TDIU Income Limit: The Poverty Threshold for One Person
Yes, you can work while receiving Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU), as long as the work counts as marginal employment. At Rank and Pay, we publish free guides on military pay and benefits, and we built this figure from the regulation text and the U.S. Census Bureau tables. Under the regulation, work is generally marginal if your earned annual income does not exceed the Census poverty threshold for one person.
That test comes from Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), section 4.16(a). The most recent Census table we read, for 2025, lists $16,330 as the one-person weighted average and $16,750 for one person under 65. The 2024 table listed $15,940 and $16,320 for the same two rows.
Our TDIU explainer covers what TDIU is, and our TDIU benefits guide covers what comes with it. Eligibility under 38 CFR 4.16(a) starts with your ratings: one disability ratable at 60% or more, or two or more disabilities with at least one at 40% or more and a combined rating of 70% or more.
The one-person rows we read from the 2025 and 2024 Census tables appear below, because the regulation names the threshold for one person without naming a row.
| Census table | One-person row | Annual threshold |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Weighted average | $16,330 |
| 2025 | Under 65 years, weighted average | $16,750 |
| 2025 | Under 65 years, no related children | $16,749 |
| 2025 | 65 years and over | $15,440 |
| 2024 | Weighted average | $15,940 |
| 2024 | Under 65 years | $16,320 |
| 2024 | 65 years and over, weighted average | $15,050 |
The $16,749 row is the 2025 figure for one person under 65 with no related children, and it is the number our TDIU vs. 100% guide uses. The 2025 weighted-average figure is $390, or 2.45%, above the 2024 weighted-average figure.
What Marginal Employment Means
38 CFR 4.16(a) says marginal employment "shall not be considered substantially gainful employment." Marginal work therefore does not count against the TDIU requirement that you be unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. The regulation gives the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) two ways to find that a job is marginal, plus one named example.
- The income test: marginal employment "generally shall be deemed to exist" when your earned annual income does not exceed the Census poverty threshold for one person.
- The facts-found test: marginal employment "may also be held to exist" when earned annual income is above the threshold, based on the facts of the job.
- The protected environment example: the regulation says facts-found cases include, but are not limited to, employment in a protected environment such as a family business or sheltered workshop.
Because the regulation says "generally," earning under the threshold makes marginal employment the usual finding without making it automatic. The same paragraph of 38 CFR 4.16(a) says consideration shall be given in all claims to the nature of the employment. Earning over the threshold does not end the question either, if the job sits in a protected environment.
The TDIU Income Limit in Monthly, Weekly and Hourly Terms
The 2025 one-person threshold of $16,330 works out to $1,360.83 a month, $314.04 a week, or $15.70 an hour at 20 hours a week. In our internal analysis, we converted the Census thresholds into monthly, weekly and hourly equivalents. We divided each annual figure by 12 for the monthly column and by 52 for the weekly column. We divided the weekly figure by 10, 20 or 40 hours for the hourly columns.
| Census row | Annual | Monthly | Weekly | Hourly at 10 hrs/week | Hourly at 20 hrs/week | Hourly at 40 hrs/week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 weighted average | $16,330 | $1,360.83 | $314.04 | $31.40 | $15.70 | $7.85 |
| 2025 under 65, weighted average | $16,750 | $1,395.83 | $322.12 | $32.21 | $16.11 | $8.05 |
| 2025 under 65, no related children | $16,749 | $1,395.75 | $322.10 | $32.21 | $16.10 | $8.05 |
| 2024 weighted average | $15,940 | $1,328.33 | $306.54 | $30.65 | $15.33 | $7.66 |
| 2024 under 65 | $16,320 | $1,360.00 | $313.85 | $31.38 | $15.69 | $7.85 |
Read across the row that matches your schedule. At 40 hours a week, staying at or below $16,330 means about $7.85 an hour or less, while at 10 hours a week the same annual line allows about $31.40 an hour. The regulation measures earned annual income.
Two cases show that the threshold is a default line. A veteran earning $17,000 in a sheltered workshop or family business can still be held to be in marginal employment on a facts-found basis. A veteran earning less than the threshold is only "generally" deemed marginal, because that is the word the regulation uses.
Which Year's Census Figure Applies in 2026
38 CFR 4.16(a) does not say which year's Census table VA applies to a given claim, and we did not find VA's own manual text that answers it. The regulation also does not name a one-person row, and the Census tables list several: a weighted average, under 65, and 65 and over. TDIU income figures vary, including across pages on this site.
Within the 2025 table, the under-65 row ($16,750) is $420 above the weighted average ($16,330). Across years, the weighted average rose $390 from 2024 to 2025. If you are under 65 and expect to earn between $15,940 and $16,750, the year and row a rater picks could decide whether your earnings sit under the line.
If you are 65 or over, the lowest one-person figure in either table is the 2024 65-and-over row, $15,050. We cannot tell you which table row or year a VA rater used on a given date. Ask VA directly through its Individual Unemployability page, or ask an accredited representative which figure applied to your claim.
Before You Take a Job on TDIU
Run through four checks before you accept work while receiving TDIU.
- Estimate your earned income for the full year and compare it with the lowest one-person row that could apply to your age, so a change in table year does not push you over.
- If the job pays more than the threshold, ask whether it fits the protected environment examples in 38 CFR 4.16(a), such as a family business or sheltered workshop. Treat earnings above the line in an ordinary job as a risk to the TDIU rating.
- Keep your pay records and a written description of the job, including who employs you and how the work is set up, because a facts-found decision turns on the facts of the employment.
- Talk to an accredited representative or a Veterans Service Organization (VSO) before you accept the job, and get their read on which threshold figure applies to you.
Self-employment income has no stated treatment in the regulation text we read. 38 CFR 4.16(a) names a family business as one example of a protected environment and allows facts-found decisions, but it does not say how VA counts self-employment income, and we did not find VA guidance on that point.
If you have not applied yet, the application is VA Form 21-8940. Our TDIU approval rate guide covers approval odds, and our TDIU vs. permanent and total guide compares TDIU with permanent and total (P&T) status.
Who This Page Is Not For
This page is for veterans rated or applying under TDIU. The earned-income test above is part of the TDIU rule in 38 CFR 4.16, so read our TDIU vs. 100% comparison for how the two routes differ.
The passage of 38 CFR 4.16(a) quoted above addresses earned income. Take questions about unearned income, Social Security or other benefits to an accredited representative or VSO before you rely on any figure in the tables.
What Would Change the Answer
- VA applies a different year's Census table to your claim than the 2025 table shown above.
- Your job sits in a protected environment, which can make work above the threshold marginal on a facts-found basis.
- 38 CFR 4.16(a) is amended.
Practical takeaway: Treat the Census one-person threshold for the 2025 table row that fits you as the line for marginal employment: $16,330 (weighted average) to $16,750 (under 65), about $1,361 to $1,396 a month. If you are 65 or over, the 2025 row is $15,440. Treat work above it in an ordinary job as a risk to your TDIU rating. That reading rests on the regulation text and the Census tables, the monthly figures are our arithmetic on them, and it applies to veterans rated under the schedular TDIU provision in 38 CFR 4.16(a).
Before you accept a job, take your expected annual earnings to an accredited representative or VSO and ask which Census year and row sets the VA TDIU income limits for 2026 on your claim.
This is general information and is not legal or financial advice. Verify your situation with VA or an accredited representative or VSO before you accept work while on TDIU.