What Each VA Rating Level Unlocks Explained

People tend to think of a rating as a number attached to a payment. It's also a key, and some of the doors it opens are worth more than the extra monthly amount.

The thresholds that matter most:

  • Any rating (10% and up) — VR&E Chapter 31 eligibility, and a complete waiver of the VA home loan funding fee if you're receiving compensation. On a $300,000 first-use loan that fee is around $6,450, so a 10% rating can be worth more at closing than it pays in a year.
  • 10% — monthly compensation begins ($180.42 with no dependents, at rates effective December 1, 2025).
  • 30% — dependents start increasing your payment. Below 30% they make no difference. This is also the threshold for the non-competitive 30% or More Disabled federal appointment authority, and it separates medical retirement from medical separation.
  • 50% — VA health care enrollment in a higher priority group, and generally no copays for care related to your conditions.
  • 70% — one of the schedular routes into TDIU (Total Disability Individual Unemployability), where a combined 70% with one condition at 40% can be paid at the 100% rate.
  • 100% — the top schedular rate, $3,938.58 a month with no dependents, plus the widest set of ancillary benefits.

Who is eligible?

Anyone with a service-connected rating sits somewhere on this scale, and the ancillary benefits follow automatically from the rating rather than needing separate applications in most cases.

Two things worth knowing about how the thresholds behave. Dependants below 30% change nothing — the rate tables simply don't vary until you reach it. And the funding fee waiver applies at any compensable rating, which makes it the single most under-claimed consequence of a low rating.

Because the payment follows your combined rounded rating, the threshold you reach depends on the combined figure, not on any individual condition.

How do I apply?

  • Check the funding fee waiver if you're buying: Any compensable rating removes it entirely. Lenders do not always raise this.
  • Look at VR&E at 10%: The training and placement program opens at the lowest compensable rating and does not consume GI Bill entitlement.
  • Recheck dependents at 30%: If you crossed 30% and never updated your dependents, you may be underpaid.
  • Ask about TDIU at 70%: A combined 70% with one condition at 40% can be paid at the 100% rate without a 100% schedular rating.
  • Revisit health care enrollment at 50%: The priority group and copay position both change.
  • Get free help from an accredited VSO: They know which ancillary benefits follow a rating, which is where most of the unclaimed value sits.

Common questions

What does a 10% VA rating get you?

Monthly compensation of $180.42 with no dependents, VR&E Chapter 31 eligibility, and a full waiver of the VA home loan funding fee — which on a $300,000 first-use loan is around $6,450.

At what rating do dependents increase your payment?

30%. Below that, the rate tables do not vary by dependents at all.

What changes at 50%?

VA health care enrollment moves to a higher priority group, and care related to your service-connected conditions is generally copay-free.

What is TDIU and what rating do you need?

Total Disability Individual Unemployability pays at the 100% rate without a 100% schedular rating. One schedular route is a combined 70% with a single condition at 40%.

Do you have to apply separately for the benefits a rating unlocks?

Mostly no — they follow the rating. The funding fee waiver and dependent adjustments are the two worth actively checking.

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