What is the VA rating for tinnitus?

Tinnitus is rated at a maximum of 10 percent under 38 CFR 4.87 Diagnostic Code 6260, regardless of whether it is unilateral (one ear), bilateral (both ears), constant, intermittent, mild, or severe. The 10 percent rating is a single rating for the condition, not per ear. This cap has been challenged repeatedly and confirmed by the Federal Circuit in Smith v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2006).

Why is tinnitus only 10 percent?

Because 38 CFR 4.87 DC 6260 assigns a single flat 10 percent for recurrent tinnitus. The 1999 amendment set the 10 percent rating for recurrent tinnitus regardless of cause, and the 2003 amendment clarified that only one evaluation is assigned no matter how severe the tinnitus is or whether it is in one ear, both ears, or the head. The reasoning was administrative: tinnitus is largely subjective, has no objective severity measure, and varies day to day, so VA chose a fixed single rating rather than a severity-graded schedule. The Federal Circuit confirmed in Smith v. Nicholson that VA's interpretation of its own regulation is reasonable.

Is tinnitus easy to get service-connected?

Yes, when paired with combat or noise-exposed MOS. Tinnitus is one of the easiest conditions to service-connect because (1) it is recognized as inherently subjective and the VA accepts lay testimony of perceived ringing, buzzing, or hissing under Buchanan v. Nicholson; (2) the Institute of Medicine 2007 report acknowledges noise-induced tinnitus typically develops on a delayed basis after exposure ends, so post-service onset does not defeat service connection; (3) combat MOS, infantry, artillery, armor, aviation maintenance, and similar noise-heavy specialties carry recognized presumed noise exposure.

Can I get more than 10 percent for tinnitus?

Not for tinnitus alone — DC 6260 caps at 10 percent. But you can stack additional ratings: (1) if tinnitus causes or aggravates anxiety, depression, or sleep disorder, those are separately compensable under 38 CFR 4.130; (2) if the tinnitus is part of Ménière's disease, the rating moves to DC 6205 which goes up to 100 percent; (3) hearing loss is separately rated under DC 6100 and can stack with tinnitus.

Do I need an audiogram for a tinnitus claim?

No. Tinnitus is a subjective symptom that the veteran perceives but no equipment can measure objectively. An audiogram can help confirm hearing loss (which often coexists) but is not required for the tinnitus claim itself. Lay testimony of perceived ringing, buzzing, or hissing combined with documented noise exposure during service is sufficient evidence.

What is the secondary mental health strategy?

Tinnitus that interferes with sleep, concentration, or mood frequently causes or aggravates anxiety, depression, and insomnia. These mental health conditions are separately rated under 38 CFR 4.130 with brackets up to 100 percent. A nexus letter from a treating mental health provider linking the tinnitus to the mental health condition supports the secondary claim under 38 CFR 3.310.

Tinnitus VA Claim

By Shirley Chia. Published 2026-06-11. Source: 38 CFR 4.87 DC 6260.

TL;DR. Tinnitus is the single most common service-connected disability in the VA system — but DC 6260 caps it at 10 percent regardless of severity or laterality. The Federal Circuit confirmed the cap in Smith v. Nicholson. The good news: tinnitus is one of the easiest conditions to service-connect because the VA accepts lay testimony (Buchanan v. Nicholson) and recognizes presumed noise exposure for combat and noise-heavy MOS. The three strategies for more than 10 percent: (1) secondary mental health — tinnitus-induced anxiety, depression, or sleep disorder rated separately under 38 CFR 4.130 with brackets up to 100 percent; (2) Ménière's disease — if tinnitus is part of Ménière's, rating moves to DC 6205 (up to 100 percent); (3) primary hearing loss — separately rated under DC 6100, stacks with tinnitus. No audiogram is required for the tinnitus rating itself.

Why DC 6260 caps at 10 percent

38 CFR 4.87 Diagnostic Code 6260 reads in full: Tinnitus, recurrent — 10 percent. Note 1: A separate evaluation for tinnitus may be combined with an evaluation under diagnostic codes 6100, 6200, 6204, or other diagnostic code, except as provided in note 2. Note 2: Assign only a single evaluation for recurrent tinnitus, whether the sound is perceived in one ear, both ears, or in the head.

The Federal Circuit upheld this single-rating cap in Smith v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2006), reasoning that VA's interpretation of its own regulation is entitled to deference. The court rejected the argument that bilateral tinnitus should receive a separate evaluation per ear.

Practical consequence: a veteran with constant, severe, bilateral tinnitus that wrecks sleep and concentration gets the same 10% as a veteran with mild, intermittent ringing in one ear. Widely seen as inadequate, but it is the regulation, and arguing severity to a rater is wasted breath. Stop trying to make 10% into 20%. The real gains are everywhere else — in the conditions tinnitus causes and the conditions it travels with. That is the rest of this guide.

One more practical note before the strategies. The 10% rating is also why you should never let tinnitus sit unclaimed. It is cheap to win, it establishes service connection for a noise-exposure etiology you will likely lean on again for hearing loss, and it is the anchor every secondary claim below attaches to. Claim it early even if 10% feels like a rounding error.

How tinnitus wins service connection

Lay evidence is sufficient

Tinnitus is the textbook case for lay evidence sufficiency. The condition is subjective by definition — no equipment can measure it, and only the veteran perceives the sound. Under Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2006), the veteran is competent to testify to the perception of ringing, buzzing, hissing, or other tinnitus sounds. A short written statement — when the sound started, what it sounds like, how often it intrudes — is real evidence here, not filler. Date it, sign it, keep it consistent with what you tell the examiner.

Noise-heavy MOS = presumed exposure

The Institute of Medicine 2007 report on Noise and Military Service identified several MOS categories with presumed noise exposure sufficient to cause tinnitus:

Combat arms (infantry, armor, cavalry, field artillery, Marine 03xx)
Aviation (pilots, aircrew, aviation maintenance)
Mechanized infantry, tank crew
Special operations
Construction engineers (heavy equipment, demolitions)
Naval engine room, gunnery, flight deck
Military police on weapons-qualification ranges

VA's M21-1 manual incorporates these presumptions. A veteran with a noise-heavy MOS does not need separate proof of in-service noise exposure — the MOS itself documents it.

Delayed onset does not defeat the claim

The IOM 2007 report also confirmed that noise-induced tinnitus often develops on a delayed basis after exposure ends. A veteran who first noticed tinnitus 5, 10, or even 20 years after separation can still service-connect the condition if the in-service noise exposure was sufficient to cause it.

The three strategies to get more than 10 percent

Strategy 1: Secondary mental health

Chronic tinnitus is associated with significantly elevated rates of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Multiple peer-reviewed studies (Bhatt 2016, Mazurek 2015, Reynolds 2004) document the tinnitus-to-mental-health pathway. The mechanism: persistent intrusive sound interferes with concentration, sleep, and mood regulation; chronic sleep disruption produces or worsens depression and anxiety; the combination is rated under 38 CFR 4.130 brackets up to 100 percent.

Filing strategy:

Service-connect tinnitus under DC 6260 (lay evidence + MOS presumption usually sufficient).
Obtain mental health evaluation from VA or private provider — document anxiety, depression, sleep disorder, attention/concentration symptoms tied to tinnitus.
Obtain nexus letter from mental health provider linking the mental health condition to the service-connected tinnitus.
File mental health claim as secondary to tinnitus under 38 CFR 3.310.

Two things make or break this claim. First, the nexus letter has to tie the mental health condition specifically to the tinnitus, not to general "service stress" — the provider should describe the mechanism (the intrusive sound disrupts sleep onset, the sleep loss feeds depression and anxiety) and use the "at least as likely as not" language. Second, watch for double-counting if you already have a service-connected mental health condition like PTSD. The VA will not pay twice for the same psychiatric symptoms. The cleaner play in that situation is an aggravation claim under 3.310 — arguing that tinnitus made the existing condition measurably worse — or pursuing the new symptoms only to the extent they are distinct.

Typical result: tinnitus at 10% plus a secondary mental health rating of 30 to 70% combines, under 38 CFR 4.25, to a number well above 10%.

Strategy 2: Ménière's disease pathway

Tinnitus is one of three classic symptoms of Ménière's disease (with vertigo and fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss). When the tinnitus is part of Ménière's, the condition is rated under 38 CFR 4.87 DC 6205 rather than DC 6260. The brackets:

30 percent: hearing impairment with vertigo less than once a month, with or without tinnitus
60 percent: hearing impairment with attacks of vertigo and cerebellar gait occurring from one to four times a month, with or without tinnitus
100 percent: hearing impairment with attacks of vertigo and cerebellar gait occurring more than once weekly, with or without tinnitus

The note under DC 6205 gives the rater a choice: evaluate Ménière's under these brackets, or separately evaluate the vertigo (as a peripheral vestibular disorder), the hearing impairment, and the tinnitus — whichever method produces the higher overall evaluation. You cannot have both; a 60% Ménière's rating cannot stack with a separate DC 6260 tinnitus rating for the same disease. If you have the full triad, run the math both ways before deciding what to argue for.

Ménière's requires diagnosis by an ENT or audiologist with the full triad documented. Not every veteran with tinnitus has Ménière's — the vertigo + hearing loss combination is required.

Strategy 3: Primary hearing loss

Hearing loss is rated under 38 CFR 4.85 Table VI and 4.86 (exceptional patterns) using DC 6100. The rating ranges from 0 to 100 percent based on pure tone average (PTA) and Maryland CNC speech discrimination test results. Hearing loss and tinnitus very commonly coexist because they share the same etiology (noise exposure). Filing hearing loss alongside tinnitus is standard.

The hearing-loss calculator on this site translates audiogram results to a DC 6100 rating. Use the hearing disability calculator.

The C&P exam: a short conversation, but it matters

Because tinnitus has no objective measure, the C&P exam is essentially the examiner confirming your history and rendering an opinion on whether the tinnitus is at least as likely as not related to service. There is no machine that detects ringing. The examiner asks when you first noticed it, what it sounds like, and how it affects you, then forms a nexus opinion. So your job is to be clear and consistent: state when the tinnitus began (in service, or describe the delayed onset honestly), describe the sound, and connect it to your noise exposure or MOS. If you are also building a secondary mental health claim, this is the moment to describe the sleep disruption and concentration problems out loud, because the examiner's notes feed everything downstream. Inconsistency between what you tell the examiner and what is in your records is the most common reason a winnable tinnitus claim gets a negative nexus.

Tinnitus, TDIU, and SMC

Tinnitus at 10% does not drive TDIU by itself, and the cap means it never will alone. But the secondary chain can. If tinnitus-driven anxiety, depression, and insomnia rise to a 70% mental health rating, and that condition keeps you from substantially gainful employment, TDIU under 38 CFR 4.16 is on the table — and the unemployability is being driven by a condition that traces straight back to your service-connected tinnitus. SMC is further down the road: it generally requires a 100% rating or TDIU plus a separate 60% disability under 38 USC 1114(s), or the specific losses SMC is designed for. Tinnitus is rarely the centerpiece there, but it can be the seed of the secondary mental health condition that becomes the centerpiece. The lesson is the same one running through this whole guide — the 10% number is a floor to build on, not a ceiling on what your ears can cost you.

Worked example

Army veteran, 11B (infantry), Iraq deployments 2005-2008. Tinnitus first noticed 2012 (4 years after separation). Filed initial claim 2014.

Initial claim: Tinnitus only, lay statement describing constant bilateral ringing first noticed 2012, MOS documentation (11B). Granted at 10% under DC 6260 (no audiogram required for tinnitus rating itself).

Audiogram 2018 shows moderate bilateral high-frequency hearing loss. Files hearing loss claim. Audiogram PTA 32 dB right / 30 dB left, Maryland CNC 88% right / 92% left. Granted at 0% under DC 6100 (mild hearing loss — schedular 0%). Tinnitus + hearing loss combined: still 10% (because 10 + 0 = 10).

Secondary mental health 2024. Veteran develops insomnia attributed by treating psychiatrist to chronic tinnitus interfering with sleep onset. Psychiatrist documents 4-hour average sleep, daytime fatigue, secondary anxiety. Files secondary insomnia/anxiety claim under 38 CFR 3.310 secondary to service-connected tinnitus. Nexus letter from treating psychiatrist cites Bhatt 2016 and the tinnitus-induced sleep disruption pathway. Granted at 30% under 38 CFR 4.130 (chronic sleep impairment, anxiety, occasional decrease in work efficiency).

Combined rating math. This is where veterans miscount. You do not add 10 + 0 + 30 to get 40. Under 38 CFR 4.25 you work from the most disabling condition down, against remaining efficiency. Start with the 30% mental health rating. Apply the 10% tinnitus to the remaining 70% of efficiency: 30 + (10% of 70) = 30 + 7 = 37. The 0% hearing loss adds nothing. The combined value of 37 rounds to the nearest ten, which is 40%.

The dollar swing is the point. Tinnitus alone at 10% pays $180.42 a month (the same whether you are single or have dependents — there are no dependent add-ons below 30%). The combined 40% rating pays $795.84 a month for a veteran with no dependents, and more with a spouse. That is roughly a $7,385 annual increase — and every dollar of it came from secondary stacking, not from cracking the DC 6260 cap, which never moved off 10%.

What does NOT work

Arguing that severity should increase the rating. DC 6260 is a single-tier rating. Severity, laterality, and frequency are not rating factors.
Filing separate ratings for each ear. Note 2 to DC 6260 prohibits this. Smith v. Nicholson confirmed.
Filing tinnitus with no documented noise exposure or MOS connection. The claim can still win on direct service connection but requires more evidence than the MOS-presumption path.
Confusing tinnitus with hearing loss in claim language. These are separately rated conditions and must be claimed separately. A claim for "hearing problems" is ambiguous.

Sources cited in this article

38 CFR 4.87 — Schedule of ratings: ear (DC 6260 tinnitus, DC 6205 Ménière's)
38 CFR 4.85 — Hearing loss evaluation (DC 6100)
38 CFR 4.130 — Mental disorders
38 CFR 3.310 — Secondary service connection (causation and aggravation)
38 CFR 4.16 — Total disability ratings based on unemployability (TDIU)
Smith v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2006) (single rating for tinnitus regardless of laterality).
Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2006) (lay competency for observable symptoms).
Institute of Medicine. Noise and Military Service: Implications for Hearing Loss and Tinnitus (2007).
Bhatt JM et al. Tinnitus epidemiology. Laryngoscope 2016.

VetDisabilityCalc is an independent reference site. We are not VA-accredited and we do not prepare or present VA claims. This guide is reference material and is not legal advice.