PCSing to Norfolk from Jacksonville? Your BAH goes up. Prices stay close.
This is the most common Navy move on the East Coast, and it is the easy one. Your 2026 BAH rises 11 to 18 percent when you check in at Norfolk, Oceana or Little Creek. Home prices land within a few percent of what you left in Duval County, lower in Norfolk and a bit higher in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. The real differences are tunnels, state income tax, four seasons, and a much deeper fleet. I am John King, a Navy veteran and REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices RW Towne Realty, and 189 of my 441 Hampton Roads closings were VA loans, a lot of them for families who had just driven up I-95 from Jacksonville.
The fleet says Norfolk. The market is all of Hampton Roads: Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk, and I cover every one of them.
A PCS from Jacksonville (MHA FL058, covering Naval Station Mayport and NAS Jacksonville) to Norfolk (MHA VA298) raises 2026 BAH by about 11 percent for an E-5 with dependents ($2,181 to $2,430) and 18 percent for an O-4 ($2,580 to $3,054). Median home prices are close: about $362,000 in Jacksonville against $330,000 in Norfolk, $415,000 in Virginia Beach and $418,000 in Chesapeake, so a zero-down VA loan inside BAH works the same way here. Mayport surface ships move to Naval Station Norfolk, NAS Jacksonville aviation to Chambers Field or NAS Oceana, Kings Bay submarines to the Norfolk sub squadrons, and Naval Hospital Jacksonville to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. The drive is about 600 miles on I-95. The main changes are Virginia state income tax, no Florida-style homestead exemption, tunnel commutes and a real winter. Written and kept current by John King, U.S. Navy veteran and REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices RW Towne Realty, Virginia license 0225211050, 441 closings across Hampton Roads since 2014, 189 of them VA-financed, 5.0 stars on 117 Google reviews. Call or text (757) 270-3994.
Last reviewed October 9, 2026 · BAH: DTMO 2026 rate tables, effective January 1, 2026 · Hampton Roads medians: REIN MLS / Redfin, 2026 · Jacksonville median: Redfin, three months ending March 31, 2026 · Closing record: REIN MLS, June 2014 – September 2026
BAH side by side: Jacksonville vs Norfolk, 2026
Both tables are the official DTMO rates effective January 1, 2026. Jacksonville is MHA FL058 (Naval Station Mayport, NAS Jacksonville). Norfolk is MHA VA298 (Naval Station Norfolk, NAS Oceana, JEB Little Creek, Portsmouth). Kings Bay is its own MHA in Georgia and runs lower than either; call me for that comparison.
| Pay grade | Jacksonville (FL058) | Norfolk (VA298) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-4 | $2,046 ($1,623) | $2,229 ($1,707) | +9% |
| E-5 | $2,181 ($1,803) | $2,430 ($1,908) | +11% |
| E-6 | $2,241 ($1,920) | $2,559 ($2,043) | +14% |
| E-7 | $2,283 ($2,049) | $2,604 ($2,235) | +14% |
| O-3 | $2,364 ($2,211) | $2,694 ($2,505) | +14% |
| O-4 | $2,580 ($2,277) | $3,054 ($2,601) | +18% |
| O-5 | $2,736 ($2,301) | $3,318 ($2,625) | +21% |
What the extra BAH buys you. An E-6 with dependents picks up about $318 a month. At a 6 percent VA rate that is roughly $50,000 more house with the same payment, which is the difference between Norfolk and a good part of Virginia Beach or Chesapeake. If you were already carrying a mortgage inside BAH in Jacksonville, you can do the same here with room to spare. Run your own grade through the Hampton Roads BAH calculator to see the max price and PITI at today’s rate.
What changes
- State income tax. Florida has none. Virginia does, and it shows up on your spouse’s W-2 and any civilian income. Military pay is taxed by your state of legal residence, so many families keep Florida residency. Ask a CPA.
- No homestead exemption. Florida caps assessment growth on a primary residence. Virginia does not, though city property tax rates here are generally lower than most Florida counties.
- Tunnels and bridges. Jacksonville has bridges; Hampton Roads has three tunnels and two major bridges that back up at shift change. Living on the same side of the water as your command is rule one.
- Winter. Four real seasons. Occasional snow, real heating bills, and a hurricane season that is shorter but still June through November.
What stays the same
- VA loan inside BAH. Zero down, no PMI, a payment at or under your allowance. If it worked in Jacksonville it works here, with more margin.
- Coastal flood awareness. You already know to check flood zones and elevation. Same discipline here; parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach are in FEMA zones and I check every property.
- A market built for the fleet. Remote closings, video showings and VA-fluent lenders are standard. Across the 37 homes I have sold more than once, median annualized appreciation was 6.25 percent.
Base to base: where your Jacksonville command lands in Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads has more installations than any metro in the country. Here is how the Jacksonville-area ones usually map, and the neighborhood guide I would start with for each.
Naval Station Norfolk
Destroyers, cruisers, amphibs and the carrier. The largest naval base in the world. Start with East Beach, Ocean View, Chic’s Beach or Bayside. NSN housing guide →
Chambers Field, NSN or NAS Oceana
Helicopter and maritime patrol communities usually land at Chambers Field on Naval Station Norfolk. Strike fighter billets go to NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, where Ocean Lakes and Kempsville are the usual answers.
Naval Station Norfolk (submarines)
Norfolk sub squadrons. Same neighborhoods as the surface fleet; many sub families look at Chesapeake for the extra space and the shorter drive to the shipyard.
Naval Medical Center Portsmouth
The oldest naval hospital in the country. Portsmouth and Greenbrier or Great Bridge in Chesapeake are tunnel-free and give you more house per dollar.
JEB Little Creek – Fort Story
Amphibious, expeditionary and special warfare. Chic’s Beach, East Beach and Bayside keep you off the tunnels. Little Creek guide →
Portsmouth and Norfolk
Coast Guard billets in Hampton Roads center on Portsmouth. Chesapeake and the Portsmouth side of the water keep the commute off the tunnels; call me with the unit and I will map it.
Not sure which installation your orders point to yet? The full Hampton Roads base guide covers every one, including Joint Base Langley–Eustis on the Peninsula and Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
The I-95 timeline, from orders to keys
Five steps. Close enough to drive up for a weekend, far enough that most families still buy by video.
Orders in hand: call me, not the movers
Send me the command, your report date and your must-haves. I send back a market brief within 24 hours: neighborhoods on the right side of the water, price ranges at your new BAH, and commute realities.
Day 1VA pre-approval with a local lender
Certificate of Eligibility confirmed, entitlement checked (especially if your Jacksonville home has a VA loan on it), and a real pre-approval, not a pre-qual. Sellers here pick between offers in days.
Week 1Tour by video, or drive up for a weekend
Same time zone, so live FaceTime walkthroughs fit your evening. If you want one in-person trip, I stack the shortlist into a single Saturday. I film everything, including the flaws.
Weeks 2–5Offer, inspection and appraisal while you pack
VA offers written to compete. Inspection on video with the inspector live. The VA appraisal and any repair items handled while your household goods are in transit.
Weeks 5–9Close, drive up, pick up keys
Electronic signing or power of attorney. Mayport to Norfolk is about 600 miles, a long day on I-95. You arrive to a home that is already yours, not a TLE hotel search.
Report dateProof it works: a family fourteen time zones away bought sight unseen after I walked every candidate home on camera, and a Navy family from Chicago closed on a four-bedroom near Naval Station Norfolk before setting foot in Virginia. Jacksonville is a day’s drive.
If you own in Jacksonville: sell, rent, and what it does to your VA entitlement
This decision comes before the Norfolk house hunt, because it sets your entitlement and your cash. Three paths.
Sell the Jacksonville home
Selling and paying off the loan generally restores your full VA entitlement, which means a zero-down purchase in Norfolk with no second-tier math. I do not sell in Florida, but I will personally interview and hand-pick a Jacksonville listing agent from the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network, brief them on your report date, and coordinate the two closings so the dates line up. It costs you nothing extra; their brokerage pays mine a referral fee from their side.
Keep it as a rental
Jacksonville has deep military rental demand and plenty of families keep a Mayport-area house through a Norfolk tour. The catch is entitlement: because Jacksonville and Norfolk prices are similar, keeping a VA loan in place on the Florida home can genuinely limit what you buy here without a down payment. We run the number with your lender before you decide, not after.
Sell there, rent here
Some families sell in Jacksonville, bank the equity, and rent in Norfolk for the first year to learn the region. Reasonable, and I will match you with a rental if that is the plan. The cost is that BAH goes to a landlord instead of a mortgage during a period when, across my repeat sales, homes here appreciated at a median 6.25 percent a year.
Tax and timing notes
Florida has no state income tax and a homestead exemption; Virginia has both an income tax and no assessment cap. Military basic pay follows your state of legal residence, which is why many families keep Florida. The capital gains exclusion on a primary residence has an extension for military members on qualified official extended duty. Confirm all of it with a CPA before you list. The sell-versus-rent framework is on my military landlord guide.
Why a Navy veteran in Norfolk, and not a portal
Every figure below comes from my own REIN MLS record, published in full in the 13-year sales study.
I served five years as a Machinist Mate and came to Hampton Roads the same way you are: on orders, with a report date and no local knowledge. I have been licensed since 2013 and have helped hundreds of military families buy and sell here. Jacksonville-to-Norfolk is the move I see most often, in both directions. The case studies are real transactions with the client’s own review linked.
Questions Jacksonville families ask before the move
How does BAH change going from Jacksonville to Norfolk?
It goes up. For 2026, an E-5 with dependents moves from $2,181 in Jacksonville (MHA FL058) to $2,430 in Norfolk (MHA VA298), about 11 percent more. An O-4 with dependents moves from $2,580 to $3,054, about 18 percent more. Rates are set per Military Housing Area, so every Hampton Roads Navy installation on the Southside pays the same table.
Are Norfolk home prices higher than Jacksonville?
Close, and it depends on the city. Jacksonville's median sale price was about $362,000 in early 2026. Norfolk runs about $330,000, Virginia Beach about $415,000 and Chesapeake about $418,000. With BAH up 11 to 18 percent, a zero-down VA loan at those prices fits inside BAH for most grades, as it did in Jacksonville.
Which Norfolk-area base replaces Mayport, NAS Jacksonville or Kings Bay?
Mayport surface ships and amphibs go to Naval Station Norfolk. NAS Jacksonville aviation goes to Chambers Field at Naval Station Norfolk or NAS Oceana depending on the community. Kings Bay submarines go to the Norfolk sub squadrons. Naval Hospital Jacksonville goes to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.
Do I need a house-hunting trip to Virginia from Jacksonville?
Not required. It is a one-day drive, so some families do come up for a weekend, but most of John King's Florida buyers purchase by video: live walkthroughs, inspection on camera with the inspector, remote signing or power of attorney at closing.
What happens to my VA entitlement if I keep my Jacksonville home as a rental?
Keeping the VA loan in place leaves part of your entitlement committed to that property, which can reduce what you can buy in Norfolk without a down payment. Because Jacksonville and Norfolk prices are similar, this matters more than it does for families coming from a high-cost station. Your lender needs to run the exact figure before you decide. Selling and paying off the loan generally restores full entitlement.
Can you help me sell my house in Jacksonville?
Not as the listing agent, since John King is licensed in Virginia. He interviews and hand-picks a Jacksonville agent from the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network, briefs them on your report date, and coordinates the Jacksonville closing with your Norfolk purchase so the dates and the equity line up. There is no cost to you for the match.
How does the tax picture change from Florida to Virginia?
Florida has no state income tax; Virginia does. Virginia's property tax rates vary by city and are generally lower than many Florida counties, and Virginia does not have a homestead exemption like Florida's. The capital gains exclusion on a primary residence has an extension for military members on qualified official extended duty. Confirm all of it with a CPA before you list.
How long is the drive from Mayport to Norfolk?
About 600 miles up I-95, roughly nine to ten hours. Families often close in Norfolk a few days before the report date, drive up with the household goods in transit, and move straight into a home that is already theirs.
Start your Jacksonville to Hampton Roads plan
Send your command, report date and whether you own in Jacksonville. You will hear from me the same day with a market brief built around your orders.
Or skip the form
Call or text, any day.
(757) 270-3994What to include: your new command, report date, pay grade and dependents, whether you own in Jacksonville, and whether you plan to use a VA loan. Everything else we cover on the call.
More BAH. Same prices. The easy PCS.
One conversation covers the Hampton Roads purchase, the Jacksonville sale or rental, and your VA entitlement, timed to your report date.
John King · Navy veteran, Machinist Mate · REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices RW Towne Realty · License #0225211050 · Serving Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Hampton & Newport News
Keep exploring Hampton Roads with John King