What Moving Costs Does the Military Actually Reimburse and What's Left Out?
Orders come through for a new duty station, and somewhere between the excitement and the logistics comes the question every military family eventually asks: which parts of this move are actually going to be paid for, and which parts are quietly going to come out of pocket anyway.
In short
Military relocations typically cover the core categories of a move — transportation of household goods, a per diem for travel days, and either a government-arranged shipment or a reimbursed self-move, depending on which option a service member chooses. What’s generally left out includes many incidental costs: temporary lodging beyond a covered window, costs tied to selling or breaking a lease on civilian housing, and extras like new curtains or shelving that don’t fit a different floor plan. The specific coverage amounts and categories are set by current military relocation policy, which is worth confirming directly rather than assuming it matches a previous move.
What’s generally covered
- Household goods shipment. Weight allowances are based on rank and dependents, and the government either arranges the move directly or reimburses a service member who manages it personally.
- Travel per diem. A daily allowance intended to cover meals and incidentals during the days actually spent traveling to the new location.
- Temporary lodging. A limited number of covered nights near the old or new duty station, intended to bridge the gap between move-out and move-in dates.
- Dislocation allowance. A lump-sum payment intended to help offset miscellaneous costs tied to relocating, though it isn’t designed to cover every incidental expense a move generates.
Where the weight allowance matters
Exceeding the household goods weight allowance for a given rank generally means the excess cost falls to the family rather than the government, which is part of why some families choose to downsize or store items rather than ship everything, even when a full shipment would technically be allowed.
What families often still pay for
Costs tied to civilian housing — a lease-break fee, a real estate commission on a home sale, or new appliances that don’t fit a different kitchen — generally aren’t reimbursed as part of a standard move. Temporary lodging beyond the covered window, pet relocation costs, and the kind of accumulating expenses covered under why packing supplies alone end up costing more than expected tend to be the categories families most often underestimate when budgeting for a permanent change of station.
Comparing the real cost to what’s reimbursed
Because reimbursement rates are set centrally and don’t always track local cost differences, the actual out-of-pocket gap for a given move can vary substantially by destination. Looking at how total moving costs for a family compare to moving alone is a useful way to estimate the size of that gap before the move happens rather than after unexpected bills arrive.
A detail worth handling before the move, not after
A permanent change of station is also a reasonable trigger to revisit whether a will or other legal documents need updating after a move, particularly when a move crosses state lines and changes which state’s laws would otherwise apply to existing documents.
Worth remembering
Military relocation benefits cover a real and substantial portion of a move, but they aren’t designed to cover every dollar a family spends getting resettled. Reviewing the current entitlement details for household goods weight, per diem, and lodging before the move — and budgeting separately for the categories that historically fall outside reimbursement — tends to produce fewer surprises than assuming the government’s coverage matches the family’s actual costs.