Seasonal per diem rates: when the lodging cap changes
Of the 295 non-standard areas, 149 change their lodging cap during the fiscal year; the other 146 keep one cap for all twelve months. GSA defines each season by a start and end date, and in FY 2027 every season starts on the first of a month, so a monthly view captures them exactly. The M&IE rate does not change with the seasons.
How many seasons
| Rate periods in the year | Areas | Highest full-year average |
|---|---|---|
| 1 period | 146 | Santa Monica, Nashville |
| 2 periods | 13 | Martha’s Vineyard, Jackson / Pinedale |
| 3 periods | 89 | Park City, Aspen |
| 4 periods | 33 | Key West, Boston / Cambridge |
| 5 periods | 14 | New York City, Washington, DC |
Three periods is the most common pattern among seasonal areas: a high season, a low season and a shoulder in between, or a high season with two lower stretches on either side. The 14 areas with five periods, among them New York City, Washington, DC, Sedona and Bar Harbor / Rockport, step up and down more than once a year.
When the high season falls
July is the busiest high month: the peak of 96 of the 149 seasonal areas includes it. Three patterns account for most peaks.
Winter. January falls in the peak of 26 areas. The highest of them are the mountain resorts: Park City, Aspen, Vail, Telluride, all with their top cap from December or January through March.
Summer. July is part of the peak in 96 areas, from islands such as Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard to lake and mountain towns such as Jackson / Pinedale.
Autumn. In 9 areas the peak includes October but neither January nor July. New York City and Boston / Cambridge are in this group, with peaks that take in September and October.
The low season
The cheapest months are spread more evenly. Among seasonal areas, November is the month most often in the low period (121 areas) and July the least often (37). In 18 seasonal areas the low-season cap drops all the way to the standard $113, including Fort Walton Beach / De Funiak Springs, Moab and Myrtle Beach. For those places the listing matters only in the high months.
How long the high season lasts
Counted in nights, the median high season among seasonal areas lasts 92 nights of the 365-night fiscal year. The longest belong to areas where the peak covers most of the year, such as Augusta (304 nights at its top cap); the shortest run February to March only, as in Miami (59 nights). A long high season pulls the full-year average close to the peak, which is why two areas with the same peak cap can sit far apart in the ranking.
Peak against the year
For a seasonal area the peak and the full-year average can be far apart. Across the 149 seasonal areas the median peak is 23.3% above the area’s own full-year average. The largest gaps are in Ocean City (87.6%), Nantucket (76.1%) and Wallops Island (70%), places with a short top season and a long, much cheaper remainder.
The simplest seasonal pattern, two periods, is rare. It applies in 13 areas, 11 of which have July in their high period, among them Martha’s Vineyard, Jackson / Pinedale and Nantucket.
In most seasonal areas the high period is one continuous stretch. In 34 of them the top cap appears in two separate parts of the fiscal year, most often because the high season runs across the October 1 start of the year, as in New York City (Oct–Dec, Sep) and Boston / Cambridge (Oct, Sep).
The widest swings
| Area | State | Low cap | Peak cap | Peak ÷ low | Peak months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nantucket | MA | $171 | $487 | 2.85 | Jun–Sep |
| Ocean City | MD | $115 | $306 | 2.66 | Jun–Aug |
| Fort Walton Beach / De Funiak Springs | FL | $113 | $274 | 2.42 | Jun–Jul |
| Aspen | CO | $173 | $419 | 2.42 | Dec–Mar |
| Martha’s Vineyard | MA | $199 | $473 | 2.38 | Jun–Sep |
| Steamboat Springs | CO | $126 | $299 | 2.37 | Dec–Mar |
| Bar Harbor / Rockport | ME | $137 | $320 | 2.34 | Jul–Aug |
| Kill Devil Hills | NC | $120 | $267 | 2.23 | Jun–Aug |
| Park City | UT | $227 | $499 | 2.20 | Dec–Mar |
| Jackson / Pinedale | WY | $215 | $441 | 2.05 | Jun–Sep |
The spread is the peak cap divided by the low cap. In Nantucket the peak is 2.85 times the low-season cap. A trip planned on the low-season cap can come out very differently a month later; the calculator applies the right month to each night.
Seasons by state
Among states with five or more areas, the share with seasons varies widely. Florida and Colorado have seasons in every listed area. In Tennessee no listed area changes its cap during the year. In between, Michigan has 6 seasonal areas out of 11. The state pages draw every area’s twelve months side by side, which makes the pattern easy to see.
Reading a seasonal page
Each destination page draws its twelve monthly caps as bars, with the high months in orange and the standard rate as a dashed line, and lists the rate periods with the number of nights in each. When a trip crosses from one period into the next, each night takes the cap of its own month: a stay from the last night of one season to the first of the next uses two different caps. Adding up a trip works through an example.
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.