VA disability · one rating
70% VA disability rating: pay and what it opens
What a 70% combined rating pays each month in 2026, for each family, and why it is the rating where unemployability enters the picture.
What 70% pays your family each month
Monthly compensation at 70%
$2,074.45
| Per year, tax free | $24,893 |
| Veteran alone | $1,808.45 |
| Added for your dependents | $266 |
A 70% VA disability rating pays $1,808.45 a month in 2026 to a veteran with no dependents, $1,961.45 with a spouse and $2,074.45 with a spouse and one child under 18, under the rates in force since December 1, 2025. Each further child under 18 adds $76, each child aged 18 to 23 in school $246. Seventy is also the combined rating at which individual unemployability becomes possible for a veteran with several conditions: if one of them is rated at least 40% and the veteran cannot hold a steady job because of them, VA can pay the 100% rate, $3,938.58 alone. Many 70% ratings are reached with a combined value of 65 to 74, so a single new 10% rating can be enough to move to 80%, or not, depending on where in that band the value sits.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
The 70% rate for each family
| Family | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Veteran alone | $1,808.45 | $21,701 |
| With spouse | $1,961.45 | $23,537 |
| Spouse and 1 child | $2,074.45 | $24,893 |
| Spouse and 2 children | $2,150.45 | $25,805 |
| Spouse, 1 child and 1 in college | $2,320.45 | $27,845 |
| Single parent, 1 child | $1,910.45 | $22,925 |
The step from 60% to 70% adds $373.43 a month for a veteran alone and $411.43 for a veteran with a spouse and a child: the family amounts grow with the rating, which is why a dependent is worth more at 70% than at 30%. A spouse alone adds $153 a month at this rating, against $65 at 30%. If your marriage or a child's birth happened after your last claim, VA pays the added amount only once you report it, and back to the date of the event only if you report it within a year.
How veterans usually reach 70%
Few conditions are rated 70% on their own; the general rating formula for mental disorders is one of them, with occupational and social impairment in most areas. More often, 70% is the sum of several ratings combined in VA math. A 50% rating and a 40% rating combine to 70, which rounds to 70. Three ratings of 50%, 30% and 10% give 69, also 70. A veteran with 40%, 30%, 20% and 10% lands at 69, the same step again. The combined ratings table shows each step. The practical consequence is that two veterans rated 70% can be far apart: one with a combined value of 65 is one small rating away from dropping back if a condition improves, the other at 74 is a single 10% rating away from 80% (74 and 10 combine to 77).
The unemployability threshold
For a veteran with two or more service-connected disabilities, a combined 70% with one disability at 40% or more meets the schedular test for individual unemployability. TDIU is not automatic: VA looks at your education, your work history and whether your conditions prevent a job that pays more than the poverty threshold. When it is granted, the payment rises to the 100% rate, and with a spouse and a child that is $4,318.99 a month instead of $2,074.45. The TDIU page explains the evidence VA asks for.
Health care and other benefits at 70%
A rating of 50% or more puts a veteran in VA health care priority group 1, with no copays for care or medications. At 70% you can also count on the state benefits that many states tie to a high rating, such as property tax relief, but each state sets its own threshold. For a military retiree with 20 years, a 70% rating keeps both checks through CRDP, and the payments add up without any waiver: see the CRDP calculator.
A 70% rating made of a mental health condition at 70% alone also differs from a 70% made of several ratings in one respect: the general rating formula for mental disorders describes occupational impairment, so the evidence used for the rating often supports an unemployability claim too.