A VA disability rating is a percentage from 0% to 100%, in 10% steps, that measures how much a service-connected condition limits your ability to work and function. Your combined rating sets your tax-free monthly payment and unlocks other benefits, from healthcare priority to education programs.
Ratings come from the Schedule for Rating Disabilities (38 CFR Part 4), which assigns each condition a diagnostic code with specific criteria for every percentage level. A rating specialist matches your symptoms, test results, and functional limits to those criteria.
What each rating level means
| Rating | What it reflects |
|---|---|
| 0% | Diagnosed and service-connected, but minimal impact. No payment — yet it establishes the connection, gives VA healthcare access for that condition, and makes a future increase easy if it worsens. |
| 10–20% | Mild symptoms with slight, occasional limits — think mild tinnitus, minor scars, or a knee with occasional pain. |
| 30–40% | Moderate symptoms that regularly affect work and daily life, such as moderate PTSD, frequent migraines, or a back condition limiting motion. |
| 50–60% | Moderately severe to severe symptoms — conditions needing frequent treatment that significantly limit employment. |
| 70–80% | Severe impairment across most areas of life, commonly severe PTSD, major organ damage, or several serious conditions together. |
| 90–100% | Near-total or total disability. 100% can come from one catastrophic condition, a combined rating of 95% or more (which rounds up), TDIU, or a temporary rating after surgery. |
Payment amounts adjust every year with cost-of-living increases and rise with dependents, so check current figures in our VA disability pay rates guide or at va.gov. Veterans with the most severe disabilities — loss of limbs, blindness, the need for aid and attendance — may also qualify for Special Monthly Compensation above the 100% rate.
How “VA math” combines multiple ratings
The VA does not add percentages. It uses a “whole person” approach: each additional condition applies to the part of you that is still able-bodied.
Example — PTSD 70%, back 40%, knee 20%, tinnitus 10%:
- Start at 100% able. PTSD at 70% leaves 30% able.
- Back at 40% of the remaining 30% adds 12 → 82% disabled.
- Knee at 20% of the remaining 18% adds 3.6 → 85.6%.
- Tinnitus at 10% of the remaining 14.4% adds 1.44 → 87%.
- Round to the nearest 10%: a 90% combined rating.
This is why 70% + 40% is 82% (rounding to 80%), not 110%. Exactly 95% or higher rounds up to 100%. The VA’s combined ratings tool does the arithmetic for you.
The conditions veterans claim most
Tinnitus is the single most common claim (typically rated 10%), followed by hearing loss, PTSD, scars, knee and back conditions, sciatica, arthritis, migraines, and sleep apnea. Mental health conditions — PTSD, depression, anxiety, and TBI — are rated on occupational and social impairment and often carry some of the highest average ratings. If a mental health condition is weighing on you right now, free confidential help is available 24/7 — start with our crisis resources page or dial 988 and press 1.
Secondary conditions raise your combined rating
A secondary condition is caused or aggravated by one that’s already service-connected — a back injury leading to sciatica, PTSD leading to depression or sleep apnea, diabetes leading to neuropathy. Proving one takes a current diagnosis plus a doctor’s nexus opinion that it’s “at least as likely as not” linked to the primary condition. Because of VA math, several small secondaries can move you into a higher payment bracket.
When your condition worsens: filing for an increase
File VA Form 21-526EZ and check the “increase” box, with recent medical records, new test results, a personal statement describing the decline, and anything showing lost work capacity. The VA will schedule a new C&P exam — prepare for it the same way as the first: our filing guide covers exam preparation.
Know the risk: a reexamination can lower a rating if it shows genuine improvement. The protections: ratings held 5 years can’t drop below the original without sustained improvement, ratings held 20 years are essentially locked, and routine reexams generally end at age 55.
If the rating is simply wrong
Read the “reasons and bases” section of your decision letter for errors — evidence not considered, wrong diagnostic code, wrong effective date, ignored secondaries. Then choose a lane: a higher-level review (same evidence, senior reviewer), a supplemental claim (new evidence), or a board appeal. Act within one year to keep your effective date, and consider free expert help — a Veterans Service Officer costs nothing and knows the rating criteria inside out. You can watch any review move forward with our claim status guide.
A rating opens other doors
Beyond the monthly payment, a rating can qualify you for VR&E career retraining (Chapter 31) at 10% or higher, and at 100% adds CHAMPVA coverage for dependents plus state benefits like property-tax exemptions and free tuition in many states — see veteran benefits by state.
Common questions
How are VA disability ratings calculated?
The VA matches your symptoms and functional limits against the Schedule for Rating Disabilities (38 CFR Part 4), which sets specific criteria for each percentage level of each condition. The rating reflects average impairment in earning capacity, not just the diagnosis.
Can my rating be reduced?
Yes, if a reexamination shows genuine improvement — even one triggered by your own increase request on another condition. But ratings held 5 years cannot drop below the original level without sustained improvement, ratings held 20 years are protected, and routine reexams generally stop after age 55.
What is the difference between a 90% and a 100% rating?
A meaningfully higher monthly payment, plus extras that only come at 100%: CHAMPVA healthcare for dependents, priority VA services, and generous state benefits like property-tax exemptions in many states.
Do I pay taxes on VA disability compensation?
No. It is tax-free federal income, and you can receive it alongside Social Security Disability — neither reduces the other.
What is TDIU?
Total Disability Individual Unemployability pays at the 100% rate when service-connected conditions prevent you from keeping substantially gainful employment, even if your combined rating is lower. Generally you need one condition at 60%, or a 70% combined rating with one condition at 40%. Apply with VA Form 21-8940.