Military Disability Ratings by Condition: Percentages and Pay

Military disability ratings by condition are set by the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, which assigns each service-connected condition a percentage from 0 to 100 based on specific medical criteria tied to a diagnostic code. That percentage, combined with any other service-connected ratings, drives a fixed monthly payment and eligibility for other benefits. Because the criteria vary widely across body systems, the rating for any particular condition depends on the diagnostic code that governs it.

How the Rating System Works

The Schedule for Rating Disabilities lives in 38 CFR Part 4 and is meant to measure the “average impairment in earning capacity” a service-connected condition causes.¹ It is organized by body system, and inside each system every condition carries a numerical diagnostic code with rating levels of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, or 100 percent. Not every code uses every level.

A few rules apply across the board. When symptoms fall between two rating levels, the higher applies. Reasonable doubt is resolved in the veteran’s favor. And the VA cannot “pyramid” the same symptoms under multiple diagnostic codes.¹ Conditions that aren’t specifically listed can be rated by analogy under a closely related code.

Mental Health Conditions

PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, and most other mental conditions are evaluated under a single General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders at 38 CFR § 4.130. The formula measures how much the condition impairs occupational and social functioning.²

0%: A formal diagnosis exists but symptoms don’t interfere with work or social functioning and don’t require continuous medication.
10%: Mild or transient symptoms that decrease work efficiency only during significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.
30%: Occasional decrease in work efficiency with intermittent inability to perform tasks. Typical symptoms include depressed mood, anxiety, chronic sleep impairment, and mild memory loss.
50%: Reduced reliability and productivity due to symptoms such as flattened affect, panic attacks more than once a week, impaired judgment, and difficulty maintaining work and social relationships.
70%: Deficiencies in most areas of life due to symptoms such as suicidal ideation, near-continuous panic or depression, impaired impulse control, neglect of personal hygiene, and inability to maintain effective relationships.
100%: Total occupational and social impairment, with symptoms such as persistent delusions or hallucinations, grossly inappropriate behavior, persistent danger of hurting self or others, or memory loss for one’s own name or close relatives.²

The symptom lists are illustrative rather than exhaustive. Two veterans with the same diagnosis can land at different ratings depending on how their specific symptoms affect work and social life.

Spine (Back and Neck)

Back and neck conditions fall under the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine, covering diagnostic codes 5235 through 5243. Ratings are based mainly on measured range of motion.³

For the thoracolumbar spine, 10 percent requires forward flexion between 60 and 85 degrees, or a combined range of motion no greater than 235 degrees. Forward flexion between 30 and 60 degrees yields 20 percent. Flexion of 30 degrees or less, or favorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine, yields 40 percent. Unfavorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine warrants 50 percent, and unfavorable ankylosis of the entire spine warrants 100 percent.⁴

Intervertebral disc syndrome (Diagnostic Code 5243) can alternatively be rated on the total duration of physician-prescribed bed rest over the past year: one to two weeks yields 10 percent, four to six weeks yields 40 percent, and six weeks or more yields 60 percent. The VA uses whichever method produces the higher rating.⁴ Neurologic complications, such as bowel or bladder impairment caused by the spinal condition, are rated separately.

Knee Conditions

Limitation of flexion is rated under Diagnostic Code 5260: flexion limited to 45 degrees earns 10 percent, 30 degrees earns 20 percent, and 15 degrees earns 30 percent. Limitation of extension under Diagnostic Code 5261 pays 10 percent at 10 degrees, 20 percent at 15 degrees, 30 percent at 20 degrees, 40 percent at 30 degrees, and 50 percent at 45 degrees.⁵ Normal knee range of motion is 0 degrees of extension and 140 degrees of flexion.

A veteran can be rated separately for limitation of flexion and limitation of extension in the same knee, because those are distinct functional losses. Knee instability under Diagnostic Code 5257 is also rated separately: 10 percent for slight, 20 percent for moderate, 30 percent for severe.⁵ Arthritis with painful motion that doesn’t otherwise reach a compensable level still receives a minimum 10 percent for the affected joint.

Sleep Apnea

Obstructive, central, and mixed sleep apnea are rated under Diagnostic Code 6847, keyed to the treatment required:⁶

0%: Asymptomatic but with documented sleep-disordered breathing.
30%: Persistent daytime hypersomnolence.
50%: Requires a breathing assistance device such as a CPAP machine.
100%: Chronic respiratory failure with carbon dioxide retention, cor pulmonale, or a tracheostomy.⁷

Most veterans with sleep apnea who use a CPAP receive a 50 percent rating. When sleep apnea coexists with another respiratory condition like asthma or COPD, the VA generally assigns a single rating for the predominant respiratory disability rather than separate ratings.⁸

Heart Disease

Most heart conditions under Diagnostic Codes 7000 through 7020 are rated using metabolic equivalents of task (METs), a measure of the physical exertion a veteran can handle before symptoms like chest pain, fatigue, or shortness of breath appear.¹

10%: Symptoms at 7.1 to 10.0 METs, or continuous medication required.
30%: Symptoms at 5.1 to 7.0 METs, or evidence of cardiac hypertrophy or dilatation.
60%: Symptoms at 3.1 to 5.0 METs.
100%: Symptoms at 3.0 METs or less, or chronic congestive heart failure.

For context, roughly 3 METs is light household tasks like sitting and writing, 5 METs is about the effort to mow a lawn, and 10 METs approximates a moderate run. Temporary 100 percent ratings apply after heart attacks (three months), coronary bypass surgery (three months), heart valve replacement (at least six months), and heart transplant (at least one year), after which the veteran is re-evaluated.¹

Hypertension

Hypertension is rated separately under Diagnostic Code 7101, using diastolic and systolic readings taken on at least three different days:⁹

10%: Diastolic predominantly 100 or more, systolic predominantly 160 or more, or a history of diastolic predominantly 100 or more with continuous medication required.
20%: Diastolic predominantly 110 or more, or systolic predominantly 200 or more.
40%: Diastolic predominantly 120 or more.
60%: Diastolic predominantly 130 or more.

Asthma and COPD

Bronchial asthma under Diagnostic Code 6602 is rated on pulmonary function test results (FEV-1 and FEV-1/FVC) and treatment intensity:¹⁰

10%: FEV-1 of 71 to 80 percent predicted, or intermittent bronchodilator therapy.
30%: FEV-1 of 56 to 70 percent predicted, or daily inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy, or use of inhalational anti-inflammatory medication.
60%: FEV-1 of 40 to 55 percent predicted, at least monthly physician visits for exacerbations, or intermittent courses of systemic corticosteroids (at least three per year).
100%: FEV-1 less than 40 percent predicted, more than one attack per week with episodes of respiratory failure, or daily use of high-dose systemic corticosteroids or immunosuppressive medications.⁸

COPD (Diagnostic Code 6604) uses a similar framework with additional consideration of DLCO and maximum oxygen consumption. Pulmonary function tests for rating purposes are conducted after optimum therapy, meaning post-bronchodilator results are the standard.

Migraine Headaches

Migraines are rated under Diagnostic Code 8100. The key concept is a “prostrating” attack — an episode severe enough to force the veteran to stop what they are doing and lie down.¹¹

0%: Less frequent attacks.
10%: Characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one every two months over the past several months.
30%: Characteristic prostrating attacks averaging once a month over the past several months.
50%: Very frequent, completely prostrating and prolonged attacks producing severe economic inadaptability, meaning serious interference with the ability to earn a living, evidenced by frequent absences, reduced hours, or job loss.¹¹

Diabetes Mellitus

Type II diabetes is rated under Diagnostic Code 7913. The criteria are successive, so each higher level includes every requirement of the levels below it:¹²

10%: Manageable with a restricted diet alone.
20%: Requires insulin or an oral hypoglycemic agent plus a restricted diet.
40%: Requires insulin, a restricted diet, and medically directed regulation of activities (defined as the avoidance of strenuous occupational and recreational activities).
60%: All of the above, plus episodes of ketoacidosis or hypoglycemic reactions requiring one or two hospitalizations per year or twice-monthly visits to a diabetic care provider, along with complications that would not be independently compensable.
100%: More than one daily insulin injection, restricted diet, and regulation of activities, plus episodes requiring at least three hospitalizations per year or weekly visits to a diabetic care provider, along with progressive loss of weight and strength or separately compensable complications.¹³

Regulation of activities is a common sticking point. Under Camacho v. Nicholson, a veteran must show a medical provider specifically directed them to limit strenuous activity; the veteran’s own choice to cut back is not enough.¹² Compensable complications like diabetic neuropathy or nephropathy are typically rated separately under their own diagnostic codes.

Traumatic Brain Injury

TBI is rated under Diagnostic Code 8045 using a facet-based system. The VA examines impairment across ten domains, including memory, attention, concentration, social interaction, communication, motor activity, and orientation. Each domain is scored 0, 1, 2, 3, or “total,” and the overall rating is set by the highest level found in any single domain:¹⁴

0%: No residual symptoms affecting function.
10%: Mild or intermittent symptoms (highest facet at level 1).
40%: Moderate impairment affecting work and social activities (highest facet at level 2).
70%: Severe symptoms impairing independence and daily life (highest facet at level 3).
100%: Total impairment in any facet, requiring ongoing support or supervision.

When TBI produces separately identifiable symptoms such as migraines, tinnitus, or depression, the VA is supposed to evaluate those under whichever code — TBI-specific or condition-specific — produces the higher rating.

Hearing Loss and Tinnitus

Hearing loss is one of the few conditions rated through a purely mechanical formula. Under 38 CFR § 4.85, a state-licensed audiologist performs puretone audiometry at 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hertz and a speech discrimination test using the Maryland CNC word list. The scores are plotted on Table VI to produce a Roman numeral for each ear, and the two Roman numerals are then cross-referenced on Table VII to produce the percentage rating.¹⁵ The test numbers determine the rating.

Tinnitus is rated under Diagnostic Code 6260 at a flat maximum of 10 percent, regardless of whether the ringing is perceived in one ear, both ears, or the head generally. The Federal Circuit confirmed the cap in Smith v. Nicholson (2006).¹⁶

Skin Conditions and Scars

Skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis are rated under the General Rating Formula for the Skin (38 CFR § 4.118) based on how much of the body is affected and the treatment required:¹⁷

0%: Less than 5 percent of the body or exposed areas affected, with only topical therapy required.
10%: 5 to 20 percent affected, or intermittent systemic therapy for less than six weeks over the past 12 months.
30%: 20 to 40 percent affected, or systemic therapy for six weeks or more (but not constant) over the past 12 months.
60%: More than 40 percent affected, or constant or near-constant systemic therapy.

Scars are rated separately by location and characteristics. Disfiguring scars of the head, face, or neck (Diagnostic Code 7800) run from 10 to 80 percent based on tissue loss, asymmetry, and factors like scar length and adherence to underlying tissue. Painful or unstable scars anywhere on the body pay 10 percent for one or two, 20 percent for three or four, and 30 percent for five or more, with an additional 10 percent if a scar is both unstable and painful.¹⁷

Combining Multiple Ratings

Ratings are not added. The VA uses a combined ratings table built on the idea that each additional disability reduces a progressively smaller pool of remaining ability. A veteran with a 50 percent rating and a 30 percent rating does not receive 80 percent. The 50 percent leaves 50 percent efficiency; 30 percent of that remaining 50 is 15, so the combined value is 65.¹⁸

Ratings are arranged from highest to lowest, the first two are combined using the table, that result is combined with the third, and so on. The final number rounds to the nearest 10 percent: values ending in 5 through 9 round up, and values ending in 1 through 4 round down. Two 10 percent ratings combine to 19, which rounds up to 20.¹⁸

A bilateral factor applies when disabilities affect paired extremities, such as both knees or both arms. When it applies, the VA adds an additional 10 percent to the combined value of those bilateral ratings before folding them into the overall calculation.¹⁹

Reaching 100 Percent Without a 100 Percent Schedular Rating

A 100 percent schedular rating means the average person with the same impairment could not follow a substantially gainful occupation. Veterans who don’t meet those schedular criteria can still be paid at the 100 percent level through Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU). To qualify, a veteran must be unable to secure substantially gainful employment because of service-connected conditions, and generally must have either one disability rated at 60 percent or more, or a combined rating of 70 percent with at least one condition at 40 percent or more.¹ Marginal employment (earnings at or below the federal poverty threshold for one person) does not count as substantially gainful.

Monthly Pay by Rating

Compensation is paid monthly and rises at each level. Rates effective December 1, 2025 for a veteran with no dependents:²⁰

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

At 30 percent and above, veterans receive additional monthly amounts for dependents, including spouses, children, and dependent parents. A veteran rated at 100 percent with a spouse receives $4,158.17 per month.²⁰ Veterans at 10 and 20 percent receive no additional dependent payments.

Changes Coming to the Schedule

The VA is revising the rating schedule body system by body system, with full completion projected for fiscal year 2026. Updates to the digestive, dental, endocrine, and gynecological systems are already in effect; digestive changes covering conditions like celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome took effect in 2024.²¹

Proposed updates for the respiratory, auditory, and mental health systems have finished their public comment periods and are in rulemaking. The mental health proposal would replace the current symptom-list approach with an evaluation framework focused on functional impairment across five domains: cognition, interpersonal interactions, task completion, navigating environments, and self-care.²² It would also set a 10 percent minimum rating for any service-connected mental health condition and remove the requirement of total occupational and social impairment for a 100 percent rating.²³ The VA has said finalized changes will not reduce any veteran’s current rating unless actual improvement in the underlying condition is demonstrated.

In February 2026, the VA issued an interim final rule amending 38 CFR 4.10 to clarify that disability evaluations must reflect a veteran’s actual level of impairment, including any improvement produced by medication or treatment. If medication lowers the level of disability, the rating is based on that lowered level, and examiners may not hypothesize what the condition would look like without treatment.²⁴

1
eCFR. 38 CFR Part 4 — Schedule for Rating Disabilities
2
Cornell Law Institute. 38 CFR § 4.130 — Schedule of Ratings, Mental Disorders
3
Cornell Law Institute. 38 CFR § 4.71a — Schedule of Ratings, Musculoskeletal System
4
Federal Register. Schedule for Rating Disabilities — The Spine
5
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Citation Nr: 22002766
6
Cornell Law Institute. 38 CFR § 4.97 — Schedule of Ratings, Respiratory System
7
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Citation Nr: A25000887
8
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Citation Nr: A25032303
9
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Citation Nr: A21006420
10
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Citation Nr: 19184095
11
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Citation Nr: 18140330
12
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Citation Nr: 22056202
13
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Citation Nr: 18141092
14
Hill & Ponton. How the VA Evaluates Traumatic Brain Injuries
15
eCFR. 38 CFR § 4.85 — Evaluation of Hearing Impairment
16
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Citation Nr: A20003195
17
eCFR. 38 CFR § 4.118 — Schedule of Ratings, Skin
18
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. About VA Disability Ratings
19
PTSD Lawyers. Veterans Disability Calculator
20
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veteran Compensation Rates
21
Veterans of Foreign Wars. Reevaluating the Rating Schedule — Examining VA’s Efforts to Modernize Disability Benefits
22
Federal Register. Schedule for Rating Disabilities — Mental Disorders
23
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Proposes Updates to Rating Schedule for Respiratory, Auditory, and Mental Disorders
24
Federal Register. Evaluative Rating Impact of Medication