How Much Do Companies Spend on Business Travel (2026 Data)

US companies spent $374.5 billion¹ on business travel inside the United States in 2023, the most in any year of the current national accounts series and more than double the $154.9 billion¹ of 2020, when trips all but stopped. Business travel is also a big share of the country's travel economy: about one dollar in four that US residents spend on travel at home, 27.1%¹ in 2023, is spent on business trips.

The sections below follow that money line by line: what companies buy on the road, the 2026 outlook measured in two different ways, the mileage rate that prices business driving at 76 cents² a mile, the federal per diem that caps a standard travel day at $181³ from October 1, 2026, how many of all household trips are business trips, and what expense software costs.

How much US companies spend on business travel

Private-sector business travel by US residents cost $374.5 billion¹ inside the United States in 2023. The figure covers what employers pay for hotels, meals, domestic flights, car rental, fuel, booking services, shopping and every other part of a work trip; travel by government employees is measured separately and is not in it.⁴ Add travel abroad and international airfares, and business travel spending reaches $409.4 billion¹, so $34.9 billion³ of company travel money sat outside the in-US total. Most of that is international airfares and spending abroad, shown in the category chart below; the published table leaves a small remainder of about half a billion dollars that is not assigned to either line.

The 2023 total is a record in current dollars. It was $296.5 billion¹ in 2019, so spending ended 2023 26.3%³ above the last year before the pandemic. That rise is in current dollars: the official accounts measure what was spent in each year's prices and do not split it into price and volume.¹ The yearly totals come from several statistical releases, and each release revises its methods and earlier years, so the table below names the release of every year: 1999-2016 from one release, 2018-2023 from the newest, and 1998 and 2017 from two others. No trend line is drawn: the newest release has only six years, and 2020, when travel all but stopped, cut spending nearly in half, so a straight line would not describe the series.

Booms, recessions and 2020

In the release covering 1999 to 2016, business travel spending had two deep falls, in 2001 and 2009, and two small dips. It slipped from $178.6 billion¹ in 2000 to $165.8 billion¹ in 2001, eased from $209.3 billion¹ in 2006 to $204.3 billion¹ in 2007, then fell 24.7%³ in a single year, from $206.1 billion¹ in 2008 to $155.1 billion¹ in 2009. It was back to $200.3 billion¹ by 2011. The second small dip came in 2015, from $238.9 billion¹ in 2014 to $237.3 billion¹, and the series closed at $242.7 billion¹ in 2016.

The 2020 collapse was deeper. In the newest release, business travel inside the US fell to 52.2%³ of its 2019 level, a drop of 47.8%³, then bounced back to $294.9 billion¹ in 2021 and $349.7 billion¹ in 2022 before the 2023 record.¹

A shrinking share of travel spending

Business has become a smaller slice of what Americans spend on travel. In the 1999-2016 release, the business share of US residents' travel spending inside the country fell from 34.8%¹ in 1999 to 30.1%¹ in 2016, with a low of 26.8%¹ in 2009, when company travel was cut harder than family travel.¹

In the newest release, the split for 2023 was 69.8%¹ households, 27.1%¹ business and 3.1%¹ government, out of $1,381.2 billion³ that US residents spent on travel inside the country. Government travel, at $42.9 billion¹, is a small line next to the $963.8 billion¹ spent by households on vacations, family visits and other personal trips.

A hotel night, not a plane seat, is the biggest line on the corporate travel bill.¹

What companies spend it on

Hotels and other traveler accommodations took $92.5 billion¹ of business travel money in 2023, 24.7%³ of all business spending inside the US. Restaurants and other food and beverage services came next at $52.9 billion¹, then shopping at $52.8 billion¹ and travel arrangement and reservation services, the travel agencies, tour operators and booking services, at $41.8 billion¹.

Transport is spread across several lines. Business travelers spent $35.4 billion¹ on gasoline, $28.2 billion¹ on domestic airfares and $27.3 billion¹ on car rental and leasing. International airfares ($21.9 billion¹) and spending abroad ($12.4 billion¹) sit outside the in-US total and are shown separately below.

Business travelers are a minority of the market for most of these services, but not for all. In 2023 they paid 53.3%¹ of all tourism spending on car rental and leasing and 48.2%¹ of spending on travel arrangement and reservation services, against 32.7%¹ of hotel spending and only 13.5%¹ of domestic airfares. The rest came from other visitors: households on personal trips, government travelers and visitors from abroad.

The mix has shifted since the pandemic. Business spending on domestic airfares was $28.2 billion¹ in 2023, 42.6%³ below the $49.1 billion¹ of 2019, while spending on hotels was 25.7%³ above 2019. Travel arrangement and reservation services rose from $29.4 billion¹ to $41.8 billion¹ over the same years, and shopping from $14.7 billion¹ to $52.8 billion¹, most of that jump coming between 2020 and 2021. The table shows the seven largest in-US categories for every year of the newest release.¹

So what will companies spend in 2026?

The 2026 outlook: $319 billion to $423 billion

The official national accounts end in 2023. For 2026 there are two industry forecasts, and they measure different things, so they are set side by side here with their scopes and never averaged.

The first counts spending by business travelers inside the United States, domestic and international, in 2025 dollars with travel-price inflation removed. On that basis business travel comes to $319.1 billion⁵ in 2026, up 0.8%⁵ on 2025 and still only 86.7%³ of the 2019 level in real terms. Business made up 26.1%³ of all travel spending in the US in 2019 and makes up 23.2%³ in 2026, and the outlook reaches $355.4 billion⁵ by 2030, about 97%⁵ of 2019. Its yearly figures are shown as a table rather than a chart with a trend line: since the rebound only three normal years, 2023 to 2025, are on record, too few to extend.

The second is a current-dollar model of business travel spending by country. It puts the United States at $423.0 billion⁶ in 2026, 24.7%³ of a world total of $1.71 trillion⁶ and ahead of China at $403.7 billion⁶. The $103.9 billion³ gap between the two US figures is one of definition: constant 2025 dollars for trips inside the country on one side, current dollars in a global business-travel model on the other.

Worldwide, business travel spending was $1.59 trillion⁶ in 2025 and is expected to pass $2 trillion⁶ by 2030. Among the 15 largest markets, the fastest growth in 2026 is expected in Brazil at 13.8%⁶, Australia at 11.5%⁶ and South Korea at 11.3%⁶; those 15 markets together account for 84%⁶ of the world total.

Inside the US, individual trips outweigh group travel to meetings, conventions and events: $168.9 billion⁵ of transient spending against $117.6 billion⁵ for groups in 2026. The group share of domestic business spending was 41.9%³ in 2019, fell to 29.5%³ in 2021 and has held close to 40.8%³ since 2023; in 2026 it is 41.0%³.⁵

Trips have come back faster than spending. Domestic business person-trips reach 449.7 million⁵ in 2026, 97%⁵ of the 463.9 million⁵ of 2019. Spending per domestic business trip was $644³ in 2025 against $698³ in 2019, both in 2025 dollars, so the average trip is cheaper in real terms than before the pandemic.

Prices are the other half of the picture. In the same forecast, the Travel Price Index rises 4.4%⁵ in 2026 while real business spending grows 0.8%⁵. At 127%⁵ of its 2019 level in 2026, travel prices have moved roughly in step with consumer prices overall, which stand at 128%⁵ of 2019. Those are the published figures; the rounded index values in the table give 4.2%³, 126%³ and 130%³.

How much to charge per mile for travel

For business driving, the reference rate is the IRS standard mileage rate. From July 1, 2026 it is 76 cents² a mile, up 3.5 cents³ from the 72.5 cents² that applied from January through June. At the new rate, 100 business miles come to $76³.

The rate is meant to cover the whole cost of running a car, fixed and variable: depreciation, insurance, fuel, tires and maintenance. Tolls and parking are not part of it. It is set each year from an annual study of vehicle operating costs by an independent contractor.⁷ An employer may reimburse business miles up to the rate tax-free when the employee keeps records. Federal law requires reimbursement only where not paying it would push pay below the minimum wage, though some states require employers to reimburse all work mileage.⁷

Since 1991 the January rate has risen from 27.5 cents⁸ to 72.5 cents², and the July 2026 rate is 2.76³ times the 1991 level. It has not always gone up: the January rate was lower than a year earlier seven times, in 2003, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021. The largest cut was in 2010, from 55⁷ to 50 cents⁷; the 2020 and 2021 cuts took it from 58⁷ to 57.5⁷ and then 56 cents⁷. Six times since 1999 the rate has also changed in the middle of a year, five times upward; the 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2022 mid-year rises were made because of fuel prices.^{7 17 16 2}

Federal employees who drive their own vehicles on official travel are reimbursed at a rate that by law follows the IRS business rate: $0.76¹⁸ a mile for a car from July 1, 2026.⁷ The federal table also sets rates for other vehicles: $0.74¹⁸ for a motorcycle, $1.935¹⁸ per statute mile for a private airplane, and $0.235¹⁸ for a car when a government vehicle was available but the employee chose their own.

From the cost of one mile to the cost of one day on the road.

What a business-travel day costs: the federal per diem

The federal per diem sets the most a government traveler can claim for a night's lodging, before taxes, and for a day's meals and incidental expenses. It is a reimbursement cap, not a market price. Through September 30, 2026, the standard rate, which applies anywhere in the continental US without a rate of its own, is $110¹⁹ for lodging plus $68¹⁹ for meals and incidentals, $178³ a day.

From October 1, 2026, the start of fiscal 2027, standard lodging rises by $3 to $113²⁰ after a rate freeze in fiscal 2026, and the standard day becomes $181³.²⁰ The standard lodging rate was $89²¹ in fiscal 2016, so the fiscal 2027 rate is 27%³ higher.

For anyone deciding how much to charge for a travel fee, the federal day rate is a public benchmark: $181³ a day at the standard rate from October 1, 2026, and more in the 295²⁰ non-standard areas that have rates of their own.²⁰

Those locality rates go far higher. The highest cap in fiscal 2027 is Park City, Utah, at $499¹⁹ a night in its peak month, 4.42³ times the standard lodging rate; Nantucket ($487¹⁹) and Martha's Vineyard ($473¹⁹) follow. New York City peaks at $358¹⁹.

Almost every listed locality gets a raise. Of 282¹⁹ localities that can be matched across the two years, 269¹⁹ have a higher 12-month average lodging cap in fiscal 2027, 13¹⁹ are unchanged and none is lower. The largest increase is in Albuquerque, New Mexico: $37³ a night on average, from $144¹⁹ to $181.0¹⁹, with its peak month up from $144 to $208¹⁹.

Meals and incidentals follow five tiers. Among the 297¹⁹ listed locality rows for fiscal 2027, the top rate, $92¹⁹ a day, applies to 35¹⁹ rows. The $80¹⁹ tier is the most common, with 104¹⁹ rows or 35.0%³.

Each tier is a fixed split of meals plus incidentals. At the standard rate the traveler gets $16²⁵ for breakfast, $19²⁵ for lunch, $28²⁵ for dinner and $5²⁵ for incidental expenses such as tips. On the first and last day of a trip, the allowance is 75%²⁵ of the daily rate, $51²⁵ at the standard tier.

Caps also change month by month in the busiest cities. In New York City the fiscal 2027 cap runs from $189¹⁹ a night in January and February to $358¹⁹ from September through December. Boston peaks at $365¹⁹ in October and September, while Washington, DC, drops to $192¹⁹ in July and August.

By state, the highest lodging cap for fiscal 2027 ranges from $113¹⁹ in North Dakota, which has no listed locality and uses the standard rate, to $499¹⁹ in Utah. Massachusetts ($487¹⁹), Florida ($452¹⁹), Wyoming ($441¹⁹) and Colorado ($419¹⁹) follow.

How much travel is business travel

Counted as trips, work-related business is a small part of everyday travel. In 2022 the average household made 70²⁶ work-related business trips out of 1,990²⁶ trips of all kinds, or 3.5%³ of all its daily trips. The count covers every trip whose purpose was work-related business, local or long-distance, and the total includes every other trip too, from shopping and school runs to errands and social visits; the daily commute is a separate category.²⁶

Business trips are longer than most: 20.7 miles²⁶ on average in 2022, against 12.6 miles²⁶ for all trips, or 1.64³ times as long. Men made 39²⁶ work-related business trips per person in 2022 and women 20²⁶, so men traveled for work 1.95³ times as often.

Earlier household travel counts recorded 100²⁶ to 109²⁶ work-related business trips per household a year between 1995 and 2009 and 51²⁶ in 2017. The 2022 figures were collected with a new method and a smaller sample, with a margin of error of 12.0²⁶ trips on the household figure, and trips in 2022 were fewer and longer as telework and online activity spread. The years are best read as separate snapshots.²⁶

Long-distance business travel is a different measure again. A national household travel study for 2001-02 counted more than 405 million²⁷ business trips a year to places at least 50 miles from home, 16%²⁷ of all such long-distance trips. Most were short and by road: 74%²⁷ were under 250 miles, 81%²⁷ went by personal vehicle and about 16%²⁷ by air. The median business trip covered 123 miles²⁷ one way, against 114 miles²⁷ for pleasure trips.²⁷

Air takes over only on longer trips: in the 500-749 mile band, 64%²⁷ of business trips went by air, and beyond 1,500 miles the share was 90%²⁷. By car the median business trip was 102 miles²⁷, by air 816 miles²⁷.²⁷

Business also brings visitors to the United States. Among international travelers flying to the US in 2024, business was the main purpose of the trip for 16%²⁸ of overseas visitors, 20%²⁸ of Canadians arriving by air and 19.5%²⁸ of Mexicans arriving by air.²⁸

Expense and booking tools

How much does Concur Travel cost

Concur Travel has no published list price. The booking tool comes only in the Premium plan of the Concur suite, which is priced on request. The published plans cover expense reports only: Base starts at $7²⁹ per expense report and Plus at $11²⁹ per report, and both prices can vary with the monthly commitment.²⁹ These are vendor list prices, not a measure of what companies actually pay.

What the numbers mean for a travel budget

For a company planning travel, lodging is the line to watch. Hotels took 24.7%³ of business travel spending inside the US in 2023, more than three times domestic airfares, and hotel spending ended 2023 25.7%³ above 2019 while airfare spending was still below it.¹

Driving has a public price. At 76 cents² a mile, a 300-mile round trip comes to $228³ in reimbursement, and the rate has changed within a year six times since 1999, so a policy that simply follows the rate moves with it.^{7 17 16 2} A day away from home has a public ceiling too: $181³ at the standard federal rate from October 1, 2026, and up to $499¹⁹ a night for lodging alone in Park City's peak month.

Budgets also have to absorb prices. In the industry forecast, real business travel spending grows only 0.8%⁵ in 2026 while travel prices rise 4.4%⁵, so a company that keeps its trips level still needs a larger budget in current dollars. That forecast counts all business travelers in the US, visitors from abroad included, in constant 2025 dollars, and puts 2026 at 86.7%³ of 2019; the official accounts, which count US residents' business travel inside the country in each year's prices, show a record in 2023. The two measures differ in scope and price basis, so neither corrects the other and they are not combined here.

Conclusions

1. Companies spend more than ever, but on different things. In-US business travel spending hit a record $374.5 billion in 2023, 26.3% above 2019 in current dollars, yet domestic airfare spending was 42.6% below 2019 while hotels were 25.7% above.¹
2. The industry measure is still below 2019. An industry forecast of spending by all business travelers in the US, visitors from abroad included, in constant 2025 dollars, puts 2026 at 86.7% of 2019 and domestic business trips at 97% of 2019. It is a different measure from the official current-dollar record for US residents.⁵
3. Work trips are a small share of everyday travel. Work-related business trips were 3.5% of all household trips in 2022, and they are longer than the average trip, 20.7 miles against 12.6.²⁶
4. Two public rates price most business trips. The mileage rate of 76 cents and the federal day rate of $181 from October 1, 2026, with lodging caps up to $499 a night, are the benchmarks for anyone without a negotiated rate.^{2 20}