2023 CONUS COLA Rates

F.P. Report

WASHINGTON: The Defense Department released today the 2023 Continental United States Cost-of-Living Allowance (CONUS COLA) rates, which take effect Jan. 1, 2023. In 2023, $8 million will be paid to approximately 5,000 service members stationed within CONUS.

 

CONUS COLA is a supplemental allowance designed to help offset higher prices in the highest-cost locations in CONUS that exceed the average costs within the CONUS. Rates can increase, decrease, or remain the same, depending upon the non-housing prices in a duty location as compared to non-housing prices in average CONUS.

 

By law, a contractor provides the Department civilian cost data from each military housing area (MHA) and non-MHA for the following categories: transportation, goods and services, federal income taxes, sales taxes, and miscellaneous expenses.  Data is adjusted to account for Basic Allowance for Subsistence, an allowance meant to offset the costs for a member’s meals, and for cost savings gained from shopping at commissaries and exchanges.

 

This information is compared to the same cost data for average CONUS, which serves as a benchmark; the resulting ratio is called an index. By law, a CONUS COLA rate is only prescribed when the index meets a threshold of 108 percent, meaning the costs for non-housing types of goods and services in a particular location are at least eight percent more expensive than average CONUS costs.  An index above 108 percent would qualify for CONUS COLA (e.g., a location that is 10 percent more expensive would qualify for a 2 percent COLA index).

 

This year, four MHAs will begin receiving CONUS COLA; two MHAs will receive an increase in CONUS COLA; one MHA will receive a decrease in CONUS COLA; and    three MHAs will no longer receive CONUS COLA.

 

For non-MHA areas (non-metropolitan counties), 20 counties will lose CONUS COLA.

 

Military housing areas with the highest CONUS COLA rates:

New York City, NY                   8%

Martha’s Vineyard, MA            3%

Staten Island, NY                    3%

 

Military housing areas with the largest decreases:

Long Island, NY             3% to 0%

San Francisco, CA         3% to 1%

Nantucket, MA               2% to 0%

 

The total amount of CONUS COLA a Service member receives varies based on geographic duty location, pay grade, years of service, and dependency status.  Payments per CONUS COLA percentage point range from $33 to $59 per month for members with dependents, and from $22 to $45 per month for members without dependents.