Every VA disability rating from 20 percent to 90 percent pays a set monthly amount and carries its own eligibility rules for extra benefits. In the guides we publish here, the 70 percent and 60 percent tiers get the most questions, because they sit closest to Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU), the benefit that pays the full 100 percent rate to a veteran who cannot work. A 70 percent rating draws particular attention because it is the highest a veteran can combine into and still need TDIU, rather than already sitting at the schedular 100 percent tier.
VA Disability Pay by Rating: 20% Through 90%
VA disability compensation runs on a fixed rate table, so two veterans at the same rating and dependent status draw the identical monthly check regardless of their prior civilian income. The table below shows the 2026 monthly rate for a veteran with no dependents at each tier, verified against our full 2026 VA compensation rate table and the official VA.gov rate schedule.
| Rating | 2026 Monthly Pay (Veteran Alone) |
|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 |
Dependent add-ons for a spouse, children, or a dependent parent apply at 30 percent and above. A veteran rated 10 percent or 20 percent draws the same monthly amount no matter how many dependents they have, because the dependent add-on only starts once the base rating clears 30 percent.
20 Percent VA Disability Rating: The Floor Before Dependent Pay
A 20 percent rating pays $356.66 a month in 2026 with no dependent add-on. Crossing to 30 percent, even by adding one more low-rated condition, changes that math: the same veteran with a spouse then draws a higher combined check than the 20 percent rate alone, because the add-on structure switches on. That gap is why a veteran sitting at 20 percent with an untreated or worsening secondary condition often has more to gain from filing a new claim than the raw percentage difference suggests.
Most of the wider ancillary package on this site, things like Chapter 35 dependent education and the CHAMPVA health program for a spouse or child, clusters around a 100 percent or TDIU rating rather than the 20 percent tier. A 20 percent rating mainly changes the size of the direct monthly payment rather than which broader programs a veteran can reach. Veterans at this level are usually still building a claim file toward higher tiers rather than weighing TDIU, since TDIU has its own rating floor described below.
50 Percent VA Disability Rating: Below Both TDIU Thresholds
A 50 percent rating pays $1,132.90 a month in 2026. On its own, 50 percent clears neither TDIU path: the single-condition rule needs one disability rated at 60 percent or higher, and the combined-rating rule needs 70 percent overall with one condition at 40 percent or higher.
A veteran at 50 percent who cannot work still has two real paths forward. The first is adding evidence for an existing condition that has worsened, or filing a secondary claim for a condition caused by the primary one, either of which can push the combined number past 60 or 70 percent. The second is extraschedular TDIU under 38 CFR 4.16(b), the route for veterans who cannot sustain gainful work but do not meet the percentage math, which sends the case to the VA's Director of Compensation Service for a case-by-case decision rather than a denial. Our TDIU explainer covers how that referral works and what evidence it needs.
60 Percent VA Disability Rating: The Single-Condition TDIU Threshold
A 60 percent rating pays $1,435.02 a month in 2026. This is the first tier where TDIU becomes available through a single qualifying condition: if one service-connected disability alone reaches 60 percent, a veteran can apply for TDIU without needing any other condition rated at all.
A regulatory grouping rule under 38 CFR 4.16(a) also lets certain related ratings count as one disability for this test, which pulls in veterans who assume they fall short. Ratings in a single limb, ratings from one accident, and ratings within one body system, orthopedic or neuropsychiatric conditions among them, can combine under this rule before the 60 percent test is applied. A veteran carrying separate ratings for a knee, a hip, and an ankle on the same leg is the textbook case: those three ratings can be treated as one lower-extremity disability rather than three unrelated ones.
70 Percent VA Disability Rating: The Combined-Rating TDIU Threshold
A 70 percent rating pays $1,808.45 a month in 2026, and it opens the second TDIU path: a combined rating of 70 percent or higher, with at least one individual condition rated 40 percent or higher, qualifies a veteran to apply for TDIU without any single condition needing to reach 60 percent on its own.
Reaching 70 percent combined rarely happens through simple addition. VA applies a whole-person combined-ratings table rather than adding percentages directly, so a 50 percent rating plus a 30 percent rating works out to roughly 65 percent before rounding instead of 80 percent. Our VA disability rating calculator runs that math for any combination of conditions, which matters most right around this threshold, where the difference between 65 and 70 percent decides TDIU eligibility.
Meeting the percentage test is necessary but not sufficient. A veteran also has to show the service-connected conditions actually prevent substantially gainful employment. Clearing the math alone is not enough. VA Form 21-8940 is the application, and the site's TDIU explainer walks through what it asks for and how the review works from there.
80 Percent VA Disability Rating: Usually Already Past the TDIU Line
An 80 percent rating pays $2,102.15 a month in 2026. By the time a veteran's combined rating reaches 80 percent, the combined-ratings math has already cleared TDIU's 70 percent floor. The remaining question is usually whether one condition alone reaches the 40 percent floor, and most combinations that land at 80 percent do, since VA math rarely climbs that high from ratings that stay under 40 percent individually.
A veteran at 80 percent who is still working full-time in a physically demanding role, and finding it harder each year, is a common case that gets missed. The 80 percent rating itself does not force a TDIU filing, and plenty of veterans at this level work successfully. TDIU only matters once the conditions genuinely stop substantially gainful employment. Qualifying on the percentage math alone is not the same thing.
90 Percent VA Disability Rating: The Last Combined-Math Step to 100
A 90 percent rating pays $2,362.30 a month in 2026, a single rounding step below the 100 percent rate. Reaching 100 percent from here still runs through the same combined-ratings table as every other step instead of simple addition, so a small new rating does not automatically finish the climb.
VA rounds the final combined result to the nearest 10 percent. A veteran at 90 percent who adds a condition rated 10 percent individually needs that new rating to push the underlying combined math far enough to round up to 100, and a low enough individual rating sometimes rounds back down to 90 instead. Running the numbers through the rating calculator before filing a new claim is the only way to know which side of that rounding line a specific combination lands on.
Special Monthly Compensation: A Separate Track From the Percentage Table
Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) is a distinct, higher tier of tax-free VA compensation that can pay above even the 100 percent schedular rate. SMC is authorized under 38 CFR 3.350 and is awarded for the specific nature of a disability's impact rather than for reaching a particular percentage on the rating table.
Loss or loss of use of a hand, foot, or other extremity, blindness, being permanently bedridden, needing regular aid and attendance for daily activities, or being housebound are the kinds of severe, specific impacts SMC responds to. A veteran does not need a 90 percent or 100 percent combined rating to qualify for some SMC levels. Eligibility turns on the functional impact VA finds in the individual case, evaluated on its own facts rather than read off the percentage table. Because SMC eligibility is case-by-case, a veteran who suspects they may qualify should raise it directly with a Veterans Service Officer or an accredited representative rather than relying on the percentage alone.
How VA Math Combines Multiple Ratings Into One Number
VA's combined-ratings table, set out in 38 CFR 4.25, treats each additional disability as reducing whatever "whole person" efficiency remains after the prior rating instead of the original 100 percent. That single rule explains most of the confusion veterans run into when a rating comes back lower than they expected from adding percentages by hand.
The bilateral factor adds a further adjustment for paired limbs before the final rounding step, which can move the combined number by a few points in either direction. Two veterans with the identical individual percentages can land on different final ratings once the order of combination and the bilateral factor are applied. Checking the calculator before estimating a new claim's effect on TDIU eligibility, or on crossing from one tier to the next, avoids the most common surprise in this whole system.
Protected Ratings: When a Percentage Can No Longer Drop
A rating held continuously for 20 years cannot be reduced below its lowest level during that span, except for fraud. Shorter continuous periods carry weaker protections: a rating in place for 5 years requires sustained improvement shown over a period of time before VA can reduce it, and a rating in place for 10 years cannot be severed for lack of service connection, though it can still be reduced if the condition genuinely improves. These protections apply at every tier covered here, including tiers well below 100 percent, so a veteran who has held a 70 percent rating for two decades has real protection against a future reduction even if a single exam looks better than prior ones.
The VA disability hub on this site links out to every condition-specific rating page, and the TDIU explainer covers the application process, evidence, and representation questions in full. Run any combination of current or expected ratings through the VA disability rating calculator before filing a new claim. A claim being granted is only the first question. The specific tier it lands on decides which of the thresholds above actually apply.