A VA disability rating is a percentage the Department of Veterans Affairs assigns to each medical condition it recognizes as connected to your military service. That percentage reflects how much the condition reduces your ability to work, and it sets the size of your monthly tax-free payment. Ratings run from 0% to 100% in 10-point steps, and for 2026 the payments range from $180.42 a month at 10% up to $3,938.58 a month at 100% for a veteran with no dependents.
How the Percentage Scale Works
The VA rates every condition using the Schedule for Rating Disabilities in 38 C.F.R. Part 4. The schedule groups conditions by body system and assigns percentage criteria based on measurable findings: range of motion, frequency of flare-ups, test results, or functional limitations.1eCFR. 38 CFR Part 4 – Schedule for Rating Disabilities The idea is that the percentage tracks how much the condition would reduce your earning capacity in civilian work.
Only these percentages exist: 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100. There is no 15% or 25%. When more than one condition is involved, the VA rounds the final combined figure to the nearest 10.
What a 0% Rating Actually Gets You
A 0% rating means the VA agrees your condition is service-connected but decides the symptoms aren’t severe enough for monthly payments.2Veterans Affairs. Non-Compensable Disability It still matters. A 0% rating gives you VA healthcare for that condition at no cost, eligibility for VA life insurance, and a 10-point preference in federal hiring.3Veterans Affairs. VA Benefit Eligibility Matrix It also locks in the service connection, so if the condition worsens, you can seek a higher rating without proving the link to your service again.
Temporary 100% After Surgery
Surgery or extended hospitalization for a service-connected condition can trigger a temporary 100% rating during recovery. The surgery must require at least one month of recovery and result in significant aftereffects, such as unhealed surgical wounds, immobilization in a cast or splint, wheelchair use, or house confinement.4Veterans Affairs. Temporary Disability Rating After Surgery or Cast The temporary total rating usually lasts one to three months, with extensions of up to three additional months in severe cases. It then reverts to the percentage matching your ongoing symptoms.
2026 Monthly Payment Amounts
VA disability compensation is tax-free at the federal level.5Veterans Affairs. Compensation – Veterans Benefits Administration The rates below took effect December 1, 2025, and apply through 2026 for a veteran with no dependents:6Veterans Affairs. Veterans Disability Compensation Rates
- 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
The jump from 90% to 100% is much larger than the steps below it. That gap is one reason ratings near the top matter so much.
Extra Money for Dependents
If your combined rating is 30% or higher, the VA adds an amount to your monthly payment for each qualifying dependent: a spouse, children under 18, children over 18 in school, and dependent parents.7Veterans Affairs. Manage Dependents for Disability, Pension, or DIC Benefits At 100%, adding a spouse increases the payment by roughly $220, and each additional child under 18 adds about $109.6Veterans Affairs. Veterans Disability Compensation Rates The dependent allowance scales with your rating, so a 30% veteran receives a smaller boost than a 100% veteran. Veterans rated below 30% get no dependent compensation.
How the VA Decides Your Percentage
Before any percentage is assigned, you have to establish service connection. That takes three things: a current medical diagnosis, evidence of an event, injury, or illness during active duty, and a medical opinion linking the two.8eCFR. 38 CFR 3.303 – Principles Relating to Service Connection The medical opinion is usually the hardest piece; it typically states the condition is “at least as likely as not” caused by service, meaning a 50% or greater probability. Without all three elements, the VA will deny the claim no matter how severe the symptoms are.
You can also get a rating for a condition caused or worsened by an existing service-connected disability. A knee injury that changes how you walk and produces chronic hip pain, for example, can support a separate rating for the hip.9eCFR. 38 CFR 3.310 – Disabilities That Are Proximately Due to, or Aggravated by, Service-Connected Disease or Injury
Presumptive Conditions
For some conditions you don’t have to prove the medical link. The VA presumes certain diseases are connected to certain kinds of service, so you only need to show the qualifying service and the diagnosis.10Veterans Affairs. The PACT Act and Your VA Benefits The PACT Act, signed in 2022, added more than 20 cancers and respiratory illnesses tied to burn pit and toxic exposure for veterans who served in Southwest Asia on or after August 2, 1990, or in Afghanistan on or after September 11, 2001. Older presumptive categories still apply, including Agent Orange–related conditions from the Vietnam era, certain chronic diseases that appear within one year of separation, and ALS regardless of when it develops after service.
The C&P Exam
After you file, the VA usually schedules a Compensation and Pension exam. This is not treatment. It’s a fact-finding evaluation where the examiner documents your symptoms so the VA can match them to the rating schedule, often using a Disability Benefits Questionnaire tied to the criteria for your condition.11Veterans Affairs. VA Claim Exam (C&P Exam) You can also have your own doctor complete a DBQ and submit it, which helps when the C&P doesn’t capture the full picture.
Missing the exam without good cause hurts the claim. The VA may decide based only on what’s already in the file, which often means a lower rating or a denial. Good cause includes a death in the immediate family, hospitalization, homelessness, or terminal illness.11Veterans Affairs. VA Claim Exam (C&P Exam) Contact the VA as soon as possible to reschedule if one of those applies.
Combining Multiple Ratings
When you have more than one service-connected condition, the VA does not add the percentages together. It uses a combined ratings formula, sometimes called “VA math,” that applies each additional disability only to the remaining non-disabled portion.12eCFR. 38 CFR 4.25 – Combined Ratings Table The reasoning: once part of your capacity is lost, a second condition can only affect what’s left.
An example. A 60% disability means the VA considers you 40% efficient. A second disability rated at 30% applies to that 40%, which is 12. Add that to the original 60% and you get 72%, which rounds to a final combined rating of 70%. Rounding always happens after everything is combined. A value ending in 5 rounds up; 52% rounds down to 50%. That rounding step can be worth hundreds of dollars a month.
The Bilateral Factor
If you have compensable disabilities on both sides of your body (both knees, both shoulders, or any paired limbs or muscle groups), the VA applies a bilateral factor. It first combines the two ratings, then adds 10% of that combined value before mixing in your other disabilities.13eCFR. 38 CFR 4.26 – Bilateral Factor A 30% left knee and a 20% right knee combine to 44%; 10% of 44 is 4.4, so the bilateral pair enters the rest of the math at 48.4%. Both sides must be rated at least 10% for this to apply.
Getting 100% Pay Without a 100% Rating
Total Disability Individual Unemployability, or TDIU, pays at the 100% rate when your service-connected conditions keep you from holding a job that pays above the federal poverty threshold for one person.14eCFR. 38 CFR 4.16 – Total Disability Ratings for Compensation Based on Unemployability of the Individual You generally need either one disability rated 60% or higher, or a combined rating of at least 70% with one condition rated 40% or higher. The VA looks at your work history, education, and training to decide whether any realistic employment is possible.
Working in a protected setting, such as a family business or sheltered workshop where you were kept on partly for charitable or therapeutic reasons, does not count against a TDIU claim even if your pay exceeds the poverty line. Marginal employment (occasional or very low-paid part-time work) also does not disqualify you.
Special Monthly Compensation
For severe disabilities, the VA pays Special Monthly Compensation on top of the standard schedule. The most common level is SMC-K, which adds $139.87 per month for each qualifying loss, up to three separate SMC-K awards.15Veterans Affairs. Current Special Monthly Compensation Rates It applies to the loss or loss of use of a hand, foot, or creative organ, and to deafness in both ears or blindness in one eye with only light perception, among other conditions.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 1114 – Rates of Wartime Disability Compensation Higher levels (L through O) cover veterans who need daily help with tasks like eating, dressing, and bathing, or who are essentially confined to home. SMC-S for housebound veterans with no dependents pays $4,408.53 a month, more than the standard 100% rate.
Effective Dates and Back Pay
Your effective date sets when payments begin and how much back pay you’re owed. The general rule: it’s either the day the VA received your claim or the day the condition became disabling, whichever is later.17eCFR. 38 CFR 3.400 – General One important exception: if you file within one year of separating from active duty, the effective date is the day after separation. Filing inside that first year can mean months of extra back pay.
Once a rating of at least 10% is approved, the first payment should arrive within 15 days.18Veterans Affairs. What to Expect After You Get a Disability Rating Any gap between the effective date and the decision is paid as a lump-sum back payment.
When a Rating Can Be Reduced
Ratings can be re-examined and lowered, but the longer one has been in place, the harder that becomes. A rating in effect for five years or more cannot be reduced unless the VA shows sustained improvement on a thorough exam, and the exam must be at least as thorough as the one that produced the original rating. The VA also has to consider whether that improvement will hold under ordinary living conditions rather than during rest.19eCFR. 38 CFR 3.344 – Stabilization of Disability Evaluations After 20 continuous years, a rating is protected by law and cannot be reduced except for fraud.
Some ratings are designated Permanent and Total. That means the VA has decided the condition will not improve and the overall disability level is 100%, either through the schedule or through TDIU. P&T status generally exempts you from future re-examinations and opens additional benefits, including Dependents’ Educational Assistance and, in many states, a property tax exemption on your primary residence.
If You Disagree With Your Rating
You have one year from the date on your decision letter to challenge a rating, and filing within that year preserves your original effective date.20Veterans Affairs. Higher-Level Reviews Three review lanes are available:21Veterans Affairs. Choosing a Decision Review Option
- A Supplemental Claim, when you have new and relevant evidence such as a new medical opinion or additional treatment records.
- A Higher-Level Review, when you believe the VA erred on the evidence already in the file. A senior reviewer takes a fresh look, and no new evidence is allowed.
- A Board Appeal, when you want a Veterans Law Judge to decide. You can request a hearing, add new evidence, or ask for a decision on the existing record.
If the issue is that your condition has worsened rather than a mistake in the original decision, file a claim for increased compensation instead of an appeal.22Veterans Affairs. Supplemental Claims The VA will schedule a new C&P exam to reassess severity and adjust the rating.