VA Benefits by Rating: 0% to 100%

What does a 0% VA rating get you?

A 0% rating pays nothing each month. It still matters. It means the VA has found your condition is service connected, and that finding is the hardest part of any claim. If the condition gets worse, you file for an increase instead of starting over.

• Service connection on record. A 0% condition can also be the starting point for secondary conditions under 38 CFR 3.310.
• Commissary, exchange and MWR access. Veterans with any service-connected rating, including 0%, have had base shopping access since January 2020.
• VALife. The VA says veterans 80 or younger with any service-connected rating, even 0%, can get up to $40,000 of guaranteed whole life coverage.
• VA health care. You can apply to enroll. Your priority group depends on your full situation.

What do 10% and 20% VA ratings get you?

At 10% the VA starts paying you each month: $180.42 in 2026. At 20% it is $356.66. Pay at these levels is for the veteran only. Dependents are not added until 30% (38 U.S.C. 1115).

• VA health care Priority Group 3. The VA’s priority groups page places 10% and 20% ratings here.
• No VA home loan funding fee. The VA says you are exempt if you receive compensation for a service-connected disability. On a large loan that can be thousands of dollars.
• Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E, Chapter 31). Veterans rated 10% or more can apply. Entitlement depends on an employment handicap, generally 20% with an employment handicap or 10% with a serious employment handicap (38 CFR 21.40). VR&E can pay for school or training and a monthly allowance.
• Federal hiring preference for veterans with a service-connected disability.

What changes at a 30% VA rating?

30% is the first rating where the VA pays you more for your family. A veteran alone gets $552.47. With a spouse it is $617.47. With a spouse and one child it is $666.47.

• Add your dependents with VA Form 21-686c. The VA does not add them automatically. Veterans who reach 30% and never file the 686c are underpaid every month. Use VA Form 21-674 for a child 18 to 23 in school.
• VA health care Priority Group 2 at 30% and 40%.
• Federal jobs. Veterans rated 30% or more can be hired through a noncompetitive appointment authority.

What does a 40% VA rating get you?

$795.84 a month for a veteran alone, $882.84 with a spouse. You stay in Priority Group 2. A single condition rated 40% also matters for TDIU: under 38 CFR 4.16(a), one condition at 40% plus a combined rating of 70% meets the schedular threshold.

What does a 50% VA rating get you?

$1,132.90 a month for a veteran alone, $1,241.90 with a spouse. The big change is health care.

• VA health care Priority Group 1. The VA’s priority groups page places ratings of 50% or more here.
• No copays for care or medications. The VA says ratings of 10% or more already remove copays for outpatient and inpatient care. At 50% you are in Priority Group 1, which also removes medication copays.
• Military retirees: at 50% or more you can generally receive both retired pay and VA compensation without an offset (Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay).

What does a 60% VA rating get you?

$1,435.02 a month for a veteran alone, $1,566.02 with a spouse. If a single condition is rated 60%, you meet the schedular threshold for TDIU under 38 CFR 4.16(a). If that condition keeps you from holding a steady job, TDIU pays at the 100% rate while your rating stays at 60%.

What changes at a 70% VA rating?

$1,808.45 a month for a veteran alone, $1,961.45 with a spouse, $2,074.45 with a spouse and one child.

• Bigger dependent amounts. From 70% up, each additional child under 18 adds $76 a month (versus $32 at 30% to 60%), and each additional school child adds $246 (versus $105).
• TDIU 70/40 rule. A combined 70% with one condition at 40% or more meets the schedular threshold (38 CFR 4.16(a)).
• Caregiver support. The VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers requires a rating of 70% or higher, plus other criteria about needing personal care.

What do 80% and 90% VA ratings get you?

80% pays $2,102.15 a month for a veteran alone. 90% pays $2,362.30. The benefit set is the same as 70%. What changes is how close you are to 100%, and how hard the last step is. At 90%, you need a combined value of 95 to round up to 100%. That math is why so many veterans sit at 90% for years. We lay out every route in how to get a 100% VA rating.

What does a 100% VA rating get you?

$3,938.58 a month for a veteran alone. $4,158.17 with a spouse. $4,318.99 with a spouse and one child. That is $1,576.28 a month more than 90%.

• Full VA dental care for veterans rated 100% or paid at the 100% rate through TDIU. The VA notes a temporary 100% rating does not qualify.
• Space-A military flights for veterans with a permanent service-connected disability rated total.
• Federal student loan discharge through the total and permanent disability program.
• State benefits such as property tax exemptions and tuition waivers, which vary widely by state.

What does permanent and total (P&T) add?

P&T means the VA has decided your total disability is expected to last for life (38 CFR 3.340). It is a separate finding from the 100% number, and it is the one that opens benefits for your family.

• Chapter 35 DEA education benefits for your spouse and each child (38 U.S.C. Chapter 35).
• CHAMPVA health coverage for your spouse and children, if they are not eligible for TRICARE (38 CFR 17.270).
• Dependent ID cards for base access and shopping.
• No routine future exams.

A 100% rating without P&T does not open Chapter 35 or CHAMPVA. Check your decision letter or your VA benefit summary letter. See the complete list of 100% VA disability benefits for the full breakdown and a family value example.