VA Disability Pay Chart 2026: Monthly Rates (2.8% COLA)

Key takeaways

• Expect a 2.8% raise: 2026 VA disability rates took effect December 1, 2025, with the first higher payment arriving December 31, 2025.
• Collect $180.42 a month at 10% or $3,938.58 a month at 100% as a veteran with no dependents.
• Add a spouse and the rate runs from $617.47 at 30% up to $4,158.17 at 100% (an extra $219.59 a month at the top rating).
• Add $109.11 per child under 18 and $352.45 per school child 18+ on top of the 100% rate, plus $201.41 if a spouse needs Aid and Attendance.
• Keep 100% of it: VA disability compensation is not taxed by the IRS or any state, so the chart amount is what lands in your account.

2026 VA disability pay went up 2.8%

The VA raised disability compensation by 2.8% for 2026. The new rates took effect December 1, 2025, and the first payment at the higher amount landed December 31, 2025. Every veteran already receiving compensation got the raise automatically, with no application and no paperwork.

That 2.8% bump is the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. By law the VA matches the same COLA that the SSA applies to Social Security, so VA disability and Social Security rose by the same 2.8% this year. The point of the COLA is to keep your check roughly even with inflation, so a 2.8% raise reflects the price increases measured over the prior year.

How much you get each month depends on two things: your disability rating (10% through 100%) and your dependents (spouse, children, and certain parents). The tables below show the most common situations. Find your rating in the left column, then read across to the dollar amount.

VA disability pay chart 2026: veteran alone

This is the rate for a veteran with no dependents. A 10% rating pays $180.42 a month and a 100% rating pays $3,938.58 a month. The jump between ratings is not even: moving from 10% to 20% adds about $176, while moving from 90% to 100% adds more than $1,500. The schedule is deliberately back-loaded so the highest ratings carry the largest dollar gains.

Most veterans do not sit at a single neat rating. If you carry several conditions, your combined rating is what decides which row you fall into, and that combined number is rarely the simple sum of your individual ratings (more on the VA math below).

VA disability pay chart 2026: veteran with spouse, no children

Once you add a spouse (and no children), the rate goes up starting at the 30% rating. At 100% with a spouse, the monthly payment is $4,158.17 instead of the $3,938.58 paid to a single veteran. That is an extra $219.59 a month, or about $2,635 a year, just for the spouse add-on at the top rating.

The dependent bump grows with your rating. At 30% the spouse add-on is small, but by 100% it is worth real money every month. That is why keeping your dependent records current with the VA matters: an out-of-date file can leave you paid at the single rate when you qualify for the higher one.

Why 10% and 20% are missing from the spouse table

The 10% and 20% ratings get no dependent adjustment at all. A veteran rated 10% or 20% is paid the flat $180.42 or $356.66 whether they are single, married, or have five children. The dependent add-ons only start at the 30% rating and grow as the rating climbs. This trips up a lot of newly married veterans at the lower ratings who expect a spouse to raise the check and it does not.

Extra amounts for dependents at 100%

On top of the spouse rate, the VA adds money for each child and for a spouse who needs Aid and Attendance. The amounts below are the add-ons at the 100% rating; they scale down at lower ratings. These stack on top of the with-spouse figure, so a larger family at 100% can land well above the base $4,158.17.

Example: a veteran rated 100% with a spouse and two kids under 18 starts at the $4,158.17 spouse rate, then adds $109.11 twice. That works out to $4,376.39 a month before any Aid and Attendance amount. If that spouse also qualifies for Aid and Attendance, add another $201.41, bringing the total to $4,577.80 a month.

A child only counts until age 18 at the standard rate. Once a child turns 18 and enrolls full time in a qualifying school program, the larger $352.45 add-on can apply in place of the under-18 amount, generally up to age 23. You have to report the school enrollment to the VA for the higher amount to start.

How VA math works (why two 50% ratings is not 100%)

The VA does not simply add your ratings together. It uses what is called VA math, which works on whatever ability is left after each disability, not on the original whole.

Start at 100% whole. A 50% disability leaves you 50% able. A second 50% disability takes half of that remaining 50%, which is another 25%. So 50% plus 50% combines to 75%, not 100%. The VA then rounds to the nearest 10%, so the final rating is 80%, not 100%.

This is why veterans with several mid-range ratings often land lower than they expect. Each new disability is applied to the smaller slice of ability that is still left over, so a fourth or fifth condition moves your combined rating far less than the first one did. It also explains why two veterans with the same list of conditions can end up at different combined ratings depending on the order and size of each rating.

The practical takeaway: a single high rating is usually worth more than several scattered low ones. Getting one condition rated at 70% does more for your check than stacking three 30% ratings, because of how the remaining-ability math compounds.

When the money arrives and whether it is taxed

The 2026 increase reached accounts on December 31, 2025, which was the first payment date at the new rates. VA disability normally pays on the first business day of each month for the prior month, so the check that lands in early January covers December.

VA disability compensation is not taxable. You do not report it on your federal return to the IRS, and no state taxes it either. The amount in the chart is the amount you actually keep, which makes a VA dollar worth more than a taxable dollar of wages or a pension of the same size.

Because the pay is tax-free, comparing it to a salary is not apples to apples. A 100% single rating of $3,938.58 a month is $47,262.96 a year with no federal or state tax taken out, which would require a noticeably higher gross salary to match after taxes.