2020 GSA Per Diem Rate
For 2020, the GSA Per Diem Rate figures are $96 (Standard CONUS lodging rate), $55 (Standard CONUS M&IE rate), $56 (Lowest M&IE rate tier) and $76 (Highest M&IE rate tier).
Effective 2019-10-01 through 2020-09-30Source: Maximum Per Diem Reimbursement Rates for the Continental United States (CONUS), FY 2020 (GSA Per Diem Bulletin FTR 20-01) (GSA)Verified 2026-09-02
Compared with 2019
| Item | 2019 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard CONUS lodging rate | $94 | $96 | +$2 (+2.1%) |
| Standard CONUS M&IE rate | $55 | $55 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
| Lowest M&IE rate tier | $56 | $56 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
| Highest M&IE rate tier | $76 | $76 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Federal employees travelling on official business inside the continental United States, and the agencies that reimburse them. These are maximum reimbursement rates set by GSA under the Federal Travel Regulation: an agency may pay up to the lodging rate for a night's room and up to the M&IE rate for a day's meals and incidental expenses, in any location GSA has not set a non-standard rate for. They are not the IRS high-low per diem rates, which are what a private employer or a self-employed taxpayer uses to substantiate a business travel deduction.
What changed this year, and why
The standard CONUS lodging rate rose from $94 to $96 a night for fiscal 2020. Meals did not move: the M&IE reimbursement rate tiers were unchanged, so the standard CONUS M&IE rate stays at $55 a day and the tiers stay at $56 to $76. GSA added Boise, Idaho as a new non-standard area and reorganised three Montana areas.
Common questions
- What is the standard CONUS lodging rate for fiscal 2020?
- $96 a night, for travel performed on or after October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020.
- Did the meals rate change for fiscal 2020?
- No. The standard CONUS M&IE rate remains $55 a day and the non-standard area tiers remain $56 to $76.
- Why does this page give one standard rate instead of the rate for my city?
- GSA publishes the per-city and per-county lodging and M&IE rates only as a lookup grid at gsa.gov/perdiem, where a location's row crossed with a column holds a bare amount with no sentence around it. This site publishes figures a document states in words, so what it carries is the standard CONUS rate the Federal Register notice states in its own prose. A city GSA has not listed takes that standard rate anyway.
The first and last day of a trip pay three quarters of the M&IE rate
A trip's first and last day are not reimbursed at the full meals and incidental expenses rate. GSA pays three quarters of the M&IE rate for the traveller's temporary duty location on each of those two days, on the reasoning that a departure day and a return day do not each contain a full day of meals away from home. The rate that gets cut is the one for the place being travelled to, not the one for the traveller's own official duty station, which is the part people get wrong when they work a reimbursement out by hand. GSA publishes the already-reduced amount for every location in the meal breakdown table on its own site, under a heading for the first and last day of travel, so the arithmetic does not have to be redone.
On the first and last travel day, Federal employees are only eligible for 75 percent of the total M&IE rate for their temporary duty travel location (not the official duty station location).
Per diem rates frequently asked questions (GSA)
What happens when no room can be had at the maximum rate
The lodging figure on this page is a ceiling on ordinary reimbursement, not a promise that a room exists at that price. Where a federal traveller cannot find one within the established rate, the Federal Travel Regulation lets the employing agency authorise the actual expense allowance instead and reimburse what the room actually cost, up to triple the established per diem rate for that location. It is an authorisation rather than an entitlement: the agency has to approve it, normally before the travel happens, and GSA's own guidance asks the traveller to check FedRooms first to confirm that nothing is available at the per diem rate. The Federal Travel Regulation sets the allowance out in its own actual expense subpart, which is the part of the rules an agency travel manager will point to when approving one.
In addition, if a Federal employee cannot find a room within the established per diem rates, the travel policy allows the agency to reimburse the actual hotel charges up to 300 percent of the established per diem rates.
Per diem rates frequently asked questions (GSA)
Standard locations, non-standard areas, and the city that is on neither list
GSA sets a rate of its own for the non-standard areas, which are the places the federal community travels to often enough for GSA to review them every year. Everywhere else is a standard CONUS location, and standard locations are deliberately not listed one by one on the per diem site. So an address that returns nothing from GSA's lookup has not been left out by mistake. Check the county first: where the city is unlisted but its county is listed, the county's rate governs the whole county, that city included. Where neither the city nor the county appears, the location takes the standard CONUS rate published at the top of this page. That is why the standard rate is what most federal travel is actually reimbursed against, rather than an obscure fallback.
If the city is not listed, but the county is, then the per diem rate is the rate for that entire county. If the city and the county are not listed, then that area receives the standard CONUS location rate.
Per diem rates frequently asked questions (GSA)
Who this rate is actually for
GSA per diem rates exist so that federal agencies can reimburse their civilian employees for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses while traveling on official business within the continental United States. The 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia fall under GSA; travelers going to Alaska, Hawaii, or U.S. territories look to Department of Defense rates instead, and those heading overseas follow Department of State rates. The amounts shown here are the standard nationwide CONUS figures that apply in any county not assigned a higher locality rate: $96 a night for lodging and $55 a day for meals and incidental expenses. Within the meals tier, counties that cost more than average can be reimbursed up to $76 a day, while the lowest tier floor is $56 a day. These are maximums, not entitlements; a traveler is reimbursed only for what was actually spent, up to the cap. Agencies set their own internal processes for submitting claims, but the ceiling itself comes from GSA and is refreshed each fiscal year.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) establishes the per diem reimbursement rates that federal agencies use to reimburse their employees for subsistence expenses incurred while on official travel within the continental U.S. (CONUS), which includes the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia.
Per diem rates frequently asked questions (GSA)
What you have to keep and hand over to get reimbursed
Anyone traveling on official federal business must keep receipts showing what was actually spent, because per diem reimburses only actual costs up to the published maximum, not the maximum itself. For lodging, a receipt is always required. For other authorized expenses, a receipt is required whenever a single item costs over $75; if a receipt is missing, the traveler must give the agency a reason it finds acceptable instead. The rules come from the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) 301-11.25. Even with the standard CONUS lodging cap of $96 and the standard CONUS meals and incidental cap of $55, the agency will not pay more than what the receipts demonstrate was spent. Localities that qualify for higher tiers may be reimbursed up to $76 or as low as $56 for meals, but the documentation requirement stays the same. Travelers should keep every receipt from the trip and turn them in with their voucher so the agency can verify the claim before issuing reimbursement.
For any official temporary travel destination, you must provide a receipt to substantiate your claimed travel expenses for lodging and receipts for any authorized expenses incurred costing over $75, or a reason acceptable to your agency explaining why you are unable to provide the necessary receipt (see Federal Travel Regulation 301-11.25).
Per diem rates frequently asked questions (GSA)
Money you do not spend on the room cannot be shifted to meals, or the other way around
The lodging and meals portions of the federal per diem are two separate pots of money, and a traveler cannot move unspent dollars from one into the other. If a hotel room costs less than the locality lodging maximum, the savings do not become extra meal money. Likewise, if a traveler chooses to eat cheaply and has meals money left over at the end of the day, those dollars cannot be redirected to cover a more expensive room. The Federal Travel Regulation sections 301-11.100 and 301-11.101 make the separation explicit. At the standard CONUS level the lodging cap is $96 a night and the meals and incidental cap is $55 a day; in higher-cost localities the meals tier can rise as high as $76, while the lowest tier is $56, but in every case each portion is capped on its own. The rule stops travelers from gaming the system by, for example, skipping meals to pay for a nicer hotel, or vice versa.
Therefore, there is no “extra” lodging per diem to add to the M&IE rate. Likewise, the M&IE per diem cannot be given up or transferred to lodging costs. See FTR 301-11.100 and 301-11.101 for more information.
Per diem rates frequently asked questions (GSA)
GSA's rate does not automatically govern a contractor's pay or a trucker's tax deduction
GSA sets per diem rates solely for federal civilian employees on official travel, and the agency will not answer questions about what a private contractor may charge, what a trucking company may reimburse its drivers, or what the IRS allows as a tax deduction. The per diem figures published here, including the standard CONUS lodging cap of $96 and the standard CONUS meals and incidental cap of $55 (with the meals tier ranging from $56 at the low end to $76 at the high end in higher-cost counties), are not automatically the rate a contractor bills, nor the amount a self-employed trucker may deduct on a tax return. A contractor working under a federal contract should check the contract itself and ask the contracting officer what it says about travel reimbursement. Independent truckers and other self-employed taxpayers should direct their questions to the IRS. GSA's role stops at setting the ceiling for federal employee reimbursement; everything beyond that is governed by other rules.
GSA establishes per diem rates and related policies for federal travelers on official travel only, and cannot address specific inquiries concerning the payment of contractors. If the contractor is on a federal contract, check with the contracting officer to see what is stated in their contract. Contractors should also check the travel regulations of their company.
Per diem rates frequently asked questions (GSA)
A hotel's advertised GOV rate is not the same thing as the federal per diem rate
Hotels often advertise a "GOV" rate for government travelers, but that rate is set by the hotel and is not the same thing as the federal per diem rate GSA publishes. A GOV rate can be lower, equal to, or higher than the per diem for that locality. If the GOV rate comes in above the locality lodging maximum, the traveler must obtain actual-expense approval before the trip in order to be reimbursed for the full amount. The standard CONUS lodging cap is $96 a night, and in higher-cost counties the ceiling rises; at the low end it can be as little as the floor amount, while meals and incidental expenses carry their own separate cap of $55 a day (with the meals tier running from $56 up to $76 in the most expensive localities). It is the traveler's responsibility to know the official per diem rate for the destination and not to assume that whatever the hotel quotes as its GOV rate automatically qualifies for full reimbursement. Chapter 301, Subpart D of the Federal Travel Regulation covers the actual-expense process.
Hotels sometimes offer a “GOV” rate, which might be different than the federal per diem rate. If it is higher, you need to receive approval for actual expense prior to travel in order to receive full reimbursement. It is the traveler’s responsibility to know the federal per diem reimbursement rates, and should not assume a GOV rate is the same as the federal per diem rate. See the FTR Chapter 301, Subpart D-Actual Expense and follow your agency’s guidelines.
Per diem rates frequently asked questions (GSA)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
- Standard CONUS lodging rate
The standard CONUS lodging rate will increase from $94 to $96.
- Standard CONUS M&IE rate
The standard CONUS M&IE rate remains at $55
- Lowest M&IE rate tier
the M&IE NSA tiers remain at $56-$76.
- Highest M&IE rate tier
the M&IE NSA tiers remain at $56-$76.