80% Disabled Veteran Benefits by State: Property Tax, Pay, and TDIU

An 80% VA disability rating unlocks a substantial federal benefits package and a shifting set of state-level perks that depend heavily on where you live. At the federal level, 80 percent disabled veteran benefits by state layer on top of monthly tax-free compensation of $2,102.15 for a single veteran with no dependents, no-copay VA healthcare in Priority Group 1, a waiver of the VA home loan funding fee, a 10-point federal hiring preference, and the ability for military retirees to collect both retirement pay and VA compensation through Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay.¹ What each state adds — property tax exemptions, income tax breaks on retirement pay, hiring preferences, license discounts — varies enough that two veterans with identical ratings can see very different bottom lines.

Monthly Compensation at 80%

As of December 1, 2025, the VA pays $2,102.15 per month to a single 80%-rated veteran with no dependents. Adding dependents increases the amount:¹

Spouse, no children: $2,277.15
Spouse and one child: $2,406.15
Spouse, one child, one dependent parent: $2,546.15
Spouse, one child, two dependent parents: $2,686.15
One child only, no spouse: $2,219.15

Each additional child under 18 adds $87.00. Each child over 18 in a qualifying school program adds $281.00. A spouse who needs Aid and Attendance adds $161.00. Rates track Social Security cost-of-living adjustments each year.¹

VA Healthcare and Priority Group 1

An 80% rating places you in Priority Group 1, the top enrollment tier.² There are no copays for care, testing, or medication, including for conditions that are not service-connected, and you don’t have to provide household income information to enroll.³ Prescriptions are also free at this tier,⁴ and the VA reimburses travel to scheduled appointments at VA facilities.⁵

One benefit does not extend to 80%: CHAMPVA, the health program covering dependents, requires a permanent and total rating, which generally means 100% not expected to improve.⁶

Other Federal Benefits at 80%

Home Loans and Hiring

Veterans rated between 60% and 90% get the VA home loan funding fee waived, which can save thousands at closing. For federal jobs, an 80% rating brings a 10-point preference and direct hire authority.⁵

Veteran Readiness and Employment

Any veteran rated 10% or higher can apply for VR&E (formerly Vocational Rehabilitation), so 80% comfortably qualifies. A counselor must find an employment handicap tied to the disability. Services include vocational counseling, training, apprenticeships, post-secondary education, and independent living support. Veterans discharged on or after January 1, 2013 face no time limit on eligibility; earlier discharges have a 12-year window that can be extended for serious employment handicaps.⁷

Commissary, Exchange, and MWR

Under the Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018, any VA-documented service-connected rating grants access to commissaries, exchanges, and certain MWR facilities including golf courses, bowling centers, recreational lodging, and campgrounds.⁸ Entry requires a Veteran Health Identification Card showing “Service Connected.”⁹ Space-A military flights are not included; those are reserved for veterans rated permanently and totally disabled.¹⁰

Dependents’ Education (DEA)

The federal DEA program for spouses and children requires the veteran to be permanently and totally disabled. An 80% rating alone does not qualify dependents for DEA.¹¹

Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay for Military Retirees

Without Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, a military retiree has to waive one dollar of retired pay for every dollar of VA compensation received. CRDP eliminates that offset, and any VA rating of 50% or higher qualifies, so 80% clears the threshold.¹² Standard retirees with 20 or more years of service get the restoration automatically through DFAS. Chapter 61 medical retirees with fewer than 20 years are not eligible for full CRDP.¹³

CRDP-restored retired pay is taxable and counts as divisible property in a divorce under the Former Spouse Protection Act.¹³ Veterans with combat-related disabilities may elect Combat-Related Special Compensation instead. CRSC is tax-free but cannot be paid at the same time as CRDP; DFAS defaults to whichever is more favorable, and retirees can switch during a December open season each year.¹⁴

VA Disability and Social Security

VA compensation and Social Security Disability Insurance can be received at the same time with no offset between them. VA benefits are tax-free and not counted as earned income, so they do not reduce SSDI. Approval for one program does not guarantee approval for the other; SSDI uses an all-or-nothing standard tied to substantial gainful activity for at least 12 months, while the VA uses a percentage scale.¹⁵

Supplemental Security Income works differently. SSI is need-based, and the Social Security Administration counts VA disability compensation as income, reducing SSI payments dollar for dollar.¹⁵

Special Monthly Compensation

A schedular 100% rating is not required for Special Monthly Compensation. An 80% veteran with specific severe conditions — loss of use of limbs, blindness, being permanently bedridden, or needing regular aid and attendance — may qualify. For a single veteran with no dependents, SMC ranges from $4,408.53 per month at the housebound (SMC-S) level to more than $11,000 per month at the highest levels of care need.¹⁶ The VA is supposed to consider SMC entitlement whenever a disability claim is filed, but veterans sometimes need to raise it specifically or appeal when it is overlooked.

State Property Tax Exemptions

Property tax relief is often the most valuable state benefit, and eligibility at 80% is genuinely state-specific. Some states set thresholds that line up with an 80% rating; many others save their largest exemptions for 100% permanent and total ratings.

States Where 80% Specifically Qualifies

Nevada: veterans rated 80% to 99% get a $25,800 reduction in assessed value on a primary residence, up from $10,000 at 60% to 79%.¹⁷
Washington: veterans rated 80% or higher may qualify for income-based property tax exemptions or deferrals on a primary residence, with the benefit tied to income, home value, and local levies.¹⁸
Texas: veterans rated 70% to 99% receive a $12,000 exemption that can carry over to a surviving spouse who does not remarry.¹⁹
Illinois: veterans rated 70% or higher get a reduction on the first $250,000 of equalized assessed value, effectively wiping out property tax on most homes. Annual renewal is required unless the veteran is rated 100% permanent and total.²⁰

Tiered States That Include 80%

Alaska: 50%+ ratings exempt the first $150,000 of assessed value.²¹
Indiana: 10%+ ratings can claim a $24,960 property tax deduction.¹⁸
Louisiana: 70% to 99% ratings add a $4,500 exemption on top of the standard homestead exemption.²¹
Minnesota: 70%+ ratings can exclude up to $150,000 of home value from property taxes.²¹
North Dakota: 50%+ ratings get a credit based on the first $9,000 of taxable home value, scaled to the disability percentage.²¹
Utah: 10%+ ratings get an abatement of up to $505,548 of taxable value, scaled to the rating.¹⁸

Several states reserve their full property tax exemption for 100% permanent and total ratings only. That group includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. At 80%, veterans in those states generally do not qualify for the full exemption.²¹ Local tax assessors and state veterans’ agencies remain the source of record; amounts and rules change.

State Income Tax on Retirement Pay

VA disability compensation itself is not taxed by any state or by the federal government. Military retirement pay is where states diverge.

Nine states levy no income tax at all: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Among states that do tax income, a large group fully exempts military retirement pay as of 2026: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.²²

Partial exemptions exist elsewhere. Georgia is phasing in an exemption reaching $65,000 beginning in the 2026 tax year, Virginia offers a $40,000 exemption, and Kentucky exempts up to $31,110.²²

State Hiring Preferences

State and local government hiring preferences for veterans with a service-connected disability generally apply at 80%. A few examples:

Florida: up to 20 preference points for public-sector appointment and retention; agencies can waive certain postsecondary education requirements.²³
Minnesota: 30%+ ratings can be considered for state employment without a competitive examination.²⁴
Nevada: employers must interview every qualified veteran with a service-connected disability.²⁴
New Jersey: 10%+ ratings receive the highest civil service preference and top placement on competitive lists.²⁴
Oklahoma: disabled veterans can be hired without competitive examination, subject to a one-year probation.²⁴
Texas: state agencies must interview qualified veterans and may designate certain positions as veteran-only.²⁴

Hunting, Fishing, and Vehicle Registration

Thirty states offer free hunting and fishing licenses to at least some category of veteran or active-duty service member, and 34 offer discounts. Rating thresholds vary by state, so an 80%-rated veteran should check the state’s department of natural resources or fish and wildlife agency for what applies.²⁵

Specialty disabled veteran license plates are widely available, but the fee waivers and parking privileges that come with them are often locked at 100%. California’s registration fee exemption and DV parking privileges require a 100% rating with mobility impairment,²⁶ and Florida limits its free permanent DV plate to veterans rated 100% service-connected.²⁷ Some states extend partial benefits at lower thresholds; check the state DMV.

Education Benefits for Dependents at the State Level

Most state tuition waivers for children and spouses of disabled veterans require a 100% permanent and total rating. Florida’s fee waiver for disabled veterans in postsecondary programs helps when GI Bill benefits don’t cover full tuition, but its dependent scholarship requires 100% P&T.²⁸ South Carolina’s tuition waiver for children covers veterans who are permanently and totally disabled, killed in action, or meet other wartime-service criteria.²⁹ Ohio is a notable exception at the 80% level: its War Orphan and Severely Disabled Veterans’ Children Scholarship is open to children of veterans rated 60% or higher.³⁰

If 80% Isn’t Enough: TDIU and Getting to 100%

The gap between 80% and 100% is roughly $1,700 per month, plus access to CHAMPVA, DEA, Space-A, and the 100%-only state benefits. Reaching a schedular 100% is harder than it looks because the VA’s combined rating formula applies each new disability against remaining whole-person efficiency rather than adding percentages together. The combined figure has to reach 95% or above to round to 100%.³¹

Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability pays at the 100% rate without changing the schedular rating. It requires an inability to maintain substantially gainful employment due to service-connected disabilities, plus one of two rating thresholds: a single disability at 60% or higher, or two or more disabilities with at least one at 40% and a combined rating of 70% or higher. An 80% combined rating meets the second threshold if one condition is rated at least 40%.³¹

Other paths forward include filing for an increased rating on conditions that have worsened, claiming secondary conditions caused or aggravated by existing service-connected disabilities, and appealing prior decisions through higher-level review, supplemental claims with new evidence, or a Notice of Disagreement to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Under the Appeals Modernization Act, the appeal window is one year from the rating decision.

1
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans Disability Compensation Rates
2
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Priority Groups
3
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Your Health Care Costs
4
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Copay Rates
5
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Derivative Service-Connected Benefits
6
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. CHAMPVA
7
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veteran Readiness and Employment Eligibility
8
Military OneSource. Expanding Access Fact Sheet
9
Defense Commissary Agency. Extended Eligibility
10
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Eligibility for Disabled Veterans Space Available Flights
11
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance
12
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay
13
MOAA. CRDP
14
My Army Benefits. Combat-Related Special Compensation
15
Social Security Administration. Veterans
16
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Special Monthly Compensation Rates
17
Veterans United. Veteran Property Tax Exemptions by State
18
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Unlocking Veteran Tax Exemptions Across States and U.S. Territories
19
Texas Veterans Commission. Property Tax Exemptions Available to Veterans Per Disability Rating
20
Cook County Assessor’s Office. Veterans With Disabilities Exemption
21
AARP. Veterans With Disabilities State Property Tax Breaks
22
Military.com. State Tax Information
23
Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Veterans’ Preference
24
National Conference of State Legislatures. State Employment Policies for Veterans With Disabilities
25
Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. Seniors, Veterans, and Active Duty Military Hunting and Angling Privileges
26
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Disabled Veteran License Plates
27
Florida Legislature. Section 320.084, Florida Statutes
28
Florida Department of Education. Military
29
South Carolina Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Education
30
My Army Benefits. Ohio State Benefits
31
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Individual Unemployability