Sixty percent is a rating with two jobs. In VA’s 2026 schedule it pays a veteran $1,435.02 a month, and in the department’s unemployability rules it is the single-condition threshold that can open the way to the 100% rate for a veteran who cannot hold steady work. The first fact comes from a table, the second from a separate claim.
A $1,435.02 baseline, counted over a year
The 60% row of VA’s 2026 compensation table lists $1,435.02 a month for a veteran with no dependents. Twelve payments come to $17,220.24. The schedule took effect December 1, 2025, and the page was last updated December 2, 2025; as of September 30, 2026 it shows no newer figures.
The amount is a gross monthly rate. The table is not an average of what 60%-rated veterans actually receive, and it does not account for any individual award’s start date or offsets.
Two rows higher, the 80% rating is listed at $2,102.15 for a veteran alone, which is $667.13 a month more than the 60% figure. That comparison, drawn from the same page, is the cleanest way to see what a rating increase would be worth at this level: a step of $667.13 monthly, or $8,005.56 over twelve months.
Where 60% sits in the unemployability rules
VA’s page on individual unemployability sets out who may be paid at the 100% rate without holding a 100% rating. Two conditions apply together. The veteran must be unable to keep a steady job that supports a living, which VA calls substantially gainful employment. And the rating must meet one of two tests: a single service-connected disability rated 60% or higher, or two or more disabilities with at least one rated 40% or higher and a combined rating of 70% or higher.
A 60% rating on one condition is thus the lowest single-disability rating that satisfies the first test. The page states that compensation under this route is paid at the 100% rate while the veteran’s actual disability rating stays unchanged. Measured against the schedule, that is a gap of $2,503.56 a month between the 60% baseline of $1,435.02 and the 100% baseline of $3,938.58.
The application involves two forms: VA Form 21-8940, the application for increased compensation based on unemployability, and VA Form 21-4192, a request for employment information. Evidence such as medical reports goes with them, and VA reviews the veteran’s work and education history. The rate table decides none of this. The table only shows what the two ends of the range are worth.
No federal income tax on the deposit
Tax treatment decides how far a monthly payment stretches, so it belongs next to the rate. The Internal Revenue Service’s page for veterans tax information and services gives the rule in one sentence: “Don’t include disability benefits you received from the VA in your gross income.” The IRS lists disability compensation and pension payments among the amounts excluded.
In household terms, that means the $1,435.02 does not have to be reported as wages or as other income on a federal return. A 60%-rated veteran who also holds a job is not placing the VA amount into the same tax computation as the paycheck. State rules are a separate matter, and the IRS page speaks only to the federal side.
The difference between a single condition and a combined rating matters here. A veteran whose conditions each sit at 30% or 40% is judged under the second test, which asks for a combined rating of 70% and at least one condition at 40%. A veteran with one condition at 60% skips that combination requirement entirely, and moves straight to the question of whether steady work is possible.
Spouse, children and the Aid and Attendance line at 60%
The dependents in the 60% row are priced at smaller amounts than the ones in higher rows. A spouse raises the figure to $1,566.02, a step of $131.00. A spouse and one child bring it to $1,663.02, a further $97.00. Each additional child under 18 adds $65.00. The row also carries a line for a spouse receiving Aid and Attendance, listed at $121.00.
These amounts apply only once dependents are recorded on the award. A household that assumes the figure moves automatically after a birth or marriage is reading the table as though it were a record of the family, which it is not.
What the 60% figure leaves out
The schedule states amounts by rating and dependents. It says nothing about whether a specific veteran qualifies for the unemployability route, and no table can, because that decision rests on the veteran’s work history and medical evidence. The VA’s own description of unemployability points to a phone line, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern, for questions about a claim.
For the number in the title, the controlling source is the Department of Veterans Affairs rate table itself: $1,435.02 a month at 60% for 2026, alone, before any dependent amount or add-on.
A claim tracker for the pension route rather than the rating route
A 60% rating is a compensation matter, decided by VA on service-connected disability. Veterans and surviving spouses looking at VA pension face a separate application, and a tracker built for that claim is a different tool from anything used for a rating.
The Veterans Benefits Action Kit pairs a claim tracker with the pension-poacher warning signs, and it covers pension only, not disability compensation.
Log each step of a VA pension claim from filing to decision →
Drafted with help from an AI system and reviewed against the VA and IRS pages linked in the text.
