With a VA loan — no down payment, no PMI — your monthly BAH can go toward a mortgage instead of a landlord's pocket. The median home near NAF El Centro runs about $318,438.

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All NAF El Centro BAH Rates by Pay Grade

Pay Grade	With Dependents	Without Dependents
Enlisted
E-1	$1,905	$1,500
E-2	$1,905	$1,500
E-3	$1,905	$1,500
E-4	$1,905	$1,500
E-5	$1,986	$1,704
E-6	$2,151	$1,824
E-7	$2,334	$1,905
E-8	$2,541	$2,025
E-9	$2,721	$2,061
Warrant Officer
W-1	$2,166	$1,890
W-2	$2,418	$2,022
W-3	$2,673	$2,070
W-4	$2,739	$2,187
W-5	$2,823	$2,382
Officer (Prior Enlisted)
O-1E (Prior Enlisted)	$2,373	$1,983
O-2E (Prior Enlisted)	$2,634	$2,052
O-3E (Prior Enlisted)	$2,751	$2,139
Officer
O-1	$2,013	$1,818
O-2	$2,148	$1,962
O-3	$2,664	$2,085
O-4	$2,847	$2,346
O-5	$2,976	$2,460
O-6	$2,997	$2,652
O-7	$3,018	$2,697

Official 2026 BAH rates for the EL CENTRO, CA Military Housing Area, effective January 1, 2026.

About NAF El Centro

Welcome to El Centro, California! Naval Air Facility El Centro (NAF El Centro) is located along the California-Mexico border in the Imperial Valley and is about midway between San Diego, CA, and Yuma, AZ. The base traces its beginnings to 1943 when the airfield was commissioned as an airbase with perfect weather conditions for pre-combat flight training. Today, the base is a training base for pilots of all services to hone their skills as aerial warfighters as well as a parachute training center for the US and allied commandos and special operations forces. Today NAF El Centro covers more than 1800 acres of training area with two long runways supporting flight operations. The base itself is relatively small in size with about 101 housing units aboard the installation. Continue reading for...

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