GAO Report on Determining Cost-of-Living Allowances for Military Personnel

The following is the Government Accountability Office report, Military Personnel: DOD Should Improve Processes for Determining Cost-of-Living Allowances, published April 30, 2026. From the Report What GAO Found The Department of Defense (DOD) uses three key processes to determine service member cost-of-living allowances (COLA), with separate programs for service members living in the continental U.S. (CONUS) and outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS). These processes include data on military household spending from the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, location-specific surveys of shopping patterns, and retail price data for the goods and services that service members typically buy. DOD uses