Two E-5s with dependents, both stationed at Naval Support Activity Mid-South, can draw different housing allowances this year. A sailor who was already there in 2025 and whose status hasn't changed is still drawing the 2025 Memphis rate of $2,208 a month. A sailor who arrived in 2026 gets $2,154. The difference comes from a rule called individual rate protection, which a permanent change of station ends.
Millington's home prices hide a gap of their own. The year-to-date median sale price through September 2026 was $259,950, but almost no Millington home sells at that price. Resales sit about $50,000 below it, and new construction sits about $50,000 above it. A family moving here on orders needs to know both its own allowance rate and which half of the market it is shopping in.
The allowance is priced on Memphis rent
NSA Mid-South falls under the Memphis, TN military housing area, code TN268. The Defense Travel Management Office's 2026 component breakdown says the Memphis rate is built from 82% rent and 18% utilities. The rate tracks what it costs to rent across the whole Memphis housing area, not what houses sell for in Millington.
So the same check applies in Millington and in Germantown, even though Germantown's year-to-date median through September 2026 was $480,000. One allowance covers a metro where prices vary that much.
The 2026 rates also moved unevenly by grade. Compare the with-dependents rates in DTMO's 2025 file with the 2026 figures that rate reprints attribute to DTMO:
| Pay grade | 2025 monthly, with dependents | 2026 monthly, with dependents | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-4 | $2,064 | $1,992 | down $72 |
| E-5 | $2,208 | $2,154 | down $54 |
| E-6 | $2,319 | $2,319 | flat |
| E-7 | $2,337 | $2,337 | flat |
| O-3 | $2,352 | $2,352 | flat |
| O-4 | $2,523 | $2,508 | down $15 |
The two grades that dropped the most are the junior enlisted grades, the households most likely to shop at the low end of Millington's market.
Members who were already in Memphis are protected from those cuts. DTMO's Basic Allowance for Housing page says members receive "the BAH rates published 1 January or the amount of housing allowance they received on 31 December, whichever is larger," as long as their eligibility status doesn't change. Protection ends with a PCS, a reduction in paygrade, or a change in dependency status. That's why the two E-5s in the opening draw different amounts.
Millington's median combines two separate markets
The Memphis Area Association of REALTORS September 2026 market report splits Millington's sales into existing homes and new construction. From January through September 2026:
- Total: 224 sales, up from 208 in the same period of 2025, with a median of $259,950, down 3.3%
- Existing homes: 165 sales, median $206,000, down 6.4%
- New construction: 59 sales, median $308,990, down 5.4% from $326,490
- Bank sales: 5, median $125,000
New construction made up about 26% of Millington's sales so far this year. In Bartlett it made up about 2%, with 12 new homes out of 567 sales through September 2026. Cordova had 23 out of 643. Arlington comes closer to Millington's mix, with 59 new homes out of 224 sales, but its overall median was $444,710.
Because the two halves are so far apart, the headline median moves with the mix of sales as much as with prices. September 2026 shows it clearly. Millington's monthly median fell 11.1% to $260,000 on just 25 sales: 14 resales and 11 new homes. A year earlier, 25 of 34 sales were resales. The resale median for the month fell 36.4% to $142,500, while the new-home median barely changed at $308,990. Fourteen resales is too small a sample to say much about Millington. The year-to-date figures are the better guide, and they give a different starting point for each type of home.
The new half is mostly D.R. Horton
Most of the new construction comes from three D.R. Horton communities, and each one starts at a different price:
- Huntington Estates, with a sales address at 8050 Hickory Meadow Road, advertised from $265,990 when we checked.
- Riggs Pointe, at 4578 Basun Circle North, an Express Series community advertised from $280,990.
- The Orchard, at 4272 Sandy Hollow Lane, advertised from $314,990.
Builder starting prices change often, so check them again before you plan around them. Even so, all three start within roughly $50,000 of the year-to-date new-home median of $308,990, and all start above the $206,000 resale median.
Supply in this half of the market arrives in phases. Pro-Site, the developer behind Huntington Estates, describes it as a 263-lot subdivision. Phases 1 through 3, totaling 171 lots, were built between February 2022 and January 2025. Phase 4 adds 44 lots, with construction starting in September 2026 and expected to finish in May 2027. A final phase holds 48 lots, and all phases are delivered pad-ready to D.R. Horton. A family arriving in Millington in spring 2027 could find more new lots available than a family arriving this fall.
More subdivisions have come before the city. Millington's January 20, 2026 planning agenda lists The Grove, a proposed 169-lot subdivision on 48.7 acres north of Big Creek Church Road and west of Highway 51. The October 27, 2025 agenda lists Asa Place, a proposed 22-lot subdivision on 8.25 acres west of Raleigh-Millington Road. Both are proposals, and neither agenda names a homebuilder or a price.
Retail is growing in Millington too. In January, the Commercial Appeal reported land being cleared on Wilkinsville Road near Lowe's for a planned Target and an Academy Sports + Outdoors. Academy's store locator now lists a Millington store at 8400 Wilkinsville Road with posted hours. The Target is still listed as planned.
How the allowance and the two markets fit together
For a household coming in on orders, the BAH rules and the split median lead to a few practical questions:
- Which median matches the homes you're considering? If you're looking at resales, start from $206,000. If you're looking at new builds, start from $308,990. The $259,950 blended figure doesn't describe either one.
- What will your rate be when you arrive? Use DTMO's BAH rate lookup with your duty station ZIP code. A PCS ends rate protection, so an arriving member draws the published rate, not the amount a member already on station may be protected at.
- Will your report date land after January 1? New rates take effect January 1 each year, as they did on January 1, 2026, according to the 2026 rate announcement. DTMO's lookup currently stops at 2026.
- Is a new community still building? Huntington Estates' phase 4 timeline runs to May 2027, so the inventory and prices you see this fall may change by spring.
Everything above about BAH, rate protection, and allowances is general information, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Confirm your own entitlement with your installation's housing or finance office, and talk with a lender about financing.
Quick answers
Is Millington's market softening? The year-to-date numbers through September 2026 show modest declines: 6.4% for resales and 5.4% for new construction. Total sales volume rose 7.7% over the same stretch of 2025. The steeper drops in September came from a 25-sale month.
Does BAH pay more in Millington because homes cost less there? No. NSA Mid-South uses the Memphis-wide rate, which is built from area rent and utility costs, not local sale prices.
Do Millington's new-construction numbers include proposed subdivisions like The Grove? No. MAAR counts closed sales, so proposed subdivisions aren't in its figures until homes there are built and sold.
If orders are bringing you to NSA Mid-South, or you're already in Millington and wondering what your home would bring in a market where new construction is about a quarter of sales, 2 Rivers Realty LLC can help you sort resale numbers from new-build numbers before you make a decision. Broker Susan K. Jenkins holds the Military Relocation Professional designation, and our team works with PCS timelines regularly. Get Your Instant Home Valuation, or call us to talk through the Millington numbers that fit your move.
