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Rating guide · Mental health

PTSD and the VA: What Each Rating Level Means

Plenty of Fort Riley soldiers, McConnell airmen and Guard members came home carrying more than they talk about. The VA rates PTSD on the day-to-day damage it does, and that damage can be put on paper.

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Each level in plain English
2026 pay table
Stressor evidence rules
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Plain English

The Rating Levels Without the Legalese

10%: symptoms show up mainly under heavy stress, or medication keeps them in check.
30%: you hold things together, but sleep problems, anxiety, suspicion or occasional panic sometimes knock your work off track.
50%: you’re less dependable than you used to be: panic more than weekly, memory or motivation trouble, strained relationships.
70%: most parts of life are affected, from work and family to judgment and mood, with things like constant depression, explosive anger or isolation.
100%: symptoms make both working and having a social life impossible.

The official wording is below. Raters weigh how often symptoms happen, how bad they are, and how long they’ve lasted, and symptoms outside the listed examples still count.

38 CFR 4.130 · DC 9411

Official PTSD Criteria and Pay

Current as of October 2026. Pay effective December 1, 2025 for a veteran with no dependents; family members add more at 30% and above. The VA has proposed new mental health criteria, but they are not in effect.
Rating	VA criteria	2026 pay (alone)
100%	Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought processes or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name.	$3,938.58
70%	Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.	$1,808.45
50%	Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.	$1,132.90
30%	Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events).	$552.47
10%	Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.	$180.42
0%	A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication.	$0.00

Service connection

Supporting What Happened to You

Along with a diagnosis and a medical link, the VA needs support for the stressor. It depends on the type:

Combat: your account can stand on its own if it fits your unit’s mission, as with many 1st Infantry Division deployments.
Fear of hostile activity: indirect fire, IED threats and convoy runs count when a VA or VA-contracted psychologist or psychiatrist confirms the stressor fits the diagnosis.
Assault or MST: handled under special evidence rules. See the MST guide.
Accidents and training deaths: unit records and statements from those who were there can corroborate them.

Exam prep

Before You Sit Down With the Examiner

Kansas PTSD exams often happen in Wichita, Topeka or Leavenworth, with a contracted examiner, or by telehealth. Go in with:

A short written list of symptoms and how often each shows up
Concrete examples: jobs you left or lost, arguments, avoiding crowds, trouble driving
A statement from your spouse, a sibling or a battle buddy

Conditions PTSD can cause or worsen, like sleep apnea, migraines and GERD, may be rated separately.

FAQ

PTSD VA Rating: Common Questions

What does 100% PTSD pay in 2026?

$3,938.58 a month for a veteran with no dependents, effective December 1, 2025. Spouses and children add more.

Can I keep my job and still be rated 70%?

Yes. Schedular ratings aren’t reduced because you work. Only TDIU requires being unable to maintain substantially gainful employment.

Are PTSD and depression rated together?

Yes. The VA assigns one combined rating for all mental health diagnoses.

I never deployed. Can I still have service-connected PTSD?

Yes. Stateside stressors like training accidents or assaults can support a claim with corroborating evidence.

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