How DTMO Sets and Updates OHA Rates

Every figure on the OHA calculator traces back to a survey, not a fixed table. DTMO runs three separate update cycles, on three separate clocks, which is why a rate sheet's date matters as much as the numbers on it.

What each survey updates

Rental ceilings move the fastest. The FAQ states the cadence directly: "The rental allowances are reviewed every 6 months based on rents in the pay system." The rent figures behind that review aren't a new survey each time; they come from members' own paperwork: "Rent data is provided by finance offices through the Defense Manpower Data Center."

The utility and recurring maintenance allowance runs on a slower, once-a-year cycle. DTMO's data page is specific about where the numbers come from: "The utility/recurring maintenance allowance is reviewed and updated annually, based on data collected through a survey provided to Service members receiving OHA and paying utilities separately from rent."

The move-in payment, MIHA/Miscellaneous, moves slower still. It's "based on triennial surveys, in which Service members report expenses incurred upon moving in to their quarters" — once every three years, not every one.

Both the utility and move-in surveys share the same open window each year. The FAQ ties the two together: "Members have the opportunity to provide input in the annual OHA Utility Expenses Survey and triennial OHA Move-In Expenses Survey. These surveys run every year from January 1 to March 31." DTMO's own data page shows what that looks like in practice, closing one survey and naming the next: "The 2026 OHA Utility Expenses Survey is now closed. The next survey opens January 1, 2027." Whatever a member reports in that window feeds the following cycle's UMA and MIHA figures; it doesn't change the current sheet retroactively.

This site's own stamp

Every one of the 8 countries' sheets this site's calculator uses is effective July 16, 2026 or later, and the earliest is due for its next sheet by October 1, 2026 — the dates this guide, and every OHA page on this site, carries as its own freshness stamp. That's not a guess: it's the earliest effective date across the 8 sheets on file, and the earliest date any of them is next expected to move. When the calendar passes that date, treat the figures here as due for a check against DTMO's current sheet, even before this site's own update lands.

Checklist: the month your locality's sheet moves

1. Find the new sheet's effective date. Every locality table on DTMO's OHA Rate Lookup states it; a rate that's still showing last period's date hasn't moved yet.
2. Compare the ceiling, the UMA and the MIHA figure, not just one of them. All three can move on different sheets in the same update, since rent, utility and move-in numbers run on separate survey clocks.
3. Re-run your own number on the OHA calculator or with your finance office once the new sheet is posted; a sheet that's merely been announced ahead of its effective date isn't yet the one your pay is computed from.
4. Recheck it if your rent itself changes, not only when the sheet does: a new lease or a rent increase is its own trigger for a fresh comparison against the ceiling.
5. If you're a sharer or in a dual-military household, work the figures through OHA for sharers and dual-military instead of the single-member calculator, since neither case is priced by grade and locality alone.

This site updates its own sheets by hand after checking DTMO's site, so there's always a gap between a new sheet going into effect and this page reflecting it. Your finance office's own system moves independently of both, and is the one that actually sets what lands on your pay.