Per Diem Rate Calculator
Look up the FY2026 GSA per diem rate for any U.S. business trip and total your lodging and meals & incidentals — including the 75% first- and last-day travel rule.
States listed have at least one higher-cost area. Any unlisted county uses the standard rate.
This area has seasonal lodging rates — the month changes the lodging amount.
Overnight stays. A 3-night trip spans 4 travel days.
Total Per Diem
$1,150.00
3 nights
Daily Rate
$368
$276 lodging + $92M&IE
Line-Item Breakdown
Lodging
$828
Meals & Inc.
$322
Daily M&IE
$92
Seasonal lodging rate
District of Columbia has lodging rates that change by month. For June the lodging rate is $276 per night.
75% travel-day rule applied
The first and last day of travel are reimbursed at $69.00 M&IE (75% of $92). Lodging is not reduced.
How This Works
Pick the destination
Choose the state and city/county. We match it to the GSA FY2026 rate table. If a locality is not a Non-Standard Area, the standard CONUS rate applies automatically.
Set month & nights
Many high-cost areas have seasonal lodging rates, so the month matters. Enter the number of overnight stays for the trip.
Get the total
We total lodging (per night) and M&IE (full days plus the first and last day at 75%) into a clear line-item breakdown you can use for reimbursement.
Who Uses Per Diem Rates
Per diem turns messy travel reimbursement into one fixed daily number — no shoebox of receipts required.
Federal employees & contractors
Government travel is reimbursed at the GSA rate by law. Contractors on federal contracts are frequently held to the same ceiling, so the published rate is the number that gets paid.
Businesses reimbursing staff
Private employers can adopt GSA rates to reimburse employees without auditing every meal. Done under an accountable plan, the payment is not taxable to the employee and is deductible for the business.
Accountable-plan tax treatment
Under IRS Publication 463, reimbursements at or below the federal per diem that are properly substantiated stay off the employee's W-2 — no income or payroll tax. Pay above the rate and the excess becomes taxable wages.
Self-employed travelers
Sole proprietors can use the M&IE per diem to deduct meals without itemizing receipts, but must use actual cost for lodging — there is no lodging per diem for the self-employed.
What This Calculator Includes
All 296 CONUS NSAs
Every FY2026 Non-Standard Area, plus the standard rate for unlisted localities.
Seasonal lodging
Month-by-month lodging rates for areas where the rate changes through the year.
75% travel-day rule
First and last day M&IE automatically reduced to GSA's published 75% amount.
Line-item totals
A clean lodging + M&IE breakdown you can drop into an expense report.
Why Use This Calculator
Official FY2026 data
Rates come straight from the GSA Per Diem Master Rates File, effective October 1, 2025 — not a third-party copy.
Travel rules built in
The seasonal lodging and 75% first/last-day rules are easy to get wrong by hand. This tool applies them for you.
Reimbursement-ready
A clear per-trip total that stands up in an accountable plan keeps reimbursements non-taxable and audit-ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
How GSA Per Diem Rates Work in 2026
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) sets per diem rates each fiscal year for travel within the continental United States (CONUS). Every rate has two parts: a lodging allowance (the room rate ceiling, before taxes) and a meals & incidental expenses (M&IE) allowance. For FY2026 (October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026), the standard CONUS rate is $110 lodging + $68 M&IE = $178 per day, unchanged from FY2025.
Roughly 2,600 counties use that standard rate. About 300 higher-cost destinations are designated Non-Standard Areas (NSAs)with their own rates. The five CONUS M&IE tiers and their first/last-day (75%) amounts are:
| M&IE total | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Incidentals | First & last day (75%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $68 | $16 | $19 | $28 | $5 | $51.00 |
| $74 | $18 | $20 | $31 | $5 | $55.50 |
| $80 | $20 | $22 | $33 | $5 | $60.00 |
| $86 | $22 | $23 | $36 | $5 | $64.50 |
| $92 | $23 | $26 | $38 | $5 | $69.00 |
The standard M&IE rate of $68 falls in the lowest tier. The incidental-expenses portion ($5) covers fees and tips for services such as baggage handling.
The 75% First and Last Day Rule
On the first and last calendar dayof a trip, the M&IE allowance is reduced to 75% of the daily rate because the traveler is only on the road for part of the day. Lodging is never prorated — a hotel charges for the full night regardless of check-in time.
A trip with N overnight stays spans N + 1 travel days. Two of those days (the first and last) get 75% M&IE; the remaining N − 1days get the full rate. For example, a 3-night trip to a $68 M&IE city earns 2 days at $51.00 plus 2 full days at $68.00 = $238.00 in M&IE, on top of 3 nights of lodging. This same rule is applied by both GSA (for federal travel) and the IRS (under Publication 463 and the high-low substantiation method).
Per Diem and Accountable Plans (Keeping Reimbursements Tax-Free)
Per diem becomes valuable at tax time when it runs through an accountable plan. Under IRS Publication 463, a reimbursement is excluded from the employee's wages — no income tax, no Social Security or Medicare tax — when three conditions are met:
- The expense has a business connection (a real work trip).
- The employee substantiates the time, place, and business purpose (the amount is deemed substantiated when it does not exceed the federal rate).
- Any excess advance is returned within a reasonable period.
Pay at or below the federal per diem and the reimbursement stays off the W-2. Pay above the federal rate, or skip the substantiation, and the excess becomes taxable wages reported in Box 1. Employers can also use the IRS high-low method, which collapses the country into two rates (a high-cost rate and a low-cost rate) instead of looking up each city — a simpler option published annually by the IRS.
Official References
Rates and rules in this calculator come from official U.S. government sources:
- GSA Per Diem Rates
Official FY2026 lodging and M&IE rates for the continental United States
- GSA M&IE Breakdown
Per-tier meal allocations and the first/last-day (75%) travel amounts
- IRS Publication 463: Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
Per diem method, accountable plans, and the 75% first/last-day rule
- IRS Special Per Diem Rates (High-Low Method)
The annual IRS notice with the simplified high-low substantiation rates
This calculator provides estimates based on published FY2026 CONUS rates and does not cover Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories, or foreign travel. Consult a tax professional or your travel policy for your specific situation.