Hearing loss VA rating
The VA rates hearing loss under DC 6100, and most ratings land in the 0–100% range. What decides yours is the criteria below and what your record actually documents.
What the criteria ask for at each level
DC 6100 - 38 CFR §4.85
| Rating | What the record has to show |
|---|---|
| 0–100% | There is no symptom ladder here. The rating is a two-table lookup with no room for judgement: Table VI converts your puretone threshold average and Maryland CNC speech discrimination score into a Roman numeral (I to XI) for each ear, then Table VII crosses the better ear against the worse ear to produce the percentage. Where the examiner certifies that speech discrimination testing is not appropriate - language difficulties, inconsistent scores - Table VIA is used on puretone results alone. |
| Why most claims come back 0% | The arithmetic is unforgiving, and hearing that is genuinely difficult to live with routinely produces a 0%. That is not the VA disputing your hearing; it is a formula that only counts what the two tests measure. A 0% still establishes service connection, which is what makes a later increase - or tinnitus, or a secondary - possible. |
The schedule's own words
Ratings turn on specific terms, and a record that describes the same reality in different language often reads as a lower rating. These are the words this code measures:
- puretone threshold average - the average of 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hz ONLY. 500 Hz is measured but is not part of the average, which surprises people looking at their own audiogram
- Maryland CNC - a specific controlled speech discrimination test. An audiogram without it cannot be used for rating at all
- tested WITHOUT hearing aids
- state-licensed audiologist
Evidence that moves this rating
- A VA-compliant audiogram: puretone audiometry PLUS Maryland CNC speech discrimination, by a state-licensed audiologist, tested without hearing aids
- A private audiogram missing the Maryland CNC cannot be used to rate - worth checking before paying for one
- Service records or a buddy statement establishing the noise exposure
What your statement has to cover
Doctors chart symptoms; they rarely chart consequences. That part is yours, and it is usually what separates a documented rating from a reported one.
- Your statement supports service connection - the noise exposure history - not the percentage. The rating itself is pure test math and nothing you write changes it.
- Describe functional impact anyway, for context and for any TDIU argument: asking people to repeat, television volume, conversations given up on.
- If you have tinnitus, claim it separately. It is its own code at a flat 10% and it is not part of this calculation.
Our Statement Builderwalks through the questions that produce that kind of statement, in the schedule's own terms.
What hearing loss can lead to 3 documented pathways
A secondary claim runs through a condition the VA already accepts, so the argument about your service is already won. What is left is the medical link - and a nexus opinion has to name the mechanism, not just the pair.
| Can lead to | The mechanism a nexus has to state |
|---|---|
| Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) | The same acoustic trauma and inner-ear damage that causes hearing loss commonly causes or worsens tinnitus. |
| Depression | Communication barriers and social isolation from hearing loss degrade mental health. |
| Migraine headaches | Auditory processing strain and sensory overload trigger headaches. |
A pathway existing in the literature is not the same as your claim being granted - your records and the VA decide that. How secondary claims work covers the argument.
Before you spend money on this claim
VA ratings do not add. Each new rating applies only to the part of you the VA still counts as unimpaired, then rounds to the nearest ten - so from 70%, a new 10% condition leaves you at exactly 70% and changes your payment by nothing.
That does not make the claim worthless; it can still matter for TDIU, for SMC, or later when something else is added. But it is worth knowing before you pay for a nexus letter rather than after. Check what one more condition does at your rating - it takes a minute.