PCS mileage calculator: what your move pays

A PCS move that begins on or after July 1, 2026 pays 23.5 cents per mile for each authorized vehicle. A move that began between January 1 and June 30, 2026 pays 20.5 cents per mile. The rate in force on the day travel starts prices the whole move, not the day the voucher is filed.

• For a service member, the payment is called MALT, a monetary allowance in lieu of transportation. A federal civilian relocation uses the same moving rate under the Federal Travel Regulation.
• A car and a motorcycle get the same PCS rate. Whether a government vehicle was authorized and available does not change a PCS payment. Those distinctions belong to temporary duty (TDY) travel.
• If the orders authorize two vehicles, each one is paid the rate over the official distance.
• For a service member, the 350-mile travel-day rule sets the per diem you can claim. It does not change the mileage payment.
• The 76-cent automobile rate, the 74-cent motorcycle rate and the $1.935 airplane rate are TDY rates. They do not apply to a PCS move.
• For a service member, the dislocation allowance is a separate payment. The mileage figure here does not include it.

This table covers travel that begins in 2026. For a later start date, check the live Defense Travel Management Office or GSA table. The military MALT rate is published by the Defense Travel Management Office and matches the automobile and motorcycle rows. The airplane row uses the TDY airplane rate.

Figures checked on November 2, 2026 against GSA Bulletin FTR 26-03 and GSA Bulletin FTR 26-02.

The relocation rate is 20.5 cents per mile for travel that began between January 1 and June 30, 2026, and 23.5 cents per mile from July 1 through December 31, 2026. A privately owned airplane is paid at the TDY airplane rate: $1.78 per mile in the first half of 2026 and $1.935 per mile in the second.

The rate in force on the day travel begins is the rate for the whole move. A move that starts on June 30 and ends on July 3 is paid at 20.5 cents per mile, not a mix of the two rates.

Separate trips have their own start dates. A house-hunting trip in June and the move in July each use the rate in force on its own date. A voucher filed late still uses the rate from the day travel began.

Under the Joint Travel Regulations, a service member gets one travel day for each 350 miles of official distance. A move of 400 miles or less gets one day. If the distance leaves 51 miles or more after the last full 350-mile day, add one day.

There is no required number of miles to drive each day. The rule sets the travel time and the per diem that goes with it, and the orders control how many days you may use.

Travel days do not change the mileage payment. They matter for the daily allowance, not for the rate per mile.

• 1,800 miles: 5 full days with 50 miles left, so 5 days.
• 1,801 miles: 5 full days with 51 miles left, so 6 days.
• 400 miles: 1 day.
• 401 miles: 1 full day with 51 miles left, so 2 days.

TDY travel pays 76 cents per mile for an automobile when no government automobile was available. It pays 23.5 cents per mile when one was authorized and available and you chose your own, 74 cents per mile for a motorcycle, and $1.935 per mile for a privately owned airplane. These rates apply to travel on or after July 1, 2026.

On a PCS move, whether a government vehicle was authorized and available does not change the rate. That lower rate is a TDY rule.

In 2026 the same 23.5-cent figure appears in three places: the PCS rate, the reduced TDY rate and the IRS moving deduction. The label and the source tell you which one applies.

A PCS move is paid under federal relocation rules. A TDY trip is paid under temporary-duty travel rules, and a rate from one does not carry into the other.

A service member's move can carry other payments besides mileage. The dislocation allowance is a lump sum for the move itself. Per diem covers lodging and meals on the travel days. The government may also ship household goods and pay for temporary lodging.

The calculator adds only mileage. It does not add the dislocation allowance, per diem, lodging, shipping or temporary lodging. Those come from the orders and the finance office.

The IRS lets eligible active-duty service members and intelligence-community employees deduct moving expenses on a tax return. For travel on or after July 1, 2026, the moving rate is 23.5 cents per mile. That is a deduction against income, not a payment from the government.

The two figures match in 2026, but they do different jobs. A PCS mileage payment is money you receive for the move. The moving deduction lowers the tax you owe on a return, and it covers moving expenses you were not reimbursed for. If the government pays for a moving expense and the payment is not taxed, you cannot deduct the same expense as well.

The moving mileage guide has the eligibility rules and the records to keep for the deduction.

A service member drives 1,800 official miles from one duty station to another. Travel starts on July 15, 2026, and the orders authorize one vehicle. The rate is 23.5 cents per mile, so the mileage is $423.00.

The travel-day rule gives 5 days: 1,800 divided by 350 is 5 with 50 miles left, and 50 miles does not add a day. At 1,801 miles the remainder is 51 miles, so the move would get 6 days. The mileage payment would still be $423.00.

A second authorized vehicle would double the payment to $846.00. A commercial booking at $600.00 would cost $177.00 more than the mileage payment.

The comparison leaves out per diem, the dislocation allowance, fuel, tolls and baggage.

• Use the official distance on the orders, not the odometer or a maps app.
• Check the date travel began, not the date the voucher is filed.
• Check how many vehicles the orders authorize. A second vehicle needs its own authorization.
• If the voucher was prepared at 20.5 cents per mile for travel that began on or after July 1, 2026, update it to 23.5 cents per mile. The Defense Travel Management Office's July 2026 notice says the same.
• Keep the orders, the travel dates and the vehicle authorization with the claim.

Common questions

• GSA Bulletin FTR 26-03

  Sets the rates for official travel and relocation from July 1 through December 31, 2026, including the 23.5-cent moving rate.

• GSA Bulletin FTR 26-02

  Sets the rates for official travel and relocation from January 1 through June 30, 2026, including the 20.5-cent moving rate.

• GSA mileage reimbursements

  The current and historical privately owned vehicle rates, including the line for a work-related move.

• DoD Travel Management Office mileage rates

  The military MALT rate and the TDY rates published with the relocation rate.

• Joint Travel Regulations

  The PCS travel-day rule for service members: one day for each 350 miles, one day for 400 miles or less, and one more day when the remainder is 51 miles or more.

• DoD July 2026 mileage notice

  The July 2026 notice that raises the rates and says vouchers for travel on or after July 1, 2026 must be updated.

• DFAS dislocation allowance

  The military dislocation allowance the calculator does not include.

• IRS moving expenses

  The moving deduction and the eligibility rule that decides who can claim it.