The Department of Defense will discontinue cost-of-living allowances of troops stationed in 15 metropolitan and 21 non-metropolitan areas in the United States, according to a department press release.
The change will lead to approximately 48,000 troops being excluded from the Continental United States Cost-of-Living Allowance (CONUS COLA), according to Stars and Stripes.
According to the DOD, the monthly cost-of-living stipend will be discontinued for some troops beginning Jan. 1 because fewer locations across the lower 48 states qualified as excessively expensive living areas.
A location becomes eligible for the CONUS COLA when non-housing costs reach at least 8% above the national average.
Around 6,000 service members will continue to get the stipend. The yearly cost of the stipend is around $8.5 million.
The metro areas that qualified for the COLA supplement in 2022 are New York City, Long Island and Staten Island in New York; Nantucket, Massachusetts; Boulder, Colorado; and San Francisco, California.
New York City’s 7% COLA payment in 2021 will be decreased to 6% in 2022. That is the largest COLA payment the military awards for the lower 48 states.
The Washington D.C. area is among those excluded from COLA payments in 2022, as is Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts.
The total amount of CONUS COLA a service member receives varies based on geographic duty location, pay grade, years of service, and dependency status, the DOD said.
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.
Service members can calculate their CONUS COLA rate here.
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