On May 16, 2026, every service member drawing a housing allowance at Dyess Air Force Base got a raise, and none of them had to apply for it. The Department of War raised the 2026 Basic Allowance for Housing for the Abilene/Dyess military housing area, known as TX270. It said the change was made "in response to housing market changes." The new rates are about 24% higher on average. Depending on pay grade and dependency status, the increases run from 18% to 28%.
The raise has an end date. The temporary rates expire December 31, 2026, less than three months from now. If you're comparing Abilene neighborhoods this fall, or deciding whether to rent or buy near the base, it helps to understand that date. A meaningful share of local housing demand is currently priced against a federal number that is about to be recalculated.
The Department collects rental housing cost data every year, and the regular 2026 rates took effect January 1. Abilene's market moved fast enough that DoD economists stepped in partway through the year. According to the official rate table, the temporary rates were "determined by DoD economists based on housing data available as of April 2026."
Here's what the monthly allowance looks like for a few representative grades under the temporary rates:
| Pay grade | With dependents | Without dependents |
|---|---|---|
| E-4 | $1,761 | $1,380 |
| E-5 | $1,872 | $1,545 |
| E-6 | $2,820 | $2,115 |
| O-1 | $1,989 | $1,644 |
| O-3 | $2,859 | $2,475 |
| O-4 | $3,063 | $2,820 |
These rates apply to everyone assigned to Abilene who is eligible for BAH. Members don't have to document higher costs to receive them. In practice, that means a large group of local renters and buyers all got bigger housing budgets on the same day.
Look closely at the table and one step stands out. An E-5 with dependents receives $1,872 a month. One grade up, an E-6 with dependents receives $2,820. That's a $948 monthly difference between two adjacent ranks.
For the Abilene market, this means military households arriving on orders don't all shop in the same place. Two families relocating the same month can be working with budgets nearly $1,000 a month apart. They end up looking at different price bands, different home sizes, and often different parts of town. A seller or landlord pricing a home "for Dyess families" is really pricing for one of these bands, whether they realize it or not.
It also means the allowance shapes what a large group of renters can afford. A housing market can absorb a lot of renters whose budgets rose 18% to 28% overnight. It has a harder time when those budgets are set to reset.
At a Hardin-Simmons University summit in early September, Maj. Gen. John Nichols, vice president of the Military Affairs Council, laid out how tight on-base and dedicated military housing has become. In KTAB's coverage, he said the area has about 1,100 dedicated military homes, 710 on base and roughly 400 at Quail Hollow. Quail Hollow is a neighborhood that lets non-military residents live there when there's capacity, and it's now near capacity.
Nichols said officials are looking at contractual agreements that could move some longtime non-military Quail Hollow residents out to make room for airmen. He was candid about the human cost of that. "It is traumatic," he said. "But the flipside of that is we have airmen and their families that are being sent here on orders that cannot compete in this type of seller's market for a home."
He added that military housing only accepts BAH, which he described as often lower than current Abilene rental rates. He also described local inventory as "very low" and "moving extremely fast at elevated prices." When dedicated housing fills up, the rest of Abilene's market picks up the overflow, and the temporary allowance is part of what lets those households compete at all.
Most coverage lumps everything happening at Dyess into one story. For anyone making a housing decision, the timing matters more than the headline. Three separate clocks are running:
The fastest of these clocks is the allowance, and it's the one whose next reading is already locked in. The August data cutoff has passed. Whatever the 2027 number turns out to be, the market conditions that set it are already on record.
Abilene is approving land for new housing. On September 10, City Council voted 7–0 on two final-reading rezonings that matter for the Dyess side of town. The first covers 166.9 acres at 6002 Texas Avenue near the base. It moves from agricultural-open zoning to patio-home, multifamily and general-retail uses, with Tal Fillingham listed as the owner's agent. The second covers 30.08 acres at 6648 Butterfield Trail, rezoned to RS-6 single-family. Wesley Hawks is listed as owner. BJ Pritchard, speaking for the applicant, said it would be developed together with an adjoining tract of roughly 30 acres as one subdivision.
Neither council record includes a unit count or a construction timeline. Earlier in the spring, Council approved items that KTXS reported would make way for about 240 single-family lots, 800 multifamily units and 46 senior-living units.
Ken Hogan, association executive of the Abilene Association of Realtors, told KTXS in June that these approvals should help "eventually." He estimated a need for about 7,000 net housing units "once everything is sort of settled." He added that he expects developers to step in "when they find an opportunity to make a profit and to help satisfy a need." Rezoned land is the first step toward new homes. A home someone can move into this winter is several steps further along.
The rate notice includes one sentence that anyone pricing, leasing or buying in Abilene should know about:
"Rate protection does NOT apply for the temporarily increased rates, so members may receive a 2027 BAH rate that is less than the temporarily increased rates if the Abilene housing market cools before the 2027 rates go into effect."
That has practical consequences on each side of a transaction, and none of them call for guessing which way the 2027 number will go:
DoD says the 2027 rates "will be announced later." Until they are, the most reliable figures anyone has are the expiration date, the rate table, and the two rezonings that still have no unit counts attached.
If you're weighing a lease, a purchase, or a listing near Dyess while the 2027 allowance is still pending, The Kristen Dressen Kyker Team is happy to walk through how the timing affects your plans. We'll sit down with you, look at the dates and numbers together, and help you make a decision you're comfortable with. Contact Us whenever you're ready to talk it through.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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