The VA disability rating for hearing loss runs from 0% to 100%, but most veterans end up at 0% or 10%. The reason is the formula: your rating is set almost entirely by two audiometric tests plugged into regulatory tables, with no adjustment for how the loss actually affects your life. At the low end, that means no monthly payment. At the top, it means $3,938.58 per month, tax-free, under the 2026 rates.
When Hearing Loss Counts as a Disability
Before any percentage gets assigned, your hearing loss has to clear a threshold. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.385, the VA treats hearing loss as a disability only if at least one of three things is true: an auditory threshold of 40 decibels or greater at any of the tested frequencies (500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hz); thresholds of 26 decibels or greater at three or more of those frequencies; or a speech recognition score below 94% on the Maryland CNC word recognition test.1GovInfo. 38 CFR § 3.385 – Service Connection for Hearing Loss
Meeting one of those conditions establishes that a hearing impairment exists. It says nothing about severity. Severity comes from a separate calculation.
How the Percentage Is Calculated
Under 38 C.F.R. § 4.85, the rating is mechanical. A state-licensed audiologist gives two tests, both without hearing aids. The first, puretone audiometry, measures the faintest tones you can detect at 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz; the four results are averaged into one “puretone threshold average.” The second, the Maryland CNC test, is a 50-word speech recognition test that produces a percentage score.2eCFR. 38 CFR § 4.85 – Evaluation of Hearing Impairment
Those two numbers get cross-referenced on Table VI for each ear. The intersection assigns that ear a Roman numeral from I (mildest) to XI (most severe). A veteran with a 55 dB puretone average and 74% speech discrimination, for example, gets a V for that ear.3Cornell Law Institute. 38 CFR § 4.85 – Evaluation of Hearing Impairment
If the examiner certifies that speech discrimination testing is inappropriate — because of a language barrier or inconsistent scores, for instance — the VA uses Table VIa, which assigns the numeral from the puretone average alone. Under Table VIa, a puretone average of 0–41 dB is a I, 42–48 dB is a II, and the scale continues up to 105+ dB for an XI.
Once each ear has a numeral, Table VII combines them. The better ear runs along one axis, the poorer ear along the other, and the intersection gives the final rating. The possible outcomes are 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or 100%.
A few points on the table:
- Both ears at Level I: 0%, no compensable disability.
- One ear at Level V, the other at Level III: 10%.
- Both ears at Level VI: 30%.
- One ear at Level IX, the other at Level VI: 40%.
- Both ears at Level XI: 100%, which also triggers a review for Special Monthly Compensation.
One quirk matters a lot. If only one ear is service-connected, the other ear is automatically assigned a Roman numeral of I on Table VII, no matter how bad its actual hearing is. That treatment of the non-connected ear as essentially normal is why veterans with severe loss on just one service-connected side rarely reach a high percentage.2eCFR. 38 CFR § 4.85 – Evaluation of Hearing Impairment
Exceptional Patterns That Can Raise Your Rating
The standard formula understates certain severe losses, so 38 C.F.R. § 4.86 carves out two exceptions.
The first: if the puretone threshold is 55 dB or higher at each of the four tested frequencies (1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz), the VA runs the numbers through both Table VI and Table VIa and uses whichever produces the higher Roman numeral.
The second: if the puretone threshold is 30 dB or less at 1000 Hz but 70 dB or more at 2000 Hz — a steep drop-off common in noise-induced hearing loss — the VA again takes the higher numeral from Table VI or VIa and then bumps it up one level.4eCFR. 38 CFR § 4.86 – Exceptional Patterns of Hearing Impairment
If your audiogram fits either pattern, the exceptional-patterns rule can be the difference between a 10% and a meaningful higher rating.
Why the Rating Often Comes Out Lower Than Expected
Hearing loss and tinnitus are the most prevalent service-connected disabilities in the country, with more than 3.6 million veterans receiving VA benefits for them.5VA Research. Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Research Even so, the typical award is 10%, and higher ratings are uncommon. Three reasons stand out.
The formula is purely mechanical. What happens in the testing booth is what determines the rating. There is no adjustment for how the loss affects your job, your family conversations, or your ability to follow speech in a noisy room. Two veterans with identical audiograms get identical ratings.
Bilateral loss outranks unilateral loss. Table VII rewards combined dysfunction, so a veteran who is profoundly deaf in one ear and normal in the other may still receive only a 10%, because overall function reads as mostly intact.
Service connection in just one ear caps you out fast. That automatic Level I assignment for the non-connected ear means the math almost never produces a high number.
Monthly Compensation by Rating
VA disability compensation is tax-free. The 2026 rates, effective December 1, 2025 and reflecting a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment, are as follows for a veteran with no dependents:6VA. 2026 Veterans Disability Compensation Rates
- 10%: $180.42 per month
- 20%: $356.66
- 30%: $552.47
- 40%: $795.84
- 50%: $1,132.90
- 60%: $1,435.02
- 70%: $1,808.45
- 80%: $2,102.15
- 90%: $2,362.30
- 100%: $3,938.58
Veterans rated at 30% or higher receive additional compensation for dependents, including a spouse, children, and dependent parents. The specific amounts vary by rating level and family composition.7Military.com. VA Disability Pay Rates
Tinnitus Filed Alongside Hearing Loss
Tinnitus, the ringing or buzzing in the ears, often gets claimed with hearing loss because both usually come from the same in-service noise exposure. Under Diagnostic Code 6260, tinnitus is a flat 10% whether it affects one ear or both. That 10% is the floor and the ceiling for tinnitus alone.5VA Research. Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Research
When you have both hearing loss and tinnitus, the VA does not add the two percentages together. It uses a combined ratings formula that accounts for remaining healthy function. A veteran with 10% for hearing loss and 10% for tinnitus does not get 20%. The combined result is 19%, rounded to 20%.
A 2022 VA proposal would eliminate the standalone tinnitus rating and treat tinnitus as a symptom of an underlying condition, but as of early 2026 the rule has not been finalized, no effective date has been announced, and Diagnostic Code 6260 remains active. The VA has said existing tinnitus benefits would not be reduced for veterans currently receiving them if the change eventually takes effect.8VA. Board of Veterans’ Appeals Decision – Citation Nr: A22022713
What a 0% Rating Still Provides
A 0% rating pays nothing monthly, but it is worth having. Service connection at any level, including 0%, makes you eligible for VA health care: checkups, specialist appointments, prescriptions, and travel pay reimbursement for approved medical appointments.9VA. Non-Compensable Disability Veterans enrolled in VA care with service-connected hearing loss at 0% or higher can also receive hearing aids, repairs, batteries, and accessories at no cost through the VA’s Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service.10VA Prosthetics. Hearing Aids
A 0% rating also sets a foundation. If your hearing worsens, you can file for an increase without re-proving service connection. And the VA may automatically bump a rating to 10% when a veteran has two or more permanent non-compensable service-connected disabilities, no ratings above 0%, and the combined effect creates difficulty working.
If the Rating Comes Back Too Low
Hearing loss claims are denied or underrated for a familiar set of reasons: no documented complaints during service, a long gap between discharge and diagnosis that the VA attributes to aging, flawed or incomplete Compensation and Pension exams, test results that fall just short of the § 3.385 thresholds, and private audiograms conducted without the Maryland CNC test or a sound-treated booth.
Three appeal lanes are available:
- Supplemental Claim (VA Form 20-0995), used when you have new and relevant evidence to add, such as a private nexus letter, updated audiograms, or lay statements from family or fellow service members about noise exposure and how symptoms have progressed.
- Higher-Level Review (VA Form 20-0996), where a senior VA reviewer re-examines the existing file for factual or legal errors, like evidence that was ignored or test results misread. No new evidence is accepted in this lane.
- Board of Veterans’ Appeals (VA Form 10182), a formal review by a Veterans Law Judge, suited to complex cases or ones where the other lanes have already failed.
One thing worth knowing about proof: the absence of hearing loss at discharge does not automatically bar a claim. Under Hensley v. Brown, service connection can be established if there is a medically sound basis for linking your current hearing loss to in-service noise exposure, even when military audiograms at separation showed normal hearing.8VA. Board of Veterans’ Appeals Decision – Citation Nr: A22022713
Filing for an Increase Later
Hearing tends to worsen with age. If your condition has deteriorated since the last decision, you can file for an increased rating with up-to-date medical evidence.11VA. When To File a VA Disability Claim The VA also schedules mandatory reexaminations of its own, typically six months after a claim is approved and again three to five years later, and keeps authority to order more when it sees a reason.
Veterans over 55, those with permanent disabilities, or those who have held a specific rating without improvement for at least five years may be exempt from routine reexaminations. Filing for an increase does carry risk: the new exam can result in the same rating, a higher one, or a reduction if the VA finds the condition has improved.
Total Deafness, SMC, and TDIU
Total deafness in both ears may qualify for Special Monthly Compensation at the “k” level (SMC-k), which pays an additional amount on top of standard disability compensation.2eCFR. 38 CFR § 4.85 – Evaluation of Hearing Impairment
If your hearing loss or tinnitus keeps you from holding substantially gainful employment even though your combined rating is below 100%, Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) is the other route to full compensation. TDIU pays at the 100% rate when the VA finds that your service-connected conditions, alone or together, make you unable to work.