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% | Rated strictly by audiometric testing: puretone thresholds + Maryland CNC speech discrimination, cross-referenced on the VA's table for each ear. |
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
- Maryland CNC speech discrimination
Evidence that moves this rating
- A VA-compliant audiogram: puretone audiometry PLUS Maryland CNC — by a state-licensed audiologist, without hearing aids
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 (noise exposure history); the rating itself is pure test math.
- Describe functional impact for context: asking people to repeat, TV volume, missed conversations.
Our Statement Builderwalks through the questions that produce that kind of statement, in the schedule's own terms.
What hearing loss can lead to3 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.