Guides

TDIU Basics: The 60% and 70/40 Thresholds

By Rating Ledger · Published October 20, 2026

A total rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) lets VA pay at the 100% rate when service-connected disabilities prevent substantially gainful work, even though the combined rating is lower. 38 CFR 4.16(a) sets the percentages a claim has to meet first: one disability rated at least 60%, or two or more with one at least 40% and a combined rating of at least 70%.

The two routes to the threshold

• One disability at 60% or more. A single condition rated 60% or higher, such as PTSD at 70%. Some codes cannot get there alone: migraines top out at 50%.
• Several disabilities. One must be at least 40%, and together they must combine to 70% or more. A 40% and a 50% make 70, rated 70%, which qualifies. A 40%, 30% and 10% make 62, rated 60%, which does not.

The combined rating here is the rounded figure from Table I, so the combined ratings table shows at a glance which pairs reach 70%.

What counts as one disability

For the 60% or 40% test, 4.16(a) treats several ratings as one disability when they come from:

• one or both upper or lower extremities, including the bilateral factor where it applies;
• a common cause or a single accident;
• one body system, such as orthopedic, digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular-renal or neuropsychiatric;
• multiple injuries incurred in action, or multiple disabilities incurred as a prisoner of war.

So two knee ratings and an ankle rating can be grouped into one lower-extremity disability to reach 40%. The calculator uses the ratings as entered and does not do this grouping.

Work that does not count

Marginal employment is not substantially gainful. The regulation generally treats it as earned annual income at or below the Census Bureau poverty threshold for one person, and allows other cases, such as a protected family business, to be found marginal on the facts. VA also looks at the kind of work and why it ended.

Below the thresholds

When a veteran is unemployable because of service-connected disabilities but does not meet the percentages, 4.16(b) tells rating boards to refer the case to the Director, Compensation Service, for extraschedular consideration.

What it pays

TDIU is paid at the 100% rate: $3,938.58 a month for a veteran alone and $4,158.17 with a spouse under the rates effective December 1, 2025. Compare the 70% pay page ($1,808.45 alone) to see the difference. A claim is filed on VA's forms, and a VA-accredited VSO representative can prepare it free; see free help with a VA claim.

Sources

• eCFR, 38 CFR 4.16 Total disability ratings based on unemployability, checked 2026-10-20.
• VA, Current Veterans disability compensation rates, checked 2026-10-20.