VA Disability Rating Levels and What Each One Pays
Every VA disability rating from 10% to 100%, what it pays each month in 2026, and what one more condition would actually add from there. The rating scale and the pay scale are not the same shape: the last ten points are worth far more than the first ten, and are far harder to reach.
Every rating level at a glance
| Rating | Alone | With spouse | Gain over the step below | Smallest condition that moves you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 | same | +$180.42 | 10% |
| 20% | $356.66 | same | +$176.24 | 10% |
| 30% | $552.47 | $617.47 | +$195.81 | 10% |
| 40% | $795.84 | $882.84 | +$243.37 | 10% |
| 50% | $1,132.90 | $1,241.90 | +$337.06 | 10% |
| 60% | $1,435.02 | $1,566.02 | +$302.12 | 20% |
| 70% | $1,808.45 | $1,961.45 | +$373.43 | 20% |
| 80% | $2,102.15 | $2,277.15 | +$293.70 | 30% |
| 90% | $2,362.30 | $2,559.30 | +$260.15 | 50% |
| 100% | $3,938.58 | $4,158.17 | +$1,576.28 | nothing — top of the scale |
Tax-free. Rates effective December 1, 2025, from the VA’s published table. Dependent pay starts at 30%, which is why the first two rows show no difference for a spouse.
How to read that last column
VA ratings do not add up. A new rating applies only to the portion of you the VA still counts as unimpaired, and the result is rounded to the nearest ten — so the same condition is worth a full step at one level and nothing at all at another.
At 30%, a 10% condition takes you to 40%. At 70%, that identical condition takes you to 70% — seventy combined with ten is seventy-three, which rounds straight back. Same diagnosis, same nexus letter, same months of waiting, and the payment does not move by a dollar. Nothing on the decision letter warns you.
That is what the last column prices. It is not advice about what to claim — what you are entitled to depends on your evidence and is decided by the VA, and a condition worth $0 in combined math can still matter for TDIU, for Special Monthly Compensation, or simply because it is real. It is the arithmetic, told before you spend money rather than after.
The VA math calculator runs the exact version with your own conditions, including the bilateral factor, and shows each step.
Every level, explained
- 10% VA disabilityWhat a 10% VA disability rating pays each month in 2026, why dependents do not change it, and exactly what a second condition would add.
- 20% VA disabilityWhat 20% VA disability pays monthly in 2026, why it is the last rating without dependent pay, and what a second condition adds from here.
- 30% VA disabilityWhat 30% VA disability pays in 2026 — the first rating that adds pay for a spouse, children and dependent parents — and what moves it higher.
- 40% VA disabilityWhat 40% VA disability pays monthly in 2026 with and without dependents, and what a 40% rating is worth toward TDIU eligibility later.
- 50% VA disabilityWhat 50% VA disability pays in 2026 with and without dependents, what changes at this level, and what a new condition would actually add.
- 60% VA disabilityWhat 60% VA disability pays monthly in 2026, why a single 60% condition matters for TDIU, and what a new condition adds from this level.
- 70% VA disabilityWhat 70% VA disability pays monthly in 2026 with dependents, why a 10% condition adds nothing from here, and what actually moves you to 80%.
- 80% VA disabilityWhat 80% VA disability pays monthly in 2026, why most new conditions add nothing at this level, and what it actually takes to reach 90 or 100.
- 90% VA disabilityWhat 90% VA disability pays monthly in 2026, why the final ten points are the hardest on the scale, and what the arithmetic actually requires.
- 100% VA disabilityWhat 100% VA disability pays monthly in 2026 with dependents, the difference between schedular 100% and TDIU, and what work rules apply.
Related guides
Educational information about the VA rating schedule, not legal or medical advice and not a prediction about your claim. You decide what to file; only the VA decides ratings and outcomes. Free help is available from accredited VSOs at VA.gov.