What Are GSA Per Diem Rates?
GSA per diem rates are daily allowances set by the U.S. General Services Administration that cap how much federal employees can be reimbursed for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses during official travel within the continental United States (CONUS). For fiscal year 2026 — running from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026 — the standard CONUS per diem rate is $178 per day, split between $110 for lodging and $68 for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE). GSA held FY2026 rates flat against FY2025, citing reduced inflationary pressure compared to the sharp hotel-price spikes of 2022–2024.
While only federal agencies are legally required to follow GSA rates, the majority of private-sector companies — including most Fortune 500 firms — use them as the baseline for their own corporate travel policies. The reason is straightforward: reimbursements that stay within GSA limits are automatically tax-free under IRS accountable plan rules, eliminating the need for additional documentation or tax withholding.
FY2026 Standard CONUS Rate Breakdown
The standard CONUS per diem applies to any location not designated as a Non-Standard Area (NSA). For most of the country — roughly 2,600 of the approximately 2,900 CONUS counties — the following daily limits apply:
- Lodging: $110 per night (reimbursed at actual cost up to the cap)
- Meals & Incidental Expenses (M&IE): $68 per day (flat allowance, no receipts required)
- Total per diem: $178 per day
The M&IE portion breaks down into specific meal allocations that matter when meals are provided by a conference, client, or airline:
- Breakfast: $16
- Lunch: $19
- Dinner: $28
- Incidentals: $5 (covers tips to porters, bellhops, hotel staff)
On the first and last day of any trip, travelers receive 75% of the M&IE rate — $51 instead of $68 at the standard tier. This first-and-last-day reduction applies at every M&IE level, not just the standard rate.
Non-Standard Area (NSA) Rates: Where Per Diem Gets Expensive
GSA designates approximately 300 Non-Standard Areas where hotel costs consistently exceed the $110 standard. These NSAs cover major business travel hubs, resort destinations, and cities with chronically tight hotel markets. NSA rates vary by month — a critical detail that trip planners often overlook.
For FY2026, the highest-cost business travel destinations carry these lodging and M&IE rates:
- New York City (Manhattan): $179–$342 lodging depending on month, $92 M&IE
- San Francisco, CA: $259–$272 lodging, $92 M&IE
- Boston, MA: $209–$349 lodging, $92 M&IE
- Nantucket, MA: $175–$471 lodging (highest seasonal swing in CONUS), $92 M&IE
- Seattle, WA: $188–$248 lodging, $92 M&IE
- Chicago, IL: $142–$234 lodging, $92 M&IE
- Denver, CO: $165–$215 lodging, $92 M&IE
- Atlanta, GA: $182–$197 lodging, $86 M&IE
- Los Angeles, CA: $191 lodging (flat year-round), $86 M&IE
- Houston, TX: $128 lodging, $80 M&IE
Notice the seasonal variation: Boston's lodging cap swings $140 between winter and fall convention season. San Francisco stays relatively flat because demand is consistent year-round. Corporate travel managers sending teams to conferences in Boston, Chicago, or New York should check the specific month's rate rather than assuming a single number applies.
M&IE Tiers Across All CONUS Locations
GSA assigns one of five M&IE tiers to every CONUS location. Each tier has its own meal breakdown, which determines how much travelers must deduct when meals are provided:
- $68 tier (standard): Breakfast $16 / Lunch $19 / Dinner $28 / Incidentals $5
- $74 tier: Breakfast $18 / Lunch $20 / Dinner $31 / Incidentals $5
- $80 tier: Breakfast $20 / Lunch $22 / Dinner $33 / Incidentals $5
- $86 tier: Breakfast $22 / Lunch $23 / Dinner $36 / Incidentals $5
- $92 tier (highest CONUS): Breakfast $23 / Lunch $26 / Dinner $38 / Incidentals $5
Dinner consistently accounts for the largest share — roughly 41% of M&IE at every tier. The incidentals allowance stays fixed at $5 regardless of location, a figure that hasn't changed since FY2022.
How GSA Sets Per Diem Rates
GSA calculates per diem rates using a data-driven methodology that analyzes average daily rate (ADR) data from lodging properties across each geographic area. The agency collects hotel pricing data from commercial sources, applies fire-safe certification filters, and calculates rates that cover the median price point for government-suitable accommodations. For NSAs, GSA reviews rates annually each summer and publishes updated figures by mid-August, with new rates taking effect on October 1. The standard CONUS rate undergoes the same annual review but changes less frequently — it has remained at $110 lodging / $68 M&IE since FY2025.
Alaska, Hawaii, and International Rates
GSA's CONUS rates do not cover all U.S. travel. Three separate agencies handle rates for non-CONUS destinations:
- Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories: The Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) sets OCONUS rates, which fluctuate seasonally and by specific island or military zone. Hawaii per diem can reach $400+ per day during peak season on Oahu.
- Foreign countries: The U.S. Department of State sets international per diem rates monthly, adjusting for exchange rates and local price changes.
Corporate travel managers handling both domestic and international trips need to check three different rate sources — GSA for CONUS, DTMO for U.S. territories, and State Department for foreign destinations. Travel management platforms like Travel Code can automate this lookup by mapping itinerary destinations to the correct per diem authority.
Why Private Companies Use GSA Rates as Their Baseline
No law requires private-sector employers to follow GSA per diem rates. Yet the IRS effectively incentivizes it through accountable plan rules. Under IRS Revenue Procedure 2019-48 (updated annually via Notice 2024-68 for FY2026), employers who reimburse at or below the federal per diem rate do not need to collect individual meal receipts or prove that each expense was reasonable. Reimbursements within GSA limits are automatically treated as substantiated — tax-free for the employee, fully deductible for the employer (100% for lodging, 50% for meals).
Exceed the federal rate by even $1, and the overage becomes taxable wages subject to FICA withholding on both sides. The employer loses the deduction on the excess amount, and the employee sees it added to their W-2 income. For a deeper look at how per diem fits into the broader reimbursement picture, see our complete guide to per diem rates and calculation. For companies processing thousands of trip reimbursements annually, GSA rates create a clean compliance boundary that eliminates per-receipt auditing.
Applying GSA Rates in Corporate Travel Policy
Building a corporate travel policy around GSA per diem rates requires more than copying the rate tables. The most effective policies address these operational realities:
Seasonal rate checks
GSA NSA rates change by month. A trip to Chicago in January allows $142/night for lodging; the same trip in September allows $234. Travel policies should reference the GSA rate for the specific travel dates, not a static annual figure. Travel management platforms can enforce this automatically by pulling the applicable rate at booking time.
The 75% first/last day rule
M&IE drops to 75% on arrival and departure days. For a standard-rate trip, that's $51 instead of $68. For a $92-tier city, it's $69. Expense systems need to apply this reduction automatically to avoid overpayment — a common audit finding in manual reimbursement processes.
Meal deductions for provided meals
When a conference registration includes lunch, or a client dinner is billed separately, travelers must deduct the corresponding meal amount from their daily M&IE. The deduction uses the meal-specific breakdown (e.g., $19 for lunch at the standard tier), not a proportional estimate. Failing to deduct provided meals is the single most common per diem compliance error flagged in corporate travel audits. Automated travel expense audit tools can catch these deduction gaps before they become audit findings.
Lodging actuals vs. M&IE flat rate
A critical distinction: lodging reimbursement is based on actual costs up to the GSA cap, while M&IE is a flat daily allowance regardless of what the traveler actually spends. This means a traveler who books a $75 hotel in a $110 zone gets $75, not $110. But a traveler who spends $30 on meals in a $68 zone keeps the full $68. Corporate policies should clarify this difference explicitly to prevent confusion and disputes.
How to Look Up Current GSA Per Diem Rates
GSA offers several official lookup methods depending on your needs:
- Web lookup: gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates — enter a city or ZIP code to see the current lodging and M&IE rates by month
- Flat files: Downloadable CSV/Excel files covering all CONUS locations, available at GSA's per diem files page — ideal for importing into expense management systems
- Per Diem API: GSA's open API at open.gsa.gov/api/perdiem returns JSON rate data by city, state, or ZIP — useful for integrating real-time rate checks into booking platforms and expense tools
- Trip calculator: GSA's built-in calculator estimates total per diem for multi-day trips with automatic first/last day adjustments
For corporate travel teams managing high-volume bookings, API integration is the most efficient path. Platforms like Travel Code pull GSA rate data programmatically so that policy-compliant hotel options surface automatically during the booking process, flagging any selections that exceed the applicable per diem cap before the reservation is confirmed.
Common Mistakes When Applying GSA Per Diem Rates
Even experienced travel managers run into these recurring issues with GSA-based reimbursement:
- Using the wrong fiscal year: GSA fiscal years run October–September, not January–December. A trip in March 2026 uses FY2026 rates (effective October 2025), not calendar-year 2026 rates.
- Ignoring seasonal variation: Applying a single annual rate to an NSA location can mean overpaying in winter or underpaying in summer. Always check the specific month.
- Forgetting the lodging tax exclusion: GSA lodging rates do not include taxes. Federal travelers can claim state tax exemptions with a SmartPay card; private-sector travelers cannot. Corporate policies should specify whether lodging taxes count against the per diem cap or are reimbursed separately.
- Mixing CONUS and OCONUS rates: Alaska and Hawaii are not CONUS. Using the GSA rate lookup for Anchorage or Honolulu returns nothing — you need the DTMO site instead.
- Applying per diem to local travel: GSA per diem only applies to overnight travel. Day trips to a different city do not qualify for lodging or M&IE per diem under federal rules, and most corporate policies mirror this restriction.
FY2026 Rate Timeline and What to Expect for FY2027
GSA typically announces the next fiscal year's rates in mid-August, with new rates taking effect on October 1. For FY2027 (October 2026–September 2027), watch for the announcement around August 15, 2026. Given that FY2025 and FY2026 rates remained identical — the first back-to-back freeze since FY2019–2020 — travel industry analysts expect FY2027 may bring modest increases as hotel ADR growth resumes in secondary markets. The American Hotel & Lodging Association's 2026 forecast projects a 2–3% national ADR increase, which could push the standard CONUS lodging rate above $110 for the first time since it was set at that level.
Corporate travel managers should review their per diem policies annually in September, aligning any updates with the new GSA rates before the October 1 effective date. Building this review into the annual budget cycle ensures reimbursement limits stay current without requiring mid-year policy changes.
