How much VA disability pay do you get at each rating in 2026?
For 2026, a US veteran with no dependents receives $180.42 a month from VA disability compensation at a 10% rating, $1,132.90 at 50%, $1,808.45 at 70% and $3,938.58 at 100%. That's $47,263 a year at the top rating, and it isn't taxed.
Dependents add to the payment once your combined rating reaches 30%. At 100%, a veteran with a spouse and two children under 18 receives $4,428.10 a month.
Where these figures come from
The rates are the ones VA publishes on its compensation rates page, which took effect on December 1, 2025. They rise each year by the same cost-of-living adjustment that applies to Social Security benefits. Before writing this, we checked every cell in the rate table used by our VA disability calculator against VA's page, for each rating from 10% to 100% and each family type shown here. They match to the cent.
Every amount on this page comes from running that calculator. A few things it doesn't cover, so they aren't in these figures:
- Dependent parents. VA pays more if you support one or two dependent parents.
- A spouse who needs Aid and Attendance. There's an extra monthly amount for this.
- Children over 18 who are still in school. These children get a higher add-on than children under 18. Our figures use the under-18 amount only.
- Special monthly compensation. Veterans with certain severe disabilities, such as loss of use of a limb, can receive amounts well above the standard table.
- The bilateral factor. Disabilities affecting both arms or both legs get an extra adjustment before ratings are combined.
If any of those apply to you, VA's own rate tables list the extra amounts.
The full 2026 rate table
VA disability compensation in 2026 by rating and family, monthly (US)
Download CSVRates effective December 1, 2025. Children are under 18. Ratings of 10% and 20% pay the same whatever your dependents. Source: va.gov veteran compensation rates, as held in the Bedrock Calculator engine.
| 10% | $180.42 | $180.42 | $180.42 | $180.42 | $180.42 | $2,165.04 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 | $4,158.17 | $4,085.43 | $4,318.99 | $4,428.10 | $47,262.96 |
| 20% | $356.66 | $356.66 | $356.66 | $356.66 | $356.66 | $4,279.92 |
| 30% | $552.47 | $617.47 | $596.47 | $666.47 | $698.47 | $6,629.64 |
| 40% | $795.84 | $882.84 | $853.84 | $947.84 | $990.84 | $9,550.08 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 | $1,241.90 | $1,205.90 | $1,322.90 | $1,376.90 | $13,594.80 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 | $1,566.02 | $1,523.02 | $1,663.02 | $1,728.02 | $17,220.24 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 | $1,961.45 | $1,910.45 | $2,074.45 | $2,150.45 | $21,701.40 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 | $2,277.15 | $2,219.15 | $2,406.15 | $2,493.15 | $25,225.80 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 | $2,559.30 | $2,494.30 | $2,704.30 | $2,802.30 | $28,347.60 |
The first thing to notice is that 10% and 20% ratings pay the same whatever your family looks like: $180.42 and $356.66 a month. Dependents only count from 30% up.
From there, a spouse adds $65.00 a month at 30% and $219.59 at 100%. Each child under 18 after the first adds $32.00 at 30% and $109.11 at 100%. The add-ons grow with the rating, so they matter most for veterans with high ratings.
What the rates add up to over a year
Monthly amounts are how VA pays, but yearly totals help with budgeting. A veteran alone receives $6,630 a year at 30%, $13,595 at 50%, $21,701 at 70%, $28,348 at 90% and $47,263 at 100%. The right-hand column of the table above shows every rating. These are fixed for the year, so the main things that change them are a new rating decision, a change in your dependents, or the next cost-of-living adjustment.
How dependents change the monthly payment
At 70%, a veteran alone gets $1,808.45. Adding a spouse raises that to $1,961.45, and a spouse plus two children brings it to $2,150.45. At 100% the same steps go from $3,938.58 to $4,158.17 to $4,428.10, or $53,137 a year.
You don't get these amounts automatically. Dependents have to be added to your VA claim, which you can do online. If you married, had a child or adopted since your rating decision, it's worth checking that VA has them on file.
The big step from 90% to 100%
The table rises fairly evenly from 30% to 90%, adding a few hundred dollars a month for each 10 points. Then it jumps. Moving from 90% to 100% adds $1,576.28 a month for a veteran alone, about $18,915 a year. The 100% rate is 1.67 times the 90% rate.
That's why so many veterans at 90% ask about a higher rating or about individual unemployability, which pays at the 100% rate to veterans whose service-connected conditions keep them from holding a steady job. Whether you qualify depends on your own records, and a VA-accredited representative can help you look at it.
How VA combines more than one rating
Most veterans have more than one rated condition, and VA doesn't add them up. It uses what federal rules call the combined ratings table, set out in 38 CFR 4.25. The idea is that once you're rated, say, 50% disabled, you're treated as 50% "efficient", and the next rating applies only to what's left.
How individual VA ratings combine (US, 38 CFR 4.25)
Download CSVRatings combined largest first by the remaining-efficiency method, then rounded to the nearest 10, with 5 rounding up. Monthly pay is for a veteran alone.
| 30% + 30% | 51% | 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 40% + 20% | 52% | 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 50% + 30% + 10% | 69% | 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 60% + 40% | 76% | 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 70% + 50% + 20% | 88% | 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 90% + 10% | 91% | 90% | $2,362.30 |
Take 50%, 30% and 10%. The 30% applies to the remaining half, adding 15 points for 65. The 10% then applies to the remaining 35, which adds a little more and brings the combined value to 69%. VA rounds the final figure to the nearest 10, so the combined rating is 70%.
Two 30% ratings work out to 51%, which rounds to 50%, not 60%. A 90% rating plus a 10% rating gives 91%, which rounds down to 90%. It's the rounding at the end that surprises people most: a combined value ending in 5 rounds up, anything below rounds down.
What VA disability pay means for your budget
Because VA describes disability compensation as a tax-free payment, these figures are what lands in your account. There's no federal income tax to subtract. That makes $1,132.90 a month at 50% worth more than the same amount of wages, which would have income tax and payroll taxes taken out.
The rates on this page apply to compensation for December 2025 onward and stay in place until the next cost-of-living adjustment.
Run your own numbers
Enter each of your individual ratings and your dependents in the VA disability calculator to see your combined rating and the monthly amount. If you're planning a home purchase, the VA loan calculator shows what a VA-backed mortgage would cost, and the retirement calculator lets you count VA compensation alongside savings and Social Security when you plan ahead.
