30% VA Disability Rating
If you are a veteran suffering from an injury, chronic condition, or disability connected to your military service, you are eligible to apply for a VA disability rating. Your rating entitles you to monthly compensation and certain other benefits depending on the nature and extent of your disabling condition. In 2025, the starting monthly compensation for a single, unmarried veteran with a 30 percent disability rating is $537.42.
A 30 percent VA rating is the first disability rating that increases the monthly payment based on the number of dependents a veteran supports. Veterans with a 10 or 20 percent rating receive one flat compensation rate regardless of their marital status or the number of dependents they have.
If you have questions about your 30 percent VA rating, want to increase your rating, or think you may be eligible to receive a combined disability rating for multiple conditions, Veterans Guide can help.
How Much Is 30% VA Disability Compensation?
In 2025, the maximum monthly compensation for veterans with a 30 percent disability rating is $750.62. This maximum amount is available to eligible married veterans with two dependent parents and one dependent child.
Veterans with 10 and 20 percent ratings do not receive any monthly compensation increase for dependents. Thus, their monthly VA disability compensation remains the same regardless of whether a veteran supports a spouse, children, or parents. One benefit of receiving a 30 percent rating is eligibility for increases proportionate to the number of dependents you support.
2025 COLA Benefits Increase for 30% Rating
Recipients of VA disability benefits receive a cost-of-living adjustment or COLA in benefits every year at a rate determined by the Social Security Administration. In 2025, the cost-of-living adjustment amount is 2.5 percent. Therefore, monthly compensation for single veterans with a 30 percent disability rating and no dependents has risen to $537.42 from $524.31 in 2024.
Other Benefits Available to Veterans With a 30% Disability Rating
VA benefits for veterans with a 30 percent disability rating aren’t limited to monthly compensation. Additional benefits include the following.
No-Cost VA Health Care
A 30 percent VA disability rating provides veterans access to certain health care benefits, including certain forms of no-cost health care.
Medical treatment and prescription coverage for service-connected disabilities is free to veterans with a 30 percent rating. A 30 percent rating also places you in priority group 2 for health care benefits, meaning that in most cases, you will have access to no-cost care for a majority of non-service-connected medical services. A 30 percent rating also grants veterans travel allowance funds to VA facilities for treatment and care.
The amount of VA health care you receive for free may depend on your income. Income limits are set based on your zip code and the number of dependents you have. You can determine whether your income is within limits for certain types of medical care on the VA website.
VA Home Loan Assistance
The VA waives the funding fee associated with its home loan program for eligible veterans with a 30 percent disability rating. Eligibility depends on conditions such as length of active service, income stability, and minimum credit score.
Burial and Burial Plot Allowance
The VA will pay up to $2,000 toward burial expenses for deaths on or after September 11, 2001, or up to $1,500 for deaths before September 11, 2001, resulting from service-connected conditions. For non-service-connected deaths occurring on or after October 1, 2024, the VA will pay up to $978 toward burial and funeral expenses and a $978 plot-interment allowance.
To qualify for benefits, the veteran must have either been receiving VA benefits or died from a service-connected condition. The VA also reimburses some costs of transporting the deceased’s remains for interment in a national memorial cemetery.
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment
The GI Bill and the Veterans Readiness and Employment program, or VR&E, are both available for veterans with 30 percent ratings who have received honorable discharges upon leaving the military. After the VA receives your application for VR&E benefits, you will be assigned a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, or VRC. The VRC will conduct an initial evaluation to determine your potential eligibility for VR&E.
The VR&E program is only available to veterans with conditions that result in a “serious employment handicap.” Having a serious employment handicap means that the service-connected disability “significantly limits your ability to prepare for, obtain, and maintain suitable employment.” Suitable employment is defined as a stable job that doesn’t worsen your disability and matches your abilities, aptitudes, and interests.
Commissary and Exchange Privileges
Veterans with VA disability ratings of any percentage can shop at local commissaries and exchanges even though they are no longer on active duty. Commissary and exchange privileges give you access to clothes, groceries, and other necessities at lower prices than you would pay off base.
Can I Increase My Disability Rating?
If you have received a 30 percent disability rating and believe your service-connected condition qualifies you for a higher rating, you may appeal for an increase. If you have multiple service-connected disabilities, you may also be eligible to receive a combined rating, which will similarly increase your VA benefits. Increasing your 30 percent rating even by as much as 10 percent could qualify you for up to an extra $306.44 per month.
While veterans with 30 and 40 percent ratings generally receive roughly equal benefits beyond monthly compensation, increasing your rating to 50 percent could qualify you for additional programs only available to veterans with at least 50 percent ratings. These benefits include placement in priority group 1 for VA health care benefits, meaning free health care for most services with hardly any copays. Veterans with 50 percent disability ratings are also eligible for significantly higher monthly compensation—up to $1,456.69 in 2025 for a veteran with a spouse, one dependent child, and two dependent parents.
What Is a Combined Rating?
Veterans suffering from multiple service-connected conditions may also be eligible to receive a combined disability rating. When assigning a combined disability rating, the VA assigns each condition an individual rating. It then ranks the ratings in order of severity and uses a Combined Ratings Table to calculate the combined rating. This process can be repeated as many times as necessary depending on the number of conditions a veteran suffers from.
To estimate your combined disability rating, you can use Veterans Guide’s 2025 VA Disability Calculator.
30% Disability Rating FAQs
Common questions we receive from veterans about VA disability ratings include the following:
What Conditions Typically Qualify for a 30% Disability Rating?
Many of the most common service-connected conditions resulting in access to VA disability benefits are associated with a 30 percent rating. These include the following conditions:
- Migraines: A migraine is a neurological disorder marked by a severe headache and sensory sensitivity. Disability ratings for migraines range from 0 to 50 percent, depending on your ability to work.
- Nerve damage: Nerve damage can affect many parts of the body, resulting in pain, numbness, and loss of sensation. Disability ratings for nerve damage depend on the location of the damage and its impact on your daily life.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD: PTSD is a mental disability linked to trauma that can severely impact a veteran’s daily social and occupational functioning. Ratings for PTSD range from 0 to 100 percent.
- Limited mobility of an extremity or joint: Knees, ankles, arms, and wrists are all common joints and extremities impacted by limited mobility. Disability ratings for limited mobility depend on the body part affected and the severity of the limitation.
Can I Also Receive SSDI?
Veterans who cannot work due to a service-related condition can also apply for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits or SSDI. In some cases, increasing your VA disability rating can also increase the likelihood that you will be approved for SSDI benefits.
To qualify, you must have paid a sufficient amount of Social Security taxes over your work history and have a disabling condition that meets the Social Security Administration’s criteria. Participating in any “substantial gainful activity” with $1,620 or more in monthly income makes you ineligible to receive SSDI. SSDI benefits are only available to veterans who are completely unable to work.
Is My VA Compensation Taxable?
VA compensation is tax-free, regardless of your rating percentage. Some states also offer other tax breaks for veterans, such as vehicle exemptions.
Client Reviews
SHELLY DONNETT'E MILTON DAVIS Want to Increase Your VA Rating?
