VA Disability Rating for PTSD: Percentages, Pay, and TDIU

The VA assigns a disability rating for PTSD at one of six levels — 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, or 100 percent — based on how much your symptoms interfere with work and daily functioning. In 2026, monthly tax-free compensation for a single veteran runs from $180.42 at 10 percent to $3,938.58 at 100 percent, with additional amounts once you have dependents and a rating of 30 percent or higher.¹ The number the VA lands on depends far more on how your symptoms are documented than on the diagnosis itself.

The Six Rating Levels and What Each Pays in 2026

The pay figures below reflect the 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment that took effect December 1, 2025.² VA disability compensation is not counted as federal taxable income.³

0 Percent — No Monthly Payment

A 0 percent rating means the VA recognizes your PTSD as service-connected, but your symptoms don’t interfere with work or social functioning and don’t require continuous medication.⁴ There’s no monthly check, but the rating still qualifies you for VA healthcare for the condition and sets a baseline. If symptoms worsen later, filing for an increase is far simpler than proving service connection from scratch.

10 Percent — $180.42 per Month

At 10 percent, symptoms are mild or transient and reduce work efficiency only during periods of significant stress. This rating also applies when continuous medication keeps symptoms under control.⁴ A veteran with no dependents receives $180.42 monthly in 2026.¹

30 Percent — $552.47 per Month

A 30 percent rating covers occasional drops in work efficiency and intermittent periods where you can’t perform occupational tasks, though you generally function satisfactorily and your routine behavior, self-care, and conversation are normal. Typical symptoms include depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks weekly or less often, chronic sleep problems, and mild memory lapses.⁴ Monthly pay is $552.47 for a single veteran. Additional pay for dependents begins at this level; a veteran with a spouse and one child receives $666.47.¹

50 Percent — $1,132.90 per Month

At 50 percent, reliability and productivity at work are noticeably reduced. Symptoms may include flattened affect, panic attacks more than once a week, difficulty understanding complex commands, impaired short- and long-term memory, impaired judgment, and trouble establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.⁴ A single veteran receives $1,132.90 monthly; with a spouse and one child, the amount is $1,322.90.¹

70 Percent — $1,808.45 per Month

The 70 percent rating describes deficiencies in most areas of life: work, school, family relationships, judgment, thinking, or mood. The regulation’s symptom examples include suicidal ideation, obsessional rituals that interfere with routine activities, speech that is at times illogical or irrelevant, near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, impaired impulse control with unprovoked irritability or violence, neglect of personal appearance, difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances including work, and an inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.⁴

The suicidal ideation criterion is worth understanding clearly. The Board of Veterans’ Appeals has held that both passive thoughts (wishing you were dead) and active thoughts qualify, and there’s no requirement that you be at measurable risk of self-harm. The presence of such thoughts, when they contribute to deficiencies in most areas of life, supports a 70 percent rating.⁵ Monthly pay is $1,808.45 for a single veteran, or $2,074.45 with a spouse and one child.¹

100 Percent — $3,938.58 per Month

The maximum schedular rating requires total occupational and social impairment. Example symptoms include gross impairment in thought processes or communication, persistent delusions or hallucinations, grossly inappropriate behavior, persistent danger of hurting yourself or others, intermittent inability to perform basic activities of daily living including minimal personal hygiene, disorientation to time or place, and memory loss for the names of close relatives, your own occupation, or your own name.⁴ A single veteran receives $3,938.58 per month; with a spouse and one child, the figure is $4,318.99.¹ Veterans rated at 100 percent with a permanent and total designation may qualify for additional benefits, including state property tax exemptions that vary by jurisdiction.

How the VA Decides Which Percentage You Get

PTSD is rated under Diagnostic Code 9411, using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders that applies to every mental health condition.⁴ The formula doesn’t reward the label; it measures functional impairment. A veteran with PTSD and a veteran with major depression producing the same level of impairment receive the same rating.

If you have more than one mental health diagnosis — PTSD and depression, for example — the VA rolls all mental health symptoms into a single combined rating. The anti-pyramiding rule prevents the same functional limitations from being compensated twice under different diagnostic names.⁶

One detail changes how the criteria should be read: the symptoms listed at each tier are examples, not a checklist. The regulation uses the phrase “such symptoms as,” meaning you don’t need every symptom listed to qualify at a given level. If your particular symptoms produce the same overall impairment described at a tier, you qualify.⁴ And when the evidence for a higher rating and a lower rating is roughly balanced, federal law requires the VA to resolve the tie in your favor.⁷

Why the C&P Exam Usually Sets Your Rating

The Compensation and Pension exam is the clinical foundation of your rating. A mental health professional — typically a psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, or supervised nurse practitioner — conducts a structured interview using a PTSD-specific Disability Benefits Questionnaire.⁸ The examiner records what your symptoms are, how often they occur, and how they affect your work and relationships.

A VA rater then reviews that DBQ against the General Rating Formula. The rater never meets you and relies entirely on what the examiner wrote down. If the DBQ describes frequent panic attacks and social withdrawal but doesn’t tie those symptoms to occupational impairment, the assigned percentage will likely be lower than your actual functional level. The gap between what you experience and what appears on the DBQ is where most claims come in undervalued. Vague or incomplete answers produce vague or incomplete ratings.

You have the right to get a copy of your exam results. Submit VA Form 20-10206 online through a Login.gov or ID.me account, or call 800-698-2411.⁹ Read the DBQ carefully. If it contains errors or leaves out symptoms you reported, that record is what a supplemental claim or appeal will need to address.

When PTSD Keeps You From Working: TDIU

If PTSD prevents you from holding a substantially gainful job but your schedular rating is below 100 percent, you may qualify for Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability. TDIU pays at the 100 percent rate even when your rating on paper is lower.¹⁰

The standard path requires one service-connected disability rated at 60 percent or higher, or a combined rating of 70 percent or higher with at least one condition rated at 40 percent. You also have to show that your service-connected disabilities make it impossible to secure or keep substantially gainful employment. A veteran rated at 70 percent for PTSD who can no longer work because of the condition fits the TDIU picture squarely.¹⁰

Veterans who don’t meet the percentage thresholds aren’t automatically shut out. The rating board can refer a case to the Director of Compensation Service for extraschedular consideration, which looks at employment history, education, vocational training, and how the disabilities actually affect the ability to work.¹⁰

Increasing a Rating or Challenging a Decision

PTSD symptoms often worsen over the years, and an accurate rating from five years ago may not describe where you are today. You can file for an increased rating at any time by submitting current medical evidence showing your condition has gotten worse.¹¹ New treatment records, a statement from your therapist, or a fresh private DBQ documenting worsened symptoms all help. Expect a new C&P exam.

If you disagree with a rating decision, there are three review lanes:

Supplemental Claim. Submit new and relevant evidence that wasn’t in the original file — medical records, a new diagnosis, a buddy statement, or anything that addresses the reason for the denial or low rating.¹²
Higher-Level Review. A more senior VA reviewer looks at the existing evidence for errors. No new evidence is accepted.
Board of Veterans’ Appeals. A Veterans Law Judge reviews the case. You can add new evidence, request a hearing, or ask for a decision on the existing record.

Each option has a one-year filing deadline from the date on the decision letter. Missing that deadline doesn’t necessarily end the matter — a supplemental claim can still be filed later — but you may lose the ability to preserve the original effective date, which can mean losing months or years of back pay.

How Long Your Rating Is Protected

The VA can propose reducing a rating if it believes your condition has improved, but several protections tighten as time passes.

After a rating has been in place for five years, it’s considered stabilized. The VA can’t reduce it based on a single reexamination; the evidence has to show sustained improvement under ordinary living conditions, not a good day at a C&P exam.¹³ For an episodic condition like PTSD, that matters.

At 10 years, service connection itself becomes protected. The VA can’t sever service connection for PTSD unless the original grant was based on fraud or the military records clearly show you didn’t have the required service or discharge character.¹⁴ The rating can still be reduced, but the underlying recognition that PTSD is service-connected stays intact.

At 20 years, protection becomes nearly absolute. A rating continuously in effect for 20 years or more cannot be reduced below its lowest level during that period except upon a showing of fraud.¹⁵ A 70 percent PTSD rating held for two decades is, for practical purposes, locked in.

1
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans Disability Compensation Rates
2
Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
3
Internal Revenue Service. Veterans Tax Information and Services
4
eCFR. 38 CFR 4.130 – Schedule of Ratings – Mental Disorders
5
Board of Veterans’ Appeals. BVA Decision 21001413
6
eCFR. 38 CFR 4.14 – Avoidance of Pyramiding
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 5107 – Claimant Responsibility; Benefit of the Doubt
8
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. PTSD Review Disability Benefits Questionnaire
9
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Request Personal Records
10
eCFR. 38 CFR 4.16 – Total Disability Ratings for Compensation Based on Unemployability of the Individual
11
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Types of Disability Claims and When To File
12
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Supplemental Claims
13
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.344 – Stabilization of Disability Evaluations
14
GovInfo. 38 CFR 3.957 – Service Connection for Disability or Death
15
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.951 – Preservation of Disability Ratings