VA Disability Conditions List and Ratings by Percentage

The VA disability conditions list and ratings by percentage cover more than 1,100 diagnoses across 15 body systems, each assigned a rating from 0% to 100% in 10-point increments based on how much the condition reduces a veteran’s earning capacity. The rating criteria live in the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) at 38 CFR Part 4, and each percentage translates directly into a monthly tax-free payment. As of December 1, 2025, a single veteran with no dependents receives $180.42 at 10%, $552.47 at 30%, $1,132.90 at 50%, $1,808.45 at 70%, and $3,938.58 at 100%.¹ Veterans rated at 30% or higher also receive additional amounts for a spouse, children, or dependent parents.

How the Schedule Is Organized

Every ratable condition sits inside one of 15 body systems, and each system has its own diagnostic codes with specific criteria that examiners apply. The systems are the musculoskeletal system; organs of special sense (eye); auditory acuity; infectious diseases, immune disorders, and nutritional deficiencies; respiratory; cardiovascular; digestive; genitourinary; gynecological conditions and disorders of the breast; hematologic and lymphatic; skin; endocrine; neurological conditions and convulsive disorders; mental disorders; and dental and oral conditions.

A condition that is not explicitly listed can still be rated. Under 38 CFR § 4.20, an unlisted condition is rated “by analogy” to a closely related condition that shares similar symptoms, anatomy, and functional impact.²

The Most Commonly Rated Conditions

A small group of conditions accounts for the majority of ratings. Based on 2024 data, the ten most common service-connected disabilities and their percentage ranges are:

Tinnitus, over 3.25 million recipients, capped at 10% under the current schedule.
Limitation of flexion of the knee, about 2.07 million recipients, rated 0% to 50%.
Paralysis of the sciatic nerve, about 1.75 million recipients, rated 10% to 80%.
Lumbosacral or cervical strain, about 1.61 million recipients, rated under the general spine formula.
Hearing loss, about 1.59 million recipients, with over 90% rated between 0% and 10%.
PTSD, about 1.59 million recipients, rated 0% to 100%. Roughly 95% of veterans with PTSD are rated at 30% or higher, and about 51% at 70% or higher.
Limitation of motion of the arm, about 1.2 million recipients, rated 20% to 40%.
Limitation of motion of the ankle, about 1.14 million recipients, typically 10% or 20%.
Scars and burns, about 1.13 million recipients, rated 10% to 80%.
Migraines, about 1.11 million recipients, rated 0%, 10%, 30%, or 50% based on the frequency and severity of prostrating attacks.³

How Percentages Are Set for the Biggest Categories

Each diagnostic code has its own criteria. For some conditions the rating depends on objective measurements like range of motion or audiometric thresholds; for others it depends on symptom frequency, functional impact, or the treatment required. Ratings rest on medical evidence, and the VA often orders a Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam to gather that evidence.⁴

Mental Health Conditions

PTSD, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and other psychiatric conditions all use the same General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders under 38 CFR § 4.130, tied to the DSM-5. The levels track progressively worse occupational and social impairment:

0%: a diagnosed condition whose symptoms do not interfere with work or require medication.
10%: mild or transient symptoms that reduce work efficiency only during significant stress, or symptoms controlled by medication.
30%: occasional decrease in work efficiency with symptoms such as depressed mood, anxiety, chronic sleep problems, or mild memory loss.
50%: reduced reliability and productivity, with symptoms such as panic attacks more than weekly, impaired memory, or trouble maintaining relationships.
70%: deficiencies in most areas of life, with symptoms such as suicidal thoughts, near-continuous depression or panic, impaired impulse control, or neglect of personal hygiene.
100%: total occupational and social impairment, with symptoms such as persistent delusions or hallucinations, inability to perform daily living activities, or persistent danger of harming self or others.⁵

Spine Conditions

Back and neck conditions are rated primarily by range of motion under the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine:

10%: thoracolumbar forward flexion greater than 60° but not more than 85°, or cervical forward flexion greater than 30° but not more than 40°.
20%: thoracolumbar forward flexion greater than 30° but not more than 60°, or cervical forward flexion greater than 15° but not more than 30°.
30%: cervical forward flexion limited to 15° or less, or favorable ankylosis of the entire cervical spine.
40%: thoracolumbar forward flexion limited to 30° or less, or favorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine.
50%: unfavorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine.
100%: unfavorable ankylosis of the entire spine.⁶

For intervertebral disc syndrome, the VA applies whichever produces the higher rating: the range-of-motion formula above, or a separate formula based on the total duration of incapacitating episodes over the past year.

Knee Conditions

A knee can carry more than one rating at the same time under separate codes. The most common:

Limitation of flexion (DC 5260): 0% at 60°, 10% at 45°, 20% at 30°, 30% at 15°.
Limitation of extension (DC 5261): 0% at 5°, scaling up to 50% at 45°.
Knee instability (DC 5257): recurrent subluxation and lateral instability, rated 10% to 30% based on severity and whether the veteran needs bracing.⁷

Sleep Apnea

Under Diagnostic Code 6847, sleep apnea is currently rated:

0%: asymptomatic but with documented sleep-disordered breathing.
30%: persistent daytime sleepiness (hypersomnolence).
50%: requires a breathing assistance device such as a CPAP machine.
100%: chronic respiratory failure with carbon dioxide retention or cor pulmonale, or requires a tracheostomy.⁸

Combining Multiple Ratings

Most veterans have more than one service-connected condition, and the VA does not add the percentages together. It uses a combined ratings table on a “whole person” theory: each additional disability reduces a smaller remaining portion of overall capacity. A 50% and a 30% combine to 65%, not 80%. Add a third condition at 10% and the unrounded 65 combines with 10 to reach 69%, which then rounds up to 70% — the final rating.⁴

The Bilateral Factor

When disabilities affect both sides of the body (both knees, both shoulders, paired muscle groups), the VA applies an extra step under 38 CFR § 4.26. It combines the ratings for the two affected sides, then adds 10% of that combined value before folding the result into the overall combined rating. Two 30% ratings for left and right upper extremities combine to 51%, then 10% of 51 (5.1) is added to reach 56.1%.⁹ In 2023 the VA amended the rule after finding that in certain scenarios, especially in the low 90% range, applying the bilateral factor actually lowered the final evaluation. The VA now calculates the result both ways and uses whichever is higher.¹⁰

Getting a Condition on the List: Service Connection

A condition only receives a rating once the VA agrees it is service-connected. There are three routes.

Direct service connection requires a current diagnosis, evidence of an in-service event or injury, and a medical “nexus” opinion linking the two.

Secondary service connection covers a disability caused or worsened by an already service-connected condition, rated separately and combined into the overall rating. Common examples include depression stemming from chronic pain, radiculopathy caused by a spinal condition, sleep apnea linked to PTSD or traumatic brain injury, and arthritis in a hip caused by years of altered gait from a service-connected knee injury. The claim usually turns on a medical opinion that it is “at least as likely as not” the primary condition caused or aggravated the secondary one.¹¹

Presumptive service connection skips the nexus requirement. If a veteran served in a specific location or timeframe and later develops a listed condition, the VA assumes the connection.

PACT Act (Burn Pits and Toxic Exposure)

The 2022 PACT Act expanded presumptive conditions for post-9/11 and Gulf War era veterans. Presumptive cancers include brain cancer, glioblastoma, gastrointestinal cancer, head and neck cancers, kidney cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, reproductive cancers, and respiratory cancers. Presumptive illnesses include asthma diagnosed after service, chronic bronchitis, COPD, chronic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, constrictive or obliterative bronchiolitis, emphysema, granulomatous disease, interstitial lung disease, pleuritis, pulmonary fibrosis, and sarcoidosis.¹²

Agent Orange

Veterans exposed to Agent Orange (primarily in Vietnam, Thailand, and certain other locations during the 1960s and 1970s) have their own presumptive list: bladder cancer, chronic B-cell leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, some soft tissue sarcomas, AL amyloidosis, chloracne, type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, parkinsonism, early-onset peripheral neuropathy, and porphyria cutanea tarda. The PACT Act added hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS).¹³

Gulf War Illness

Veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater on or after August 2, 1990, can claim presumptive service connection for medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses, including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and functional gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome. Undiagnosed illnesses with symptoms like fatigue, headaches, joint pain, sleep disturbances, and memory problems also qualify. The condition must have lasted six months or more and appeared during or after service in the theater.¹⁴

Camp Lejeune

Veterans who served at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for at least 30 days between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, qualify for presumptive service connection for eight conditions: adult leukemia, aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Parkinson’s disease.¹⁵

Chronic Conditions After Discharge

Certain chronic diseases are presumed service-connected if they appear within a set window after separation, provided the veteran had at least 90 days of continuous active service. Arthritis and anemia qualify if they appear within one year. Tuberculosis has a three-year window, multiple sclerosis seven years, and ALS can manifest at any time after service.¹⁶

What the VA Does Not Rate

Not every diagnosis is compensable. The VA generally does not grant service connection for personality disorders, which are treated as lifelong behavioral patterns rather than injuries or diseases. Substance abuse disorders are usually attributed to willful misconduct. Developmental disabilities, cognitive delays present from birth, and impulse control disorders are typically not service-connected. Obesity and high cholesterol are not compensable disabilities on their own.²

Exceptions exist. A personality disorder that worsens because of a service-connected traumatic brain injury may become compensable. Obesity, while not ratable by itself, can serve as an intermediate step in a secondary chain — for instance, a service-connected knee injury that limits mobility, drives weight gain, and contributes to diabetes.

When a Rating Can Exceed the Schedule

Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU)

A veteran whose service-connected conditions prevent steady employment can be paid at the 100% rate even if the combined rating is lower. TDIU requires either one disability rated at 60% or more, or a combined rating of at least 70% with one condition at 40% or more.¹⁷ About 350,000 veterans currently receive TDIU, roughly 200,000 of them over age 65. The VA does not treat age or receipt of Social Security retirement as disqualifying.¹⁸

Special Monthly Compensation (SMC)

For severe disabilities like amputation, loss of use of limbs, blindness, or the need for daily assistance, the VA pays above the 100% rate under Special Monthly Compensation. SMC is organized into tiers labeled K through S. As of December 1, 2025, the SMC-K supplement is $139.87 per month added on top of other compensation for specific losses, scaling up to $11,271.67 per month at the highest tier for veterans requiring daily aid from another person.¹⁹

Recent and Upcoming Changes

The Medication Rule (February 2026)

In March 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims held in Ingram v. Collins that where a diagnostic code does not mention medication, examiners must estimate the “baseline severity” of a disability as it would exist without medication. The VA said this would require speculation and force re-adjudication of more than 350,000 pending claims across over 500 diagnostic codes. Effective February 17, 2026, the VA issued an interim final rule amending 38 CFR § 4.10: ratings must reflect the veteran’s actual level of functional impairment under ordinary conditions. If medication lowers the disability level, the rating reflects that lowered level, and examiners are prohibited from estimating what the disability would look like without treatment.²⁰

VASRD Modernization

The VA is running a phased overhaul of the entire rating schedule. Updates to the digestive, dental, endocrine, and gynecological body systems took effect in 2024. Proposed updates for the respiratory, auditory, and mental disorders systems have gone through public comment and remain under review, with full completion projected for fiscal year 2026.²¹

Several proposals would change specific ratings. Sleep apnea fully controlled by CPAP would receive 0% instead of the current automatic 50%. Mental health conditions would carry a minimum rating of 10% (up from 0%), shift from symptom counting to impact across five functional domains, and no longer require a veteran to show total occupational and social impairment to qualify for 100%. Tinnitus would be evaluated as a symptom of an underlying condition rather than as a standalone disability.²² The VA has said veterans currently receiving compensation will not see their ratings reduced under the new criteria unless the VA demonstrates an actual improvement in the veteran’s condition.

1
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Disability Compensation Rates
2
eCFR. 38 CFR Part 4 — Schedule for Rating Disabilities
3
CCK Law. 10 Most Common Disabilities for Veterans
4
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. About VA Disability Ratings
5
Cornell Law Institute. 38 CFR § 4.130 — Schedule of Ratings, Mental Disorders
6
Cornell Law Institute. 38 CFR § 4.71a — Schedule of Ratings, Musculoskeletal System
7
CCK Law. VA Disability Benefits for Knee Pain
8
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Board of Veterans’ Appeals Decision A25000887
9
Cornell Law Institute. 38 CFR § 4.26 — Bilateral Factor
10
Federal Register. Exceptions to Applying the Bilateral Factor in VA Disability Calculations
11
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. When to File a VA Disability Claim
12
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Specific Environmental Hazards and VA Disability Compensation
13
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Agent Orange Exposure and VA Disability Compensation
14
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Gulf War Veterans’ Medically Unexplained Illnesses
15
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Camp Lejeune Water Contamination and VA Disability Compensation
16
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Presumptive Service Connection Information
17
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Individual Unemployability
18
Disabled American Veterans. Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability
19
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Special Monthly Compensation Rates
20
Federal Register. Evaluative Rating Impact of Medication
21
Veterans of Foreign Wars. Reevaluating the Rating Schedule
22
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Proposes Updates to Disability Rating Schedules