Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog

2026 Overseas Housing Allowance Utility Expenses Survey

Posted on March 1, 2026 Updated on February 24, 2026

The 2026 Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) Utility Expenses Survey is conducted on behalf of the Department of War and administered by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Military Compensation and Financial Readiness. The survey is designed to collect data on the utility and household maintenance costs of Service members and their families living overseas and will be used to assist in the determination of OHA Utility and Recurring Maintenance Allowance rates.

Information about OHA and how data is utilized in the OHA calculation can be found here: https://www.travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Overseas-Housing-Allowance/

Survey Participants and Web Link

The survey is open to active-duty Service members living overseas that meet the following criteria:

        -Renters who have received OHA for at least 6 months consecutively at their current duty station
        -Renters who pay most utilities separately from their rent
        -Renters who do not share rent payments with roommates or own the home for which they receive OHA

The survey is currently open through March 31, 2026, at 2400 EST.  Members may access the survey at the following link:
https://www.travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Overseas-Housing-Allowance/OHA-Data-Collection-Surveys/

Participating in the Survey

Participation in this survey is voluntary; however, we encourage maximum participation. Service members’ feedback is imperative in ensuring the Department has accurate data necessary to compute OHA Utility and Recurring Maintenance Allowance rates.  A Common Access Card or government computer is not required to access the survey.

This is an opportunity for the overseas military community to participate in the OHA process.  The survey takes approximately 15-30 minutes to complete and only one survey per household should be completed by the person most familiar with household expenses.  Members will be asked to provide information about the monthly costs of various utility and maintenance expenses they face in their current housing.

Individual responses will be treated as confidential. Only group statistics will be reported.

Thank you for your participation in this important survey.

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Delivered by Defense Finance and Accounting Service