthly allowance.
MHA formula
If rate of pursuit is 50% or less: MHA = 0 Otherwise: MHA = applicable rate x (rate of pursuit %) x (benefit tier %)
Use the E-5-with-dependents BAH for your school's ZIP, or half the national average for fully online study.
Worked example
Applicable rate 2,000, rate of pursuit 100%, tier 100%. MHA = 2,000 x 1.00 x 1.00 = 2,000.00. At 75% rate of pursuit it would be 1,500.00.
GI Bill housing allowance: frequently asked questions
How is the Post-9/11 GI Bill housing allowance set?
The Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) under the Post-9/11 GI Bill is generally based on the Department of Defense Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) for an E-5 with dependents at the ZIP code of the school where you physically attend the majority of your classes. It is then scaled by your rate of pursuit and your benefit eligibility percentage.
What is rate of pursuit?
Rate of pursuit is your enrolled credit hours divided by the number considered full-time for your program, expressed as a percentage. The MHA is paid only if your rate of pursuit is more than 50%. Below or at 50% you generally receive no housing allowance. This calculator multiplies the base MHA by your rate of pursuit.
Why are the BAH and online rates editable inputs?
BAH rates are published by the Department of Defense and change every year, and they differ by ZIP code. The half-the-national-average rate for fully online study also changes annually. To stay accurate, this calculator takes the applicable monthly rate as an editable input from the VA and DoD sources rather than hardcoding a figure that would go stale.
What is the benefit percentage?
Depending on your length of qualifying active-duty service, you may be entitled to 100%, 90%, 80% and so on down to 40% of the full Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit, including the housing allowance. Enter your tier percentage and the calculator scales the allowance accordingly.
Official sources
- US Department of Veterans Affairs: Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33).
- Defense Travel Management Office: Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH).
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 19 June 2026. See our methodology.