OCONUS vs. CONUS Per Diem: What's the Difference?

If you've ever booked a trip to Hawaii, Germany or Guam and wondered why the per diem calculator didn't have an answer, you've bumped into the CONUS/OCONUS split. It trips up even experienced travel administrators, because the rates come from two completely different federal agencies with two different rulebooks.

CONUS: the rate the GSA publishes

CONUS stands for Continental United States: the 48 contiguous states plus Washington, DC. Alaska and Hawaii are US states, but they are not part of CONUS, which is a common source of confusion. The General Services Administration (GSA) sets and publishes CONUS per diem rates every year, effective from 1 October.

Most counties use the GSA's standard rate, which for FY2026 is $110 a night for lodging and $68 a day for meals and incidentals (M&IE). Around 300 higher-cost destinations, such as New York City, San Francisco or Boston, get their own non-standard rate instead. For the full method and current figures, see our standard CONUS per diem rate guide and the CONUS per diem rates breakdown.

OCONUS: two categories, two agencies

OCONUS simply means outside the continental United States. It is not one uniform rate table. It splits into two distinct groups, each governed by a different set of federal regulations.

Non-foreign OCONUS: Alaska, Hawaii and US territories

Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands are all part of the United States or its possessions, but they sit outside the 48 contiguous states. The GSA has no authority here. Instead, rates are set by the Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee (PDTATAC), which sits within the Department of Defense's Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO). These are usually described as "non-foreign OCONUS" rates in official guidance, and they apply to both civilian federal employees and military personnel.

Foreign OCONUS: everywhere else in the world

For travel to any foreign country, the rate-setting job belongs to the US Department of State, not the GSA or the Pentagon. The State Department's Office of Allowances publishes foreign per diem rates monthly at aoprals.state.gov, operating under the Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR). The DSSR is the rulebook that governs allowances for US government civilians posted or travelling abroad, and it is updated far more frequently than the GSA's annual CONUS schedule because it has to track exchange-rate movements as well as local prices.

Why OCONUS rates are usually higher

Three factors push OCONUS rates above the CONUS baseline. First, cost of living: hotel and restaurant prices in Honolulu, Tokyo or the Cayman Islands routinely beat mainland US prices. Second, currency: foreign rates are set in US dollars but must absorb exchange-rate swings, so they are reviewed monthly rather than once a year. Third, remoteness: shipping goods to Guam, rural Alaska or small island territories adds cost to everything from groceries to laundry, and the per diem is built to reflect that.

This is also why an OCONUS per diem rate can look bafflingly generous next to the CONUS standard. A daily rate of $250 or $400 for a single location isn't a mistake or a loophole; it reflects what it genuinely costs to eat and sleep there.

How to find your specific OCONUS rate

The lookup tool depends entirely on where you're going.

• Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and other US territories: use the Defense Travel Management Office's rate lookup at defensetravel.dtic.mil (mirrored at travel.dod.mil), searching by state or territory and city.
• Any foreign country: use the State Department's Office of Allowances at aoprals.state.gov, searching by country and post. Rates are broken into lodging and M&IE, then combined into a maximum daily rate.
• Mainland US travel (the 48 states plus DC): use the GSA's own per diem tool, or run the numbers instantly with our per diem calculator.

One practical wrinkle: OCONUS rates are almost always quoted in US dollars already, so there's no separate currency conversion step for reimbursement, even though the underlying rate was calculated using local prices and exchange rates.

“Operating under the Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR), the Office provides regulatory oversight and ensures consistent application across all federal agencies.”

— U.S. Department of State, Office of Allowances (aoprals.state.gov)

Common mistakes when mixing up the two

A few errors come up again and again in expense claims and travel policies.

• Treating Alaska or Hawaii as CONUS because they're US states. They aren't contiguous with the other 46 states, so they're always OCONUS.
• Using last year's GSA figure for a foreign trip. Foreign rates change monthly, so a rate that was accurate in January can be out of date by March.
• Applying the CONUS standard rate ($110 lodging / $68 M&IE for FY2026) to a territory or overseas posting by default. Non-standard CONUS counties and every OCONUS location have their own figures; the standard rate only applies where no specific rate has been published.
• Forgetting that military and civilian federal travellers to non-foreign OCONUS locations use the same DoD-published rate, even though the trip might feel like a domestic move.
• Assuming a single OCONUS rate covers a whole country. Foreign per diem rates are usually set post by post, so the rate for a capital city can differ sharply from the rate for a rural posting in the same country.

CONUS, OCONUS and who actually uses these rates

Federal civilian employees are required to use whichever rate applies to their destination. Contractors and many private employers reference the same GSA, DoD or State Department tables voluntarily, because it's a simple, defensible way to reimburse travel without haggling over receipts. This includes travel nurses, consultants and anyone whose employer uses per diem allowances instead of itemised expense reports. If your work involves both mainland and overseas postings, it's worth bookmarking all three lookup tools, since you'll need a different one depending on the trip. Our state-by-state per diem pages cover every CONUS location if you want to check a rate before you travel.