Per diem · TN · GSA FY2027 from October 1, 2026
Per diem rates in Tennessee, FY2027
None of Tennessee's 5 GSA areas changes its lodging cap by month in FY2027, after Nashville dropped its fall peak.
GSA FY2027 ZIP file published · rates checked · Published by Radif Partners · Rules and data
Federal per diem for the trip
$991
Nashville, TN · Sun, Oct 25 to Wed, Oct 28
| Lodging, 3 nights at the GSA maximum | $690 |
| M&IE before meal deductions | $301 |
| M&IE paid | $301 |
| Total | $991 |
Rates of fiscal year 2027 (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027). How this is calculated.
Day by day
| Day | Lodging | M&IE rate | Share | Meals off | M&IE paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, Oct 25 FY2027 | $230 | $86 | 75% | – | $64.50 |
| Mon, Oct 26 FY2027 | $230 | $86 | 100% | – | $86 |
| Tue, Oct 27 FY2027 | $230 | $86 | 100% | – | $86 |
| Wed, Oct 28 FY2027 | – | $86 | 75% | – | $64.50 |
- GSA areas above the standard rate
- 5
- Highest lodging maximum
- $230
- Where
- Nashville
- Everywhere else
- $113 + $68
Davidson County is the dearest Tennessee destination for federal travel in FY2027, at $230 of lodging every night of the year and $86 of M&IE, and no Tennessee area has a seasonal cap any more. In FY2026 Nashville paid $248 in October and September and $217 otherwise; GSA replaced both with the single $230. Williamson County (Brentwood, Franklin) and Shelby County (Memphis) share a $135 room cap but not the meals rate: $86 against $74. Knoxville sits at $129 and Chattanooga at $120, and every other county takes $113 and $68. Priced on the FY2027 table, three nights in Nashville from March 8 to March 11, 2027 total $991 at the federal maximum, or $327 more than the same visit to Memphis. The arrival and departure days count at 75% of M&IE.
Nashville lost its October and September premium
Last year a Nashville trip in October and September carried a cap of $248, $31 above the rest of the calendar. FY2027 flattens Davidson County to $230 from October 2026 through September 2027. The change cuts both ways: a fall booking now allows $18 a night less than in FY2026, while a winter or spring one allows $13 more. A travel office that copied last year's October figure into its estimates is now over the cap.
Nashville, TN: per diem for a stay
Lodging + M&IE at the federal maximum
$991
| Lodging: 3 × $230 | $690 |
| M&IE: 2 travel days at $64.50 | $129 |
| M&IE: 2 full days at $86 | $172 |
Lodging taxes on top; provided meals are deducted in the full calculator.
Franklin and Memphis: same room, different dinner
The two areas print the same lodging figure, $135, but sit in different M&IE tiers. Williamson County is in the $86 tier, with $36 for dinner and $23 for lunch; Shelby County is in the $74 tier, with $31 and $20. Over the March example above, that gap alone makes the Franklin stay $42 dearer than the Memphis one. When a conference provides a meal, the deduction follows the tier of the county where you sleep, as the meal deduction table explains.
Murfreesboro, Clarksville and the standard rate
GSA lists Davidson and Williamson counties, and stops there. Murfreesboro and Smyrna (Rutherford County), Hendersonville and Gallatin (Sumner County) and Clarksville (Montgomery County) all appear in the Census city file in counties without a GSA line, so a meeting there is paid at $113 for the room and $68 for meals, $117 a night below Davidson County. The same goes for Johnson City, Kingsport and Jackson. If you sleep in Nashville for a meeting in Murfreesboro, the Davidson County rate applies, because lodging follows the place where you stay.
Conference meals change the Nashville figure more than the room cap does. If the March event above serves lunch on the two middle days, $23 comes off each of them and the trip falls from $991 to $945. A lunch served on the first or last day is deducted from the reduced 75% allowance instead, at the full $23.
Knoxville rose $10 to $129 a night; Chattanooga gained $3. For the drive, EIA prices Tennessee in its Midwest series at $4.109 a gallon (week of October 5, 2026), and the gas cost calculator turns that into a cost per trip.
Every GSA area in Tennessee: FY2027 against FY2026
| GSA area | Counties or limits | Lodging FY2027 | M&IE | Lodging FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville | Davidson | $230 | $86 | $217 to $248 |
| Brentwood / Franklin | Williamson | $135 | $86 | $130 |
| Memphis | Shelby | $135 | $74 | $129 |
| Knoxville | Knox | $129 | $74 | $119 |
| Chattanooga | Hamilton | $120 | $74 | $117 |
| Rest of the state | All other counties | $113 | $68 | $110 |