Conditions

VA disability ratings by condition

The rating criteria from 38 CFR Part 4, quoted, for the conditions veterans claim most. Each page says what the schedule measures, what a rater looks for in the record, and which conditions are commonly claimed alongside it.

• Tinnitus (DC 6260): Recurrent tinnitus is rated 10 percent, once, whether it is in one ear, both ears or the head. It is the most-claimed condition in the schedule.
• Hearing loss (DC 6100): Hearing loss is rated by arithmetic on two test results, the puretone average and the Maryland CNC word score, through Tables VI, VIa and VII. Most service-connected hearing loss rates at 0 or 10 percent.
• PTSD (DC 9411): PTSD is rated under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, which turns on occupational and social impairment, from 0 to 100 percent.
• Sleep apnea (DC 6847): Sleep apnea rates 50 percent when a breathing device such as a CPAP is required, 30 percent for persistent daytime hypersomnolence, and 0 percent when documented but asymptomatic.
• Migraines (DC 8100): Migraines are rated on the frequency of prostrating attacks: 50 percent for very frequent, completely prostrating and prolonged attacks with severe economic inadaptability, 30 percent for about one a month, 10 percent for about one every two months, 0 for less.
• Lower back (lumbosacral strain) (DC 5237): Back conditions are rated under the General Rating Formula for the Spine, by range of motion, muscle spasm or guarding, and ankylosis, from 10 to 100 percent.
• Knee (limitation of motion) (DC 5260 and 5261): Knee conditions are most often rated on limited flexion (5260) or limited extension (5261), measured in degrees, with separate codes for instability, ankylosis and meniscus injuries.
• GERD (acid reflux) (DC 7206): Since the 2024 revision of the digestive schedule, GERD has its own code, rated from 0 to 80 percent on esophageal stricture, dysphagia and the treatment they require.
• Hypertension (DC 7101): Hypertension is rated on blood pressure readings: 10 percent for diastolic predominantly 100 or more, or systolic 160 or more, or a history of diastolic 100 or more that needs continuous medication; higher levels for higher readings.
• Radiculopathy (sciatic nerve) (DC 8520, 8620, 8720): Nerve symptoms that radiate from the back into a leg are rated on the sciatic nerve as mild, moderate, moderately severe or severe incomplete paralysis, 10 to 60 percent, or 80 percent for complete paralysis.
• Depression and anxiety (DC 9434, 9435, 9400): Major depressive disorder, unspecified depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder are rated under the same General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders as PTSD, on occupational and social impairment.
• Plantar fasciitis (DC 5269): Plantar fasciitis has had its own code since 2021: 10 percent for one or both feet, 20 or 30 percent when neither non-surgical nor surgical treatment relieves it, and 40 percent for actual loss of use of the foot.
• Shoulder (limitation of motion) (DC 5201): Shoulder limitation of motion is rated on how far the arm can be raised, with a higher rating for the dominant arm: 20 percent at shoulder level, 30 or 20 percent midway to the side, 40 or 30 percent at 25 degrees from the side.
• Ankle (limitation of motion) (DC 5271): Ankle limitation of motion is rated 10 percent for moderate limitation and 20 percent for marked limitation, defined in degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion since the 2021 revision.
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (DC 7319): Since the 2024 revision, IBS is rated on how often abdominal pain is related to defecation, with two or more listed bowel symptoms: 10, 20 or 30 percent.
• Asthma (DC 6602): Asthma is rated on pulmonary function test results or on treatment: 10 percent for intermittent inhalers, 30 percent for daily inhaled therapy, 60 percent for monthly physician visits or repeated steroid courses, 100 percent for the most severe findings.
• Scars (painful or unstable) (DC 7804): Painful or unstable scars rate 10, 20 or 30 percent by how many there are, with 10 percent added when a scar is both painful and unstable, on top of any rating for the scar's size or the injury under it.

YourVABenefits is software you run on your own records. It is not part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and does not file claims. You file on VA.gov, or an accredited representative files for you at no charge.