dod travel per diem rates

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Military Per Diem Rates

Per diem is a daily payment to reimburse service members for the out-of-pocket cost of food, lodging, and incidental expenses that occur while on military business or temporary duty (TDY) away from their home station. Per diem sets the limit on how much a service member can be reimbursed for meals and lodging. The following is a summary of how per diem works:

The DoD Per Diem Allowance

Each year the DoD Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Committee sets the per diem allowance. Per diem is specific to a given travel location and can range from a standard CONUS rate from $166 per day to over $800 per day for OCONUS rates.

Fiscal 2024 Per Diem Rates

Per diem is broken down into three categories:

• Incidental expenses

The per diem rate you will receive is based on a combination of the maximum lodging and the meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) rates as well as an incidental expense. 

When you travel, you receive the meal and incidentals portion of per diem automatically. To be reimbursed for lodging, you must submit receipts showing the lodging's actual cost, or you can use your government charge card to have your receipts automatically entered to your travel account in some cases.

For travel to most locations in the continental United States, you are reimbursed based on the standard per diem rates. For fiscal 2024, starting Oct. 1, 2023, those rates are $107 for lodging and $59 for meals. There is also a $5 daily incidental allowance.

If your lodging costs less than the maximum amount of $107, you will be reimbursed only the actual cost; if it costs more, you have to pay the difference out of pocket. 

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule: It's nearly impossible to find a hotel in any major city for $107, so several "high-cost" areas have higher limits for lodging. These areas may have higher reimbursement for meals as well. Also, some areas have higher per diem rates during tourist season, when prices go up. However, for most of the U.S., standard per diem rates apply.

To find the specific per diem rate for a given location visit the DoD Travel and Per Diem website.

Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rates

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The Military Wallet

Per Diem Rates for Military & Government Travel

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If you have traveled on official government duty, you have probably received per diem. Per diem is the daily allotted pay the DoD gives members while they are traveling on official duty assignments. The funds are to be used to cover your lodging, food, and incidental expenses, such as laundry and basic needs. When most people refer to per diem, they break it out to the two primary expenses, their Lodging, and their Meals and Incidental Expenses (M&IE).

The latest updates cover COVID-19-related per diem policies for those who return from TDY and are forced into mandatory quarantine. Details can be found in the Joint Federal Travel Regulations, which is linked at the bottom of this article.

How are Per Diem Rates Determined?

Rates for these locations are determined by three organizations: The General Services Administration (GSA), The Department of State (DoS), and The Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO).

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Proportional Meal Rates

You may find that you are eligible to eat government-provided meals on some of your trips. This will result in a Proportional Meal Rate. The proportional meal rate for your location is based on the locality meal rate and the GOVAT meal rate (GMR).

The Proportional Meal Rate is determined by:

• adding your locality meal rate with the GMR of $14.05, dividing by 2, then rounding up to the nearest dollar. Then you add the Incidental Expense rate.
• Example: The CONUS Meal & Incidental Rate is $46 ($41 for meals, and $5 incidental rate). Add $41 to $11.85, gives us $52.85. Divide by 2, that gives us $26.43. Round that down to $27. Then add the $5 incidental expense, for a total of $32.

The Proportional Meal Rate is given when:

• Lodging in government facilities and the government provides at least one meal (but not all 3 meals).
• Lodging in government facilities with government meals on your orders, but the mess wasn’t available for all meals.
• You receive one or two meals that are paid for by the Government (for example, as part of a conference registration fee).
• You aren’t entitled to per diem but must purchase a meal (your actual expenses are compared to the Proportional Meal Rate and you will be reimbursed the lesser of the two).

Per diem is granted in addition to Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) for those who are eligible for BAS.

Current Per Diem Rates

Looking for per diem rates by location? The Defense Travel Management Office has a list of all the current Per Diem rates. Here are the relevant links:

• List of current Per Diem rates for CONUS and OCONUS locations .
• Per Diem Calculator (use this to determine how much Per Diem you might receive for TDY)
• CONUS COLA Calculator (use this to determine if there is a Cost of Living Adjustment in your Permanent Duty Assignment).
• Government Meal Rates
• OCONUS Per Diem Rates – Published through the U.S. Department of State

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Updates to Per Diem Policy

The Department of Defense recently updated the per diem rates for military members on Temporary Duty Assignments (TDY) .

Here are some updates you need to be aware of:

If lodging can not be obtained at the set per diem rate travelers can submit a request for approving a higher rate. Your approving official (AO) can submit an actual expense allowance (AEA) request.

Flat Rate Per Diem Terminated

This rate was previously offered for long-term travel. Details can be found at DTMO’s FAQ page

ATM fees, baggage expenses, transportation tips, & laundry/dry cleaning no longer reimbursable. These items were previously allowed expenses on your travel voucher and would be reimbursed. These are now included under incidental expenses and cannot be reimbursed on your travel voucher.

However, items like hotel and in-flight Wi-Fi are reimbursable if deemed necessary to the work being performed.

Other items of note:

• When staying in government lodging, travelers will be reimbursed for the actual lodging costs.
• Travelers may choose to stay in furnished apartments or similar lodging for long-term stays if the rates are comparable or less than commercial hotel rates.

Here is the updated Joint Travel Regulation (updated 20200401 ).

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Ryan started The Military Wallet in 2007 after separating from active duty military service and has been writing about financial, small business, and military benefits topics since then.

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Greg Mueller says

August 19, 2021 at 4:04 pm

“Per diem is granted in addition to Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) for those who are eligible for BAS.”

Can you provide the source?

November 14, 2019 at 9:29 am

Sir, I am an E-8 in the reserve components of the Air force. I am going TDY to Croughton RAF for 179 days. What will my pay benefits be? I was told I will be on per diem. Will is still get OHA? BAS? I assume no on the cola. I will be unaccompanied but do have 3 dependents. Thanks for your time.

October 14, 2019 at 11:22 pm

I am receiving per diem and eat at the chow hall on base for lunch every day. How will that affect my per diem? I am single so my all I have to do is scan my CAC.

Ryan Guina says

October 15, 2019 at 6:43 am

Hello Joe, I would contact your base finance office for more information. They will be able to assist you better than I can. You can also call anonymously if you like. Just be sure to explain the full situation, including that you are on orders, the type of orders, and the duration of the orders. They should be able to help you from there. I wish you the best, and thank you for your service.

Concerned Soldier says

February 17, 2019 at 6:40 am

Hi. Me and my team are in a special situation. We have been joint attached to the state department to run PSD missions. The base we are staying on has provided 2 meals for 3 days of the week and 3 meals for the rest. Recently they have began serving all 3 throughout the week. However, our schedule is very hectic. We often go without eating because the chow hall is not open before our mission begins and is closed when we return. MREs were not provided because of a lack of supply on base (We are 1 of only 3 teams that leave the base for mission). Several high ranking military members, those within our chain, and some not, have informed us that we qualify for per diem. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to understand how per diem works and cannot provide us with a solid answer about the type of per diem we will receive. Through research, we have found that we may qualify for proportional meals but the DOD website is unclear about where we would fall. We don’t know if we would be “reimbursed” for the local meals we have bought (Which is very few. The local food is not that great and they don’t give receipts to customers) or paid ~50$ per day in proportional meals. We have mission logs sent through the chain of command before every mission as proof the missions we ran and the meals we missed. We are afraid that we will not be allotted the proper amount and will have no clue we were owed anything else. We are located in Syria. We typically have missions 6 times a week and miss a total of ~16 meals during this time.

January 23, 2019 at 3:43 pm

What if you are a contractor and told by your company you would be receiving per diem living oconus. You are also married to an active duty spouse that has a key role and is required to live on base. How do you get paid your full per diem of lodging and m&i without having a lease? Do I go out and rent an apt? The amount of small salary and large expected oconus per diem at the time of the the job offer was very substantial and now to have arrived overseas to be told no lodging per diem now if no lease? Why should I be penalized? Seems unfair.

January 24, 2019 at 8:21 am

Hello Sally, this sounds like a situation you will need to take up with your company. This does not appear to have anything to do with DoD policy. Best wishes.

July 28, 2023 at 7:38 am

Soldiers are on AT staying in lodging provided and have meals provided. Some Soldiers are working an alternate work schedule and cannot make the breakfast meal. Lunch meal is provided at the breakfast meal. Due to working night shift dinner is sometimes not made due to sleep schedule. Work schedule is 2330-0730. Breakfast ends at 0700. Dinner is from 5-7. Is there a reg that says Per diem is auth??

September 26, 2023 at 10:35 am

LM, I don’t have an answer for this situation. This is a question that needs to be addressed at your unit to see if they have alternative meal options, or if they can provide for missed meal vouchers or per diem.

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• Per Diem Lookup

FY 2023 Per Diem Rates for District of Columbia

Daily lodging rates (excluding taxes) | october 2022 - september 2023.

Cities not appearing below may be located within a county for which rates are listed. To determine the county a destination is located in, visit the Census Geocoder .

Meals & Incidentals (M&IE) rates and breakdown Footnotes

Use this table to find the following information for federal employee travel:

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, incidentals - Separate amounts for meals and incidentals. M&IE Total = Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner + Incidentals. Sometimes meal amounts must be deducted from trip voucher. See More Information

First & last day of travel - amount received on the first and last day of travel and equals 75% of total M&IE.

• I'm interested in:

Primary Destination

Traveler reimbursement is based on the location of the work activities and not the accommodations, unless lodging is not available at the work activity, then the agency may authorize the rate where lodging is obtained.

Unless otherwise specified, the per diem locality is defined as "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city, including independent entities located within those boundaries."

Per diem localities with county definitions shall include "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city as well as the boundaries of the listed counties, including independent entities located within the boundaries of the key city and the listed counties (unless otherwise listed separately)."

When a military installation or Government-related facility (whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and/or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.

Meals & Incidentals

The separate amounts for breakfast, lunch and dinner listed in the chart are provided should you need to deduct any of those meals from your trip voucher. For example, if your trip includes meals that are already paid for by the government (such as through a registration fee for a conference), you will need to deduct those meals from your voucher. Refer to Section 301-11.18 of the Federal Travel Regulation for specific guidance on deducting these amounts from your per diem reimbursement claims for meals furnished to you by the government. Other organizations may have different rules that apply for their employees; please check with your organization for more assistance.

First & Last Day of Travel

This column lists the amount federal employees receive for the first and last calendar day of travel. The first and last calendar day of travel is calculated at 75 percent.

Additional per diem topics

• Meals & Incidental Expenses breakdown (M&IE)
• State tax exemption forms
• Factors influencing lodging rates
• Per diem highlights
• Fire safe hotels
• Have a per diem question?
• Downloadable per diem files

Need more information?

• Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories and possessions (set by DoD)
• Rates in foreign countries (set by State Dept.)

Related topics

• Travel resources
• E-Gov Travel
• POV mileage reimbursement rates

PER DIEM LOOK-UP

1 choose a location.

Error, The Per Diem API is not responding. Please try again later.

No results could be found for the location you've entered.

Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Territories and Possessions are set by the Department of Defense .

Rates for foreign countries are set by the State Department .

2 Choose a date

Rates are available between 10/1/2021 and 09/30/2024.

The End Date of your trip can not occur before the Start Date.

When a military installation or Government - related facility(whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and / or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.