The areas that went back to the standard per diem rate
Since FY 2021, 26 areas have left GSA’s list of non-standard per diem areas and two have joined, taking the list from 319 to 295. Each of the 26 now uses the standard rate, $113 lodging and $68 M&IE in FY 2027. The newest departure is Allentown / Easton / Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which went back for FY 2027.
When they left
| File | Left the list | Joined | Areas listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2021 | – | – | 319 |
| FY 2022 | 0 | 0 | 319 |
| FY 2023 | 3 | 0 | 316 |
| FY 2024 | 16 | 2 | 302 |
| FY 2025 | 6 | 0 | 296 |
| FY 2026 | 0 | 0 | 296 |
| FY 2027 | 1 | 0 | 295 |
The departures came in a few files rather than evenly. FY 2024 alone removed 16 areas, in the file that raised the standard lodging rate from $98 to $107. FY 2022 and FY 2026 removed none.
All 26 departures
| Area | Counties | Last listed | Lodging, last file | Standard, next file |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allentown / Easton / Bethlehem, PA | Lehigh / Northampton | FY 2026 | $115 | $113 |
| Ft. Wayne, IN | Allen | FY 2024 | $108 | $110 |
| Canton, OH | Stark | FY 2024 | $109 ($107–$116) | $110 |
| Mentor, OH | Lake | FY 2024 | $110 | $110 |
| East Greenwich / Warwick, RI | Kent | FY 2024 | $108 | $110 |
| Waco, TX | McLennan | FY 2024 | $110 ($107–$123) | $110 |
| Wisconsin Dells, WI | Columbia | FY 2024 | $113 ($107–$132) | $110 |
| Hammond / Munster / Merrillville, IN | Lake | FY 2023 | $102 | $107 |
| Wichita, KS | Sedgwick | FY 2023 | $103 | $107 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | East Baton Rouge Parish | FY 2023 | $106 | $107 |
| Baltimore County, MD | Baltimore | FY 2023 | $101 | $107 |
| Frederick, MD | Frederick | FY 2023 | $100 | $107 |
| East Lansing / Lansing, MI | Ingham / Eaton | FY 2023 | $106 | $107 |
| Kalamazoo / Battle Creek, MI | Kalamazoo / Calhoun | FY 2023 | $104 | $107 |
| Eagan / Burnsville / Mendota Heights, MN | Dakota | FY 2023 | $100 | $107 |
| Akron, OH | Summit | FY 2023 | $99 | $107 |
| Wooster, OH | Wayne | FY 2023 | $101 | $107 |
| Erie, PA | Erie | FY 2023 | $106 | $107 |
| Corpus Christi, TX | Nueces | FY 2023 | $104 | $107 |
| Round Rock, TX | Williamson | FY 2023 | $102 | $107 |
| Appleton, WI | Outagamie | FY 2023 | $103 | $107 |
| Brookfield / Racine, WI | Waukesha / Racine | FY 2023 | $103 | $107 |
| Morgantown, WV | Monongalia | FY 2023 | $99 | $107 |
| Cromwell / Old Saybrook, CT | Middlesex | FY 2022 | $97 | $98 |
| El Paso, TX | El Paso | FY 2022 | $98 | $98 |
| Rock Springs, WY | Sweetwater | FY 2022 | $98 | $98 |
Two things stand out in the table. All 26 sat low on the list: the highest full-year average among them in its last file was $115, about the level of the lowest areas listed today. And in 24 of the 26 cases that average was at or below the standard lodging rate of the very next file. GSA’s tables do not give a reason for a removal, so this is a pattern in the numbers and not an explanation.
The two exceptions are Allentown / Easton / Bethlehem, whose last average of $115 stood $2 above the next standard, and Wisconsin Dells, $3 above it. Only three of the 26 had seasons when they left. Wisconsin Dells had the highest single month, $132.
What it meant for a traveler’s day
A return to the standard rate does not always mean a smaller allowance. Comparing a full day at the last file’s full-year average and M&IE with a full day at the next file’s standard, 13 of the 26 areas came out higher and 11 lower.
| Returned to standard in | Areas | Median lodging, last file | Standard lodging | Median M&IE, last file | Standard M&IE | Median change in a full day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2023 | 3 | $98 | $98 | $64 | $59 | −$5 |
| FY 2024 | 16 | $102 | $107 | $64 | $59 | $0 |
| FY 2025 | 6 | $109 | $110 | $64 | $68 | $6 |
| FY 2027 | 1 | $115 | $113 | $74 | $68 | −$8 |
The file matters more than the area. Leaving in FY 2023 or FY 2024 meant moving to the $59 standard M&IE of those years, below what most of these areas had paid. Leaving in FY 2025 mostly went the other way, because that is the year the standard M&IE rose to $68. The largest fall in a full day is Rock Springs (WY), at $10; the largest rise is Mentor (OH), at $9.
Allentown / Easton / Bethlehem had $115 lodging and $74 M&IE in FY 2026. In FY 2027, Lehigh and Northampton counties use $113 and $68, so a full day there came down by $8.
Which states lost the most
| State | Areas, FY 2021 | Areas, FY 2027 | Left | Which |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 10 | 6 | 4 | Canton, Mentor, Akron, Wooster |
| Texas | 15 | 11 | 4 | Waco, Corpus Christi, Round Rock, El Paso |
| Wisconsin | 6 | 3 | 3 | Wisconsin Dells, Appleton, Brookfield / Racine |
| Indiana | 5 | 3 | 2 | Ft. Wayne, Hammond / Munster / Merrillville |
| Maryland | 9 | 7 | 2 | Baltimore County, Frederick |
| Michigan | 13 | 11 | 2 | East Lansing / Lansing, Kalamazoo / Battle Creek |
| Pennsylvania | 14 | 12 | 2 | Allentown / Easton / Bethlehem, Erie |
| Connecticut | 5 | 4 | 1 | Cromwell / Old Saybrook |
| Kansas | 2 | 1 | 1 | Wichita |
| Louisiana | 3 | 2 | 1 | Baton Rouge |
| Minnesota | 4 | 3 | 1 | Eagan / Burnsville / Mendota Heights |
| Rhode Island | 3 | 2 | 1 | East Greenwich / Warwick |
| West Virginia | 2 | 2 | 1 | Morgantown |
| Wyoming | 3 | 2 | 1 | Rock Springs |
Ohio and Texas lost four areas each, and Wisconsin lost three, half of its FY 2021 list. No state lost its whole list in this period; the only state with no listed area, North Dakota, had none in FY 2021 either.
The two that joined
Over the same years only Huntsville, Alabama, and Charles Town, West Virginia, were added, both in FY 2024. Huntsville entered at $127 against a standard of $107, and it now stands at $146. Charles Town entered at $112 and now stands at $128. Areas that GSA has merely renamed, such as Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, are not counted here: this site matches them across files by a shared county.
How close today’s list sits to the standard
Margins on the current list are thin at the bottom. Of the 295 areas, 8 have a full-year average within $5 of the $113 standard, 27 within $10, 53 within $15 and 83 within $20. That is a description of FY 2027, not a forecast: the file for FY 2028 has not been published, and two of the past departures were above the next standard when they went.
Checking a county
Former areas no longer have a line in GSA’s current table, so a county’s absence is easy to misread as a gap in the file. It simply means the standard rate. The county lookup on this site knows these 26 areas: type Allen County in Indiana or Sedgwick County in Kansas and it reports the last file that listed them. Every state page also names its former areas.
Sources: U.S. General Services Administration, per diem rate files FY 2021 to FY 2027; figures computed by Per Diem Rates. See reading the rates for how each measure is defined.