About 28,000 service members will receive the continental U.S. cost-of-living allowance in 2018, down from about 35,150 this year.

ConUS COLA payments to stateside service members will total about $28 million in the coming year, about $13 million less than in 2017, according to a Wednesday news release from the Defense Department.

COMPLETE CHART: 2018 CONUS COLA RATES

Two new military housing areas (MHAs) — Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where 50 service members live — have been added to the list of eligible ConUS COLA locations. Sixteen locations, where 7,200 service members reside, have been eliminated. They are:

  • California: China Lake, El Centro, Fresno, Riverside, San Luis Obispo and Stockton
  • Connecticut: Hartford
  • Illinois: Chicago
  • Maryland: Ocean City
  • Michigan: Grand Rapids, Lansing and Saginaw
  • New Jersey: Fort Monmouth/Earle Naval Weapons Station and Northern New Jersey
  • New York: West Point
  • Pennsylvania: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

About 1,100 military members can expect an increase in their payments, while 8,200 will see a decrease. But most — 17,800 — will see no change.

The taxable monthly allowance compensates service members for non-housing expenses — such as transportation, goods and services, federal income taxes, sales taxes and miscellaneous expenses — in areas where these costs exceed the national average by 8 percent or more. A location that is 8 percent above the national average would qualify for a 1 percent COLA index, while an area that is 10 percent more expensive would qualify for a 2 percent index.

The MHAs with the highest indexes are Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York (7 percent), New York City (6 percent) and San Francisco (5 percent).

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