The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation provides monthly benefits to veterans with service-related disabilities. Disability compensation accounted for an estimated 43% of the VA budget in 2023. The share of veterans receiving disability compensation rose to 25% in 2020 from 9% in 2000.
Disability program costs have grown to $149.4 billion in 2023.
Two factors are driving this spending growth — the overall number of veterans receiving disability compensation and the number of veterans classified with the most severe service-connected disabilities, who receive more benefits.
How is veteran disability determined?
A veteran's disability compensation is based on a combined disability rating that measures the degree of disability from 0% to 100%. The rating, which takes multiple disabilities into account to create a single score, represents the extent to which a veteran’s disabilities decrease their overall health and ability to function.
While the number of veterans with a rating between 0% to 20% has remained roughly constant in the last 20 years, the number of veterans with a rating between 70% and 100% is almost seven times higher. As the number of more severely disabled veterans has increased, so has disability compensation program spending — from $10,013 per enrolled veteran in 2000 to $16,100 in 2022.[1]
What is the average veteran disability compensation?
Compensation increases with the degree of disability.
Veterans with disabilities of the lowest degree, 0-9%, get an average of $1,425 per year. Those whose disabilites are rated between 91% and 100%, receive an average of $48,227.
In 2023, the VA distributed 47% of all compensation to vets whose disabilities put them in the 100% combined disability category, which was 23% of all compensation recipients.
The 10% combined disability group was the second largest group, making up 15.6% of compensation recipients, and accounting for 2.8% of total estimated compensation payments.
What are the most common veteran disabilities?
Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, is the most common service-connected disability, affecting nearly 3 million vets, and accounting for 8% of all veteran disabilities. Limited knee mobility is the second most common disability, and paralysis of the sciatic nerve, which is a large nerve in the lower back, is the third most common disability.
Collectively, the top ten disabilities account for over 14.6 million cases out of the total 37.3 million reported disabilities among veterans receiving compensation.
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[1] Adjusted to 2022 dollars.
