Washington DC Per Diem Rate: The Non-Standard Lodging Table Explained

Book a hotel near the Pentagon in April and a government traveller staying in Bethesda faces exactly the same lodging cap as someone two blocks from the Capitol. That's because the GSA treats the whole DC metro area as one pricing zone. Knowing where that zone ends, and how the cap moves through the year, is the difference between a trip that comes in under budget and one that leaves a traveller covering the shortfall themselves.

Where the DC per diem rate actually applies

The General Services Administration sets a single non-standard area (NSA) rate for federal travel to the capital. Most people assume it only covers the District itself. It doesn't. The DC rate also applies to a ring of nearby jurisdictions where hotel demand tracks the same congressional and tourist calendar as downtown Washington.

• The District of Columbia itself
• The Virginia cities of Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax
• Arlington County and Fairfax County, Virginia
• Montgomery County and Prince George's County, Maryland

That matters for expense reports. A trip to Arlington's Crystal City or a conference in Bethesda uses the DC lodging cap and $92 M&IE rate, not the standard rate that applies elsewhere in Virginia or Maryland. Claim against the wrong figure and a booking can come in over cap, or a traveller can end up under-claiming reimbursement they're actually entitled to. Run the exact dates through the per diem calculator before booking, or check the DC per diem page for the current rate card.

The FY2026 lodging table, month by month

Unlike the flat meal allowance, DC's lodging cap changes with the seasons. Here's the full fiscal year, current for FY2026 (1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026), based on GSA's published per diem rates.

For context, the GSA's standard CONUS rate that applies almost everywhere else in the country is a flat $110 a night with $68 M&IE. DC's lodging cap is anywhere from 66% to 151% higher than that baseline, and the gap is widest exactly when Congress is busiest.

Why the DC rate swings so much through the year

The cap follows real hotel pricing, not a fixed formula. GSA sets non-standard area rates using contractor-supplied average daily rate (ADR) data from local hotels, then trims it slightly before publishing.

“Per diem rates are set based upon contractor-provided average daily rate (ADR) data of local lodging properties.”

— U.S. General Services Administration, Per Diem FAQs (gsa.gov)

In plain terms: when DC hotels genuinely charge more, the cap rises to match. Three things drive that swing through the year.

• Congressional session — Congress is in Washington for most of spring and autumn, filling hotels with staffers, lobbyists and visiting officials.
• Cherry blossom and conference season — late March through June brings the National Cherry Blossom Festival, graduation season and a heavy run of trade conferences, pushing rates to their $276 peak.
• Summer recess and winter lull — Congress largely leaves town in August, and government travel drops off around the December holidays, so July, August, and the November-to-February stretch bring the lowest caps, down to $183 in July and August.

The $92 M&IE rate, broken down

Washington DC sits in GSA's top meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) tier: $92 a day, unchanged across all twelve months. That figure is fixed nationally as the ceiling tier — DC, along with a handful of other major cities, is simply assigned to it.

• Breakfast: $23
• Lunch: $26
• Dinner: $38
• Incidentals: $5
• First and last day of travel (75% of $92): $69

That 75% rule matters more than people realise. On the first and last calendar day of a trip, a traveller can only claim three-quarters of the full M&IE rate — $69 rather than $92 — regardless of what time they actually depart or arrive. Every full day in between is claimed at the full $92.

Worked example: a three-night April trip

Here's how the numbers stack up for someone staying three nights in Washington during April, the peak lodging month.

• Lodging: 3 nights × $276 = $828
• Arrival day (75% of M&IE): $69
• One full day in the middle: $92
• Departure day (75% of M&IE): $69
• M&IE subtotal: $69 + $92 + $69 = $230
• Total trip cost: $828 + $230 = $1,058

Book that same trip in July instead and lodging drops to 3 × $183 = $549, cutting nearly $280 off the accommodation bill alone, even though the meal allowance stays identical at $92 a day.

Practical tips for planning a DC-area trip

• Use the rate for the month you're actually staying, not the month you book. If a trip spans two rate periods, each night is reimbursed at that specific month's cap.
• Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax and the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George's (including Bethesda) all use the DC rate — check bookings against that figure, not the general Virginia or Maryland state rate.
• Run the exact dates through the per diem calculator before locking in a hotel, especially near the March–April and August–September rate-change boundaries.
• Government contractors billing per diem to a federal contract should confirm which non-standard area applies before quoting a client — see our guide for government contractors.
• This seasonal pattern isn't unique to DC — New York has its own seasonal swing, and the logic behind higher lodging caps around conference and tourist season is explained in our broader piece on why lodging rates change by season.