What method do you use to calculate BAH in places without Runzheimer cost data?
BAH is defined for every location in the United States, even though some locations may have no military population. This is because we must be prepared with BAH rates should a member or dependent ever establish eligibility in that location. It is not cost effective to collect Runzheimer data for all such locations. To handle this situation, we combine these areas with other areas of similar cost for which we have Runzheimer cost data. Pooling the data in this manner gives us sufficient data necessary to attain statistically reliable housing costs and BAH rates. We determine comparable housing costs using Fair Market Rents (FMRs) published annually for all counties by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. After grouping or pooling the data, the result is a set of counties with comparable housing costs and BAH rates called a County Cost Group (CCG). There are approximately 30 separate CCGs, each with similar housing cost. Each group includes a statistically sufficient quantity
