VA disability · guide
Veterans Pension rates for 2026
The needs-based VA pension for wartime veterans: the 2026 limits, how countable income and medical expenses set the payment, and the net worth test.
Veterans Pension for your household
Pension per month
$903
| MAPR (yearly limit) | $22,839 |
| Pension per year | $10,839 |
| Net worth limit | $163,699 |
The Veterans Pension is a needs-based benefit for wartime veterans with limited income who are 65 or older or permanently disabled, and it works nothing like disability compensation. VA starts from a yearly limit set by Congress, the Maximum Annual Pension Rate or MAPR, and pays the difference between that limit and the household's countable income. From December 1, 2025, the MAPR is $17,441 for a veteran with no dependents, $22,839 with one dependent, and higher when the veteran is housebound ($21,313 alone) or needs Aid and Attendance ($29,093 alone, $34,488 with a dependent). A veteran alone with $12,000 of Social Security receives $5,441 a year, about $453 a month. Medical expenses above 5% of the MAPR are deducted from income, which is why Aid and Attendance pensions often help veterans paying for assisted living. Net worth must stay under $163,699.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Maximum Annual Pension Rates from December 1, 2025
| Dependents | Basic | Housebound | Aid and Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | $17,441 | $21,313 | $29,093 |
| 1 | $22,839 | $26,710 | $34,488 |
| 2 | $25,823 | $29,694 | $37,472 |
| 3 | $28,807 | $32,678 | $40,456 |
Who can receive the pension
The veteran must have served on active duty for at least 90 days, with at least one day during a wartime period as Congress defines them (for recent veterans, the Gulf War period that began on August 2, 1990 and has not been closed), or 24 months for those who entered after September 7, 1980, and must have been discharged other than dishonorably. On top of that, the veteran must be 65 or older, permanently and totally disabled, a patient in a nursing home for long-term care, or receiving Social Security disability. Income and net worth limits then apply.
How the payment is computed
VA counts the household's yearly income from every source: Social Security, pensions, wages, interest. It subtracts unreimbursed medical expenses above 5% of the MAPR that applies to the veteran. The pension is the MAPR minus what remains, paid in twelve monthly installments. Take a married veteran who needs Aid and Attendance, with $30,000 of income and $24,000 a year of assisted living costs. The MAPR is $34,488; the medical deduction is $22,276; countable income falls to $7,724, and the pension is $26,764 a year. Without the care costs, the same couple would receive nothing.
Housebound and Aid and Attendance
These are not separate benefits but higher limits for veterans already eligible for pension. Housebound applies to a veteran substantially confined to the home because of a permanent disability, or with one disability rated 100% and another at 60%. Aid and Attendance applies to a veteran who needs the help of another person for daily activities, who is bedridden, who lives in a nursing home because of disability, or whose eyesight is limited to 5/200 or a field of 5 degrees. VA Form 21-2680, completed by a physician, documents the need; for a nursing home, VA Form 21-0779.
Net worth and the look-back
Since October 2018, VA uses a single net worth limit, tied to the maximum Medicaid community spouse resource allowance and adjusted each year with the cost of living: $163,699 for the year that began on December 1, 2025. Net worth adds the household's countable assets and yearly income. The primary residence on a lot up to two acres, a vehicle, household goods and personal effects do not count. Assets transferred for less than fair market value in the three years before the claim are added back when they would have pushed net worth over the limit, and VA imposes a penalty period of up to five years, computed with a monthly penalty rate.
Pension or compensation
A veteran entitled to both receives the greater one. With a rating of 10% or 20%, compensation of $180 or $357 a month may be smaller than a pension with Aid and Attendance, but compensation is not income-tested and continues whatever the veteran earns or owns. The compensation rates and the VA disability calculator give the other side of the comparison; survivors have a separate needs-based Survivors Pension, distinct from DIC.
Survivors Pension, briefly
A surviving spouse or unmarried child of a wartime veteran can receive a Survivors Pension under the same logic: a yearly limit minus countable income, with higher limits for a survivor who is housebound or needs Aid and Attendance, and the same net worth test. It is a separate benefit from DIC, which is not income-based and is paid when the death is connected to service. A survivor eligible for both receives the greater.
Reporting changes
Because the pension depends on income and net worth, changes have to be reported: a new source of income, a Social Security increase beyond the normal adjustment, an inheritance, the sale of a property, the death of a spouse. VA can adjust the payment and recover overpayments. Medical expenses work the other way: if they rise during the year, reporting them can increase the pension, and expenses paid during the year can be reported after it ends.
Pension payments are made monthly, like compensation, and the first payment covers the months since the effective date. For a claim filed within a year of the date a veteran became permanently and totally disabled, VA can set the effective date at the onset of the disability when the delay was caused by the disability itself.