2026 VA Disability Rates: Pay Charts, Dependents, and SMC

The 2026 VA disability rates took effect December 1, 2025, following a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment, with monthly compensation for a veteran without dependents running from $180.42 at a 10% rating to $3,938.58 at 100%. Veterans saw the higher amounts in payments starting January 2026. Compensation is tax-free at the federal level, and veterans rated 30% or higher receive additional amounts for a spouse, children, and dependent parents.¹

Monthly Rates for a Veteran With No Dependents

The VA rates disabilities in 10% increments. There is no 26% or 35% final rating; every combined value is rounded to the nearest multiple of ten. The 2026 monthly amounts are:

10%: $180.42
20%: $356.66
30%: $552.47
40%: $795.84
50%: $1,132.90
60%: $1,435.02
70%: $1,808.45
80%: $2,102.15
90%: $2,362.30
100%: $3,938.58

Those figures represent a 2.8% increase over 2025, when the 10% rate was $175.51 and the 100% rate was $3,831.30.²

Rates for Veterans With Dependents

Dependent compensation begins at the 30% rating. Veterans rated 10% or 20% receive the flat rate regardless of family size.³

Ratings of 30% Through 60%

30% with spouse: $617.47 | 40%: $882.84 | 50%: $1,241.90 | 60%: $1,566.02
30% with spouse and one child: $666.47 | 40%: $947.84 | 50%: $1,322.90 | 60%: $1,663.02
30% with one parent: $604.47 | 40%: $865.84 | 50%: $1,220.90 | 60%: $1,540.02

Ratings of 70% Through 100%

70% with spouse: $1,961.45 | 80%: $2,277.15 | 90%: $2,559.30 | 100%: $4,158.17
70% with spouse and one child: $2,074.45 | 80%: $2,406.15 | 90%: $2,704.30 | 100%: $4,318.99
70% with one parent: $1,931.73 | 80%: $2,242.28 | 90%: $2,520.36 | 100%: $4,114.82

Add-Ons for Additional Dependents

The basic dependent rates include the first child. Each additional child under 18 adds between $32 per month at 30% and $109.11 at 100%. Each additional child over 18 enrolled in a qualifying school program adds between $105 at 30% and $352.45 at 100%. If a spouse requires Aid and Attendance, an additional $61 at 30% up to $201.41 at 100% is added.³

Special Monthly Compensation

Veterans with severe disabilities beyond what the standard schedule covers may qualify for Special Monthly Compensation. In 2026, SMC rates for a veteran without dependents range from $4,900.83 per month at the SMC-L level to $11,271.67 at SMC-R.2/T. SMC-K, awarded for loss of use of a creative organ or certain paired extremities, pays $139.87 and is paid in addition to other compensation. SMC-S, for veterans who are housebound, pays $4,408.53.⁴

How the 2.8% COLA Was Calculated

The 2026 increase was set using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, the same measure used for Social Security COLAs. The Social Security Administration compared third-quarter 2024 average CPI-W of 308.729 with third-quarter 2025 of 317.265 and arrived at 2.8%.⁵ The VA is required by law to match the Social Security percentage.²

Recent COLAs for reference: 8.7% in 2023, 3.2% in 2024, 2.5% in 2025, and 2.8% in 2026.⁵

How Multiple Disabilities Are Combined

Reading the pay chart depends on knowing which row applies, and for veterans with more than one condition that row is not just the sum of the individual percentages. The VA uses a method laid out in 38 CFR § 4.25 that treats each disability as reducing remaining healthy capacity rather than stacking onto a running total.⁶

In practice: a veteran rated 50% is considered 50% “efficient.” A second condition rated at 30% is applied to the remaining 50%, adding 15% for a combined value of 65%. That 65% then rounds up to 70%, the final rating. With a third condition, the VA takes the unrounded combined value and combines it with the next rating, rounding only once at the end.⁷

Rounding follows one rule: combined values ending in 1 through 4 round down to the nearest ten; values ending in 5 through 9 round up. So 52% becomes 50%, and 65% becomes 70%.⁶

These crossings matter. A 10% and a 20% combine to 28%, which rounds up to 30%; two separate 10% ratings combine to 19%, which rounds down to 20%. The jump from 20% to 30% is not only a pay increase from $356.66 to $552.47, it also opens the door to dependent compensation.⁷

The Bilateral Factor

When disabilities affect both sides of the body, such as both knees or both shoulders, the bilateral factor under 38 CFR § 4.26 applies. The VA combines the left-side and right-side ratings, then adds 10% of that combined value before incorporating the total into the overall calculation. Under an interim rule effective April 2023, if applying the bilateral factor would actually produce a lower combined rating than not applying it, the VA skips it and uses whichever method yields the higher result.⁸

When 2026 Payments Arrive

VA disability payments post on the first business day of the month following the month of entitlement. When the first falls on a weekend or federal holiday, payment is issued on the last business day of the preceding month. For 2026, selected payment dates include January 30, April 1, July 1, and October 1.⁹

Pursuing a Higher Rating

Veterans whose conditions have worsened, or who believe they were originally underrated, have a few ways to move to a higher row on the chart.

Claim for Increased Rating

If a service-connected condition has gotten worse, the veteran can file for an increased rating using VA Form 21-526EZ. The VA typically schedules a Compensation and Pension exam. Missing that exam without a valid written excuse generally results in a denial.³ If the claim is filed within one year of a documented worsening, the effective date can be backdated to when the increase in severity began.¹⁰

Supplemental Claims and Appeals

After a denial, a veteran has three options within one year of the decision: a Higher-Level Review, in which a senior reviewer looks again at the existing evidence; a Supplemental Claim, which requires new and relevant evidence; or an appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Filing within one year preserves the original effective date, which matters for back pay. As of February 2026, the average processing time for a supplemental claim was 60.7 days, down from 144.4 days in January 2024.¹¹

Secondary Service Connection

Filing for secondary conditions can also raise a combined rating. A secondary condition is one caused or aggravated by an already service-connected disability, and the claim needs a medical nexus opinion linking the two.

Individual Unemployability

Veterans whose service-connected disabilities prevent substantially gainful employment can qualify for Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability, which pays at the 100% rate even when the schedular rating is lower. Standard eligibility requires one disability rated 60% or higher, or a combined rating of 70% or higher with at least one condition rated at 40%. Veterans below those thresholds can still be considered on an extraschedular basis. The application uses VA Form 21-8940.

Risk of Reduction

Filing for an increase triggers a full review of the file, and the VA can reduce a rating if it finds evidence of improvement. Ratings in place for five years or more require the VA to demonstrate sustained improvement before a reduction. Ratings held for 10 or 20 years carry stronger protections still.

1
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Disability Compensation
2
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Past Rates: 2025 Veterans Disability Compensation Rates
3
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 2026 Veterans Disability Compensation Rates
4
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 2026 Special Monthly Compensation Rates
5
Social Security Administration. Cost-of-Living Adjustments
6
Cornell Law Institute. 38 CFR § 4.25 – Combined Ratings Table
7
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. About VA Disability Ratings
8
Federal Register. Exceptions to Applying the Bilateral Factor in VA Disability Calculations
9
Military.com. VA Disability Payment Schedule
10
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Effective Dates for VA Disability Compensation
11
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Supplemental Claims