Fort Drum Guide › Housing
Chapter · Housing near Fort Drum
On post or off? Choose with the facts.
How on-post housing works, who helps with off-post rentals for free, and 30 nearby towns with their school district and drive time. Drive times come from map routing to each gate, not guesses.
On-post housing, how it works.
Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes runs on-post family housing for the Army. These rules come from the Army's Fort Drum housing FAQ.
Who can live on post
Family housing is for soldiers who are married, with or without children, or single with custody of a child who lives with them. Single soldiers E-5 and below live in the barracks.
When to apply
As soon as you have orders, at the Welcome Home Center, (315) 955-6644. You go active on the wait list when you sign out of your last duty station and your documents arrive. You can list the neighborhoods you prefer.
How the wait list is ordered
Your rank, number of dependents and eligibility date (the day you signed out of your last duty station) set your place. Decline two offers and you go to the bottom of the list.
What rent covers
Rent is your whole BAH, paid by allotment. It covers rent, utilities up to a set allowance, and renters insurance, and Mountain Community Homes handles all maintenance. For pets, see their pet policy.
Moving out
Give 30 days' notice, attend a move-out briefing, and provide a copy of your orders.
Schools
There's no school on post. Children living on post attend Carthage or Indian River schools, depending on the neighborhood. See the Schools chapter.
Off post, you get free help.
The Army's Housing Services Office works for you, not the landlord. Soldiers are required to check in with it before renting, leasing or buying off post.
What it does, free
Housing counseling and referrals, lease reviews before you sign, safety and habitability inspections of rentals, and help settling disputes with a landlord. The Army also advises not sending a deposit before you've talked to this office.
Where to find it
Clark Hall, Bldg. 10720 Mount Belvedere Blvd, Room A2-54. Weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call (315) 772-9397 or (315) 772-8751.
Thinking of buying?
Run your payment against your BAH, and compare renting and buying, in the Buying chapter.
Every town, its district and its drive.
Tap a town for its school district and the drive to each open gate. The same towns are listed below the map.
Drive times: OpenStreetMap routing from each village center to each gate, with no traffic or snow. District: the one serving the village center; the exact address decides, so confirm with the district before you sign. The Gasoline Alley Gate on Route 3 is closed until further notice.
Towns by drive time.
Closest first, to the nearest open gate. Tap a town to ask about homes there.
Show all 30 towns
Fort Drum's gates.
Lt. Gen. Paul Cerjan / Main Gate
Open 24/7, on Iraqi Freedom Drive off I-781. The Visitor Control Center (Bldg. 11008, just outside) is open 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Col. Michael Plummer Gate
On Mount Belvedere Blvd, near Black River. Open 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield Gate
Open 24/7. All commercial traffic uses this gate.
Oneida “Gasoline Alley” Gate
Closed until further notice.
Gate hours change. Check Fort Drum's gate page before you drive in.
Want help picking a town?
Tell us your unit, your kids' ages and your budget. A real person from our Fort Drum network calls you within 24 hours.
Got it. A real person calls you within 24 hours. Need someone now? Text or call (315) 221-4857.
Free for military families. We connect you, never spam you.Checked Sep 24, 2026 against the Army's Fort Drum housing FAQ, Fort Drum's Housing Division and gate pages, Mountain Community Homes, and each school district's schools. Town positions and drive times come from OpenStreetMap.