Per Diem Rates Houston
The GSA per diem rate for Houston is $133 a night for lodging and $80 a day for meals. Enter your dates to price the trip as an employee or as self-employed.
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Per diem rates Houston come from the GSA entry “Houston”, which covers Montgomery / Fort Bend / Harris. It has one lodging rate for the whole fiscal year, $133 a night, and an M&IE rate of $80 a day. That is $20 above the standard lodging rate of $113 at its highest.
Enter your dates in the calculator. It prices each night with the rate of its date and shows the first and last day at 75% of $80, which is $60.
Not tax advice. DiemWise applies published rates and rules; check your own case with a tax professional.
Data used: GSA per diem rates FY2027 (continental U.S.) (effective 2026-10-01, expires 2027-09-30, last checked 2026-10-24); GSA M&IE breakdowns (CONUS) (effective 2026-10-01, expires 2027-09-30, last checked 2026-10-24). All sources and dates.
How to find the Houston per diem
- Enter the first and last day of travel. Houston is already selected, and you can change the destination if your hotel is elsewhere.
- Choose An employee or Self-employed. The employee total adds lodging and M&IE; the self-employed total counts meals only, at 50%.
- Read the total and the day table. A star marks the first and last day, where M&IE is $60 instead of $80.
- Staying outside the Houston entry? Type the other city: Arlington / Fort Worth / Grapevine, Austin, Big Spring and others have their own Texas entries in the file.
- Read the yellow notes above the table, if there are any. They appear when the rates have expired or when a date is outside the loaded files.
- For a single night, set the last day one day after the first. A one-night trip has two travel days and one night.
- Copy the link in the address bar to send the same trip to a colleague.
The result is a ceiling for lodging and a fixed amount for meals. If your employer pays a per diem at the GSA rate, the total is what the policy allows for these dates. If you are self-employed, treat the meals figure as your deductible meals and add your actual hotel receipts separately. Changing the dates updates every number at once; because the rate is the same all year, only the number of nights changes the total.
| Dates | Lodging per night | M&IE per day | Lodging + M&IE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 to Sep 30, 2027 | $133 | $80 | $213 |
The file lists 1 lodging rate for Houston. The rate is $133 a night all year. The standard rate in the same file is $113 for lodging and $68 for M&IE, so the highest Houston rate is $20 above it.
M&IE is $80 a day: $20 breakfast, $22 lunch, $33 dinner and $5 incidentals. On the first and last day of travel you get 75%, which is $60. The rate covers Montgomery / Fort Bend / Harris.
Compared with the FY2026 file, the highest lodging rate for Houston rose by $5 (from $128 to $133).
What does a Houston trip cost at the per diem rate?
Houston has a single lodging rate, so the total depends only on the length of the stay. Four days, three nights: lodging 3 × $133 = $399 and M&IE $60 + $80 + $80 + $60 = $280, for $679. The same trip at the standard rate would be $577, which makes the Houston entry $102 higher over four days.
How much is a one-night trip to Houston?
Two travel days at $60 and one night at $133: $253. A five-day trip, with four nights, comes to $892; add a night and the total rises by $213, which is the nightly rate plus a full day of M&IE.
Does the Houston rate change with the season?
No. The FY2027 file has one row for Houston, valid from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027: $133 for lodging and $80 for M&IE. Cities with one rate are common: 146 of the 295 destinations in the file have a single lodging rate all year.
How does Houston compare with other destinations?
230 of the 295 destinations have a higher peak lodging rate than Houston’s $133. The peak lodging rate rose by $5 from FY2026, when it was $128. The M&IE of $80 is shared by 104 destinations in the FY2027 file.
What does the Houston rate cover?
The county field of the GSA entry reads: Montgomery / Fort Bend / Harris. Other Texas entries in the file include Arlington / Fort Worth / Grapevine, Austin, Big Spring and Dallas; search for them in GSA per diem rates. Anywhere in Texas that is not listed uses the standard rate of $113 and $68.
What if I am self-employed in Houston?
Only meals count, at half. A four-day Houston trip has M&IE of $280 and a deductible amount of $140. For the hotel you deduct what you paid, with receipts.
How this tool works and where the numbers come from
The rates are the GSA FY2027 lodging and M&IE rates for Houston, Texas taken without change from the flat file; the table in the guide is generated from the same data the calculator reads. A trip is priced night by night, so a trip that crosses a change of season gets both lodging rates. The first and last day of travel count 75 percent of the M&IE rate, and the self-employed view follows IRS Publication 463 (meals only, 50 percent deductible).
Sources
- GSA, Per diem files (FY2027 and FY2026 rates) (FY 2027 rates published 2026-09-03) · checked
- GSA, M&IE breakdowns (page last updated 2026-10-27) · checked
Frequently asked questions
What is the per diem for Houston in 2027?
$133 a night for lodging, and $80 a day for M&IE, for 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027.
When is the Houston per diem highest?
It does not change: $133 a night all year.
Is the Houston M&IE the same all year?
Yes. M&IE is $80 a day all year at every destination in the file; only lodging has seasons.
Does the Houston rate include hotel taxes?
No. The lodging rate excludes taxes.
What if my hotel in Houston costs more than the rate?
The lodging rate is a ceiling for the standard reimbursement, not a price. Federal agencies can authorize actual expenses above it in some cases, and private employers set their own rules, so ask your travel office or employer. For the self-employed there is no lodging ceiling at all: you deduct what you paid.
Can I use these rates for a trip after 30 September 2027?
No. They are the FY2027 rates and expire on that date. GSA publishes the Houston rate again for each new fiscal year, and this page then shows the new file. If you open the page after the expiry date, it shows a warning.
Where do the Houston numbers come from?
From the GSA FY2027 flat file for the continental United States; the page reads it directly. The Sources and dates page gives the effective date, the expiry and the day the file was last checked.
- Per diem calculator: any destination and dates.
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