TDIU (total disability based on individual unemployability) lets VA pay you at the 100% rate when your service-connected disabilities keep you from holding a job that supports you, even though your combined rating is lower. This TDIU calculator checks the schedular percentages in 38 CFR 4.16(a), combines your ratings with VA's Table I, compares your current payment with the 2026 100% rate for your dependents, and tests your earned income against the Census poverty threshold that VA uses for marginal employment.
Enter each service-connected disability. If VA would count several of them as one disability (both arms or both legs, a common cause or single accident, one body system, injuries in action, or disabilities from time as a prisoner of war), put them in the same group.
Service-connected disabilities and their ratings. Leave unused rows at "None".
VA can assign a total rating based on unemployability when the combined schedular rating is less than 100% and you are unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation because of service-connected disabilities. The regulation sets two schedular tests:
For these tests, VA counts the following as one disability: disabilities of one or both upper extremities, or of one or both lower extremities, including the bilateral factor; disabilities from a common etiology or a single accident; disabilities affecting a single body system, such as orthopedic, digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular-renal or neuropsychiatric; multiple injuries incurred in action; and multiple disabilities incurred as a prisoner of war.
When the percentages are met, VA disregards nonservice-connected disabilities and any earlier unemployability status. If you are unemployable because of service-connected disabilities but miss the percentages, 38 CFR 4.16(b) tells rating boards to send the case to the Director of Compensation Service for extraschedular consideration. Age is not a factor: 38 CFR 4.19 says unemployability associated with advancing age may not be used as a basis for a total rating.
| Service-connected ratings | Combined value and rating | Meets 4.16(a)? |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | 60% | Yes, one disability at 60% |
| 40 and 30 | 58, rated 60% | No, combined under 70% |
| 40, 30 and 20 | 66, rated 70% | Yes, one at 40% and 70% combined |
| 50 and 20 | 60% | No, combined under 70% |
| 30, 30 and 30 | 66, rated 70% | No, none at 40% |
| 30 and 30 in one body system, plus 30 | 66, rated 70% | Yes, the pair counts as one disability (51) |
| Knees 30 and 20 with bilateral factor, plus 30 and 20 | 71, rated 70% | Yes, the knees count as one disability (48) |
Combined values follow Table I in 38 CFR 4.25, which combines the largest rating first and converts the final value to the nearest 10, with values ending in 5 adjusted upward. The bilateral factor in 38 CFR 4.26 adds 10 percent of the combined value of both sides. The regulation does not say how VA rounds a group that counts as one disability, so the calculator shows the exact group value and flags results that depend on rounding.
TDIU pays at the same level as a 100% disability rating, but your disability rating stays the same. These are VA's 100% monthly rates effective December 1, 2025:
| Dependent status | Monthly TDIU payment |
|---|---|
| Veteran alone | $3,938.58 |
| With spouse | $4,158.17 |
| With spouse and 1 child | $4,318.99 |
| With 1 child only | $4,085.43 |
| With 1 parent | $4,114.82 |
| With spouse and 1 parent | $4,334.41 |
| Each additional child under 18 | add $109.11 |
| Each additional child over 18 in a qualifying school program | add $352.45 |
| Spouse receiving Aid and Attendance | add $201.41 |
The gain from TDIU is the gap between that rate and what you receive now. A veteran with no dependents rated 70% receives $1,808.45 a month, so TDIU would add $2,130.13 a month. At 60% the gap is $2,503.56 a month, or $30,042.72 a year.
Marginal employment is not substantially gainful employment. Under 38 CFR 4.16(a), it generally exists when your earned annual income does not exceed the Census Bureau's poverty threshold for one person. VA may also find marginal employment on a facts-found basis above that amount, including work in a protected environment such as a family business or sheltered workshop.
In its 2009 edition, VA's rating manual listed $10,590 as the poverty threshold for one person for 2007, which matches the Census weighted average threshold for one person that year, so this page uses the weighted average. Recent figures:
| Year the income was earned | Poverty threshold, one person (weighted average) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $16,330 |
| 2024 | $15,940 |
| 2023 | $15,480 |
| 2022 | $14,880 |
| 2021 | $13,788 |
| 2020 | $13,171 |
| 2019 | $13,011 |
The threshold is the same with or without dependents, because the regulation uses the figure for one person. The Census Bureau published the 2025 thresholds in 2026, so the 2026 figure is not out yet.
VA's own example describes a veteran with a service-connected heart condition rated 60% who could no longer work after chest pain began with any physical activity. VA reviewed her work and education history, found her individually unemployable, and raised her compensation to the 100% rate. With no dependents, that is $1,435.02 a month at 60% and $3,938.58 a month with TDIU, the calculator's default result.
A second case shows why grouping matters. A veteran has knee ratings of 30% and 20%, PTSD at 30% and a back condition at 20%. No single rating reaches 40%, so without grouping the two-disability test fails. The knees combine to 44, and the bilateral factor adds 4.4 for 48, which counts as one disability of at least 40%. Combined with the other two ratings, the total is 71, rated 70%, so both percentages are met.
You need a service-connected disability first. Then submit VA Form 21-8940, Veteran's Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability, and VA Form 21-4192, Request for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability Benefits, which your most recent employer must complete and submit. Both can be filed online or by mail. Add evidence, such as a doctor's report or test results, showing that your disability prevents you from having a steady job; VA will also review your work and education history.
If TDIU is granted with an earlier effective date, the VA back pay calculator estimates the retroactive payment by month. Veterans with severe disabilities should also check special monthly compensation, and survivors can review DIC rates. For Social Security disability claims, see the SSDI back pay calculator.
You must be unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation because of service-connected disabilities. For a schedular rating, one disability must be rated at least 60 percent, or you need two or more disabilities with one at 40 percent or more and a combined rating of 70 percent or more. Otherwise VA can consider extraschedular TDIU.
TDIU pays at the 100 percent rate. From December 1, 2025, that is $3,938.58 a month for a veteran alone and $4,158.17 with a spouse, with more for children, dependent parents and a spouse who needs Aid and Attendance.
VA generally treats work as marginal, not substantially gainful, when earned annual income does not exceed the Census poverty threshold for one person. The latest published weighted average for one person is $16,330 for 2025. VA can also find marginal employment above that amount, for example in a family business or sheltered workshop.
A single disability rated 70 percent meets the 60 percent test in 38 CFR 4.16(a). VA still has to find that your service-connected disabilities keep you from substantially gainful employment.
Marginal employment does not count as substantially gainful employment. If you start substantially gainful work, VA may not reduce TDIU solely for that reason unless you keep the job for 12 consecutive months.
No. Under 38 CFR 4.19, age may not be considered in evaluating service-connected disability, and unemployability associated with advancing age may not be the basis for a total rating.