PCS Calculator is an independent resource built and maintained by an active duty U.S. service member. It helps service members and military families understand PCS move costs, reimbursements, and entitlements based on the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), with every figure traced to a public government source. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Defense.
Military financial life is complicated by design. Pay tables, allowance rules, travel regulations, and retirement systems change every year — and the official guidance is written for finance clerks, not service members trying to plan a move or figure out a paycheck.
This site was built to fix that. Every tool here does one job: take a government rule that's written in jargon and turn it into a number you can actually use. Free, no account. Just the math.
I'm an active duty service member. This site began as a spreadsheet I built for my own PCS. I had been told what I was owed, the figures didn't match what I read in the regulation, and I wanted to resolve the difference before the truck arrived. The answer was in the regulation. It simply wasn't written anywhere a person could reasonably find it.
So I kept building it. On every move since, I've run my own orders through these tools first and corrected whatever they got wrong.
Nothing here asks you to take a number on faith. Every figure comes from a published regulation or rate table, and the calculator that uses it names the source, so you can trace any result back to the original and check it yourself.
The limits are worth stating plainly. Nothing on this site is official, and it can't approve or certify anything — your finance and transportation offices decide what you're actually paid. What the experience does contribute is practical: which entitlements are commonly overlooked, which forms determine the outcome, and where the published guidance stops short of the question you actually have.
How the site stays independent and how it's funded are set out on the disclosures page.
New enlistees Understanding your first LES, what BAH you'll receive, and how your benefits add up to real dollars.
PCS-bound families Estimating what the government owes you, whether a PPM beats GTC, and what to budget out-of-pocket.
Veterans buying a home Calculating VA loan payments, funding fee waivers, and how much entitlement you have remaining.
Deployed service members Projecting SDP growth during a combat-zone deployment and understanding tax-exclusion benefits.
Military spouses Determining your state of legal residence under MSRRA and getting your W-4 right after every PCS.
Members planning retirement Modeling two-phase TSP growth, BRS matching, High-3 vs. BRS breakeven, and post-separation income.
Government sources, named Every calculation traces back to a public regulation: Joint Travel Regulations (JTR/DTMO), DFAS pay tables and DTMO BAH tables, VA.gov loan fee schedules, TSP.gov fund data, DeCA patron savings reports, IRS withholding tables, and DoD FMR Volume 7A.
Free, no account required Every tool on this site is free to use. No email, no login, no paywall. Military families shouldn't have to hand over personal data just to run a calculation.
Updated on each source's own schedule BAH, pay tables and TSP limits refresh in January. The per diem and fair market rents run on the federal fiscal year and change on 1 October. JTR mileage changes whenever the Department publishes — it moved on 1 July 2026. Each figure is dated on the page that uses it.
Independent, and not affiliated with DoD Nothing here is official. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Department of Defense, any branch of the armed forces, or any government agency — and your servicing finance office, not this calculator, decides what you are actually paid.
Here is the actual path a number takes to reach you. A government source publishes — DTMO releases BAH rates in December and revises JTR mileage and DLA tables, the IRS issues withholding figures. The published table is transcribed into this site's data files, not retyped from a summary or a news article. The calculator that consumes it cites that source inline, on the page, next to the result — not buried in a footnote page. Then the arithmetic is covered by automated tests that run before anything ships.
Rate years are pinned in one place per dataset, and the site raises a staleness warning on itself when the calendar moves past the data it holds. That is deliberately less flattering than promising constant vigilance — it means a missed update announces itself instead of quietly returning last year's numbers.
The same check now covers the articles. Every rate quoted in a guide is bound to the figure the calculators use, and a test fails if the two disagree or if a guide keeps quoting a rate that has since lapsed. Each article also carries the vintage of every rate it cites, computed from that figure rather than typed alongside it — so the date a reader sees cannot fall out of step with the number above it.
Refresh cadence. Housing allowance data comes from the DTMO rate tables; pay tables and TSP limits refresh each January, the standard CONUS per diem on 1 October with the federal fiscal year, and JTR mileage and DLA whenever the Department publishes. Each is cited on the calculator that uses it.
If a number looks wrong, or a regulation changed and I haven't caught it yet, tell me. Corrections take priority over everything else on the list.
Advertising and affiliate links. That's it. They cover hosting, the data work, and the annual rate updates, which is what lets every tool stay free with no account, no email capture, and no paywalled result.
Nobody pays for placement, and nobody pays for a result. No advertiser or affiliate partner can change a calculator's output, a JTR figure, a BAH rate, or what a base guide says about their product. If a truck rental company's discount is listed, it's because it exists and applies to you — the commission doesn't move it up the page.
The display ads are served by Google, which means I don't choose them and can't vouch for them. You may well see a lender, an insurer, or a refinance offer advertised on a page that is explaining the same product to you. That is an ad, not a recommendation, and it deserves exactly the scrutiny you'd give any other financial pitch. Nothing on this site is financial advice.
Which links are affiliate links, which networks are involved, and how that tracking data is handled are all itemized on the disclosures page.
The calculators on this site produce estimates — not official determinations. Actual reimbursement amounts, entitlements, and allowances are set by your servicing finance office in accordance with applicable regulations, and individual circumstances can affect the final figure.
Use these tools to understand the system and plan ahead — then confirm the specifics with your local finance office, transportation office, or JAG before making financial commitments.
This site is an independent resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Department of Defense, any military branch, or any government agency.