Tinnitus VA rating and the hearing loss rating chart

Tinnitus is the most common service-connected disability in the VA system, and it pays exactly one number. Hearing loss is also near the top of that list and usually pays nothing at all. Both outcomes are built into the schedule, and knowing why changes how you file.

Last reviewed October 2026 · Not legal advice, VA.gov always controls

VA rates recurrent tinnitus at 10% under diagnostic code 6260, and 10% is the only level the code has: one rating whether the ringing is in one ear, both ears, or the head (38 CFR § 4.87). Hearing loss is rated separately under diagnostic code 6100, from a hearing test of puretone thresholds and Maryland CNC word recognition, read through tables that often produce 0% (38 CFR § 4.85).

Tinnitus: one rating, 10%, and that is the ceiling

Tinnitus, ringing, buzzing, or hissing in the ears, is rated under diagnostic code 6260 in 38 CFR § 4.87. The schedule has one line: recurrent tinnitus, 10%. Note (2) to the code makes it explicit that a single 10% is assigned whether the sound is in one ear, both ears, or perceived in the head. There is no higher tier, no bilateral rating, and no increase to file for. The Federal Circuit confirmed this in Smith v. Nicholson (2006).

What makes tinnitus worth claiming anyway is that it is almost entirely subjective: no hearing test measures it directly. The VA's own guidance treats a veteran's statement that they experience ringing as competent evidence of the symptom, because it is the kind of thing a layperson can observe in themselves. Service connection then turns on noise exposure, and noise exposure is where the presumption does the work.

Noise exposure by job

The VA maintains a Duty MOS Noise Exposure Listing that rates each military occupation as having a high, moderate, or low probability of hazardous noise exposure, with jobs in fields like infantry, artillery, combat engineering, and aircraft and vehicle maintenance at the high end. Under the VA's adjudication manual, M21-1, if your MOS, AFSC, or rating appears on the listing at any of the three levels, high, moderate, or low, the VA concedes in-service noise exposure as the in-service event. Combat service concedes it too. The probability level still goes into the exam request, so the examiner sees it. For a low-probability job, that is where a specific event, a deployment, weapons qualification records, or a statement from someone who was there gives the opinion something concrete to weigh. The listing is also not the only route: exposure can be shown from the rest of the record.

Conceding exposure is not the same as conceding service connection. The examiner still has to opine that the tinnitus is at least as likely as not related to that exposure, and a denial can rest on an audiologist who writes that it is "less likely than not" because your separation audiogram was normal or because the tinnitus started years later. Two answers to that: tinnitus does not require measurable hearing loss to be service connected, and a credible statement that the ringing started in service or soon after is evidence of onset the examiner has to address.

Hearing loss: what counts as a disability at all

Before the VA rates hearing loss, it has to be bad enough to count. 38 CFR § 3.385 sets the threshold. Hearing loss is a disability for VA purposes when, in either ear:

• the threshold at any of 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hz is 40 decibels or greater; or
• the thresholds at at least three of those frequencies are 26 decibels or greater; or
• speech recognition using the Maryland CNC test is less than 94 percent.

Below those numbers, you may have a hearing problem in real life, but you do not have a hearing loss disability, and the claim is denied before rating ever comes up. This is a common and confusing outcome: the audiologist confirms loss, the VA denies anyway, and the decision letter is citing § 3.385.

How the rating is calculated

Hearing loss is rated under DC 6100 in § 4.85, and the rating is mechanical. There is no symptom description and almost no room for examiner judgment. The one exception: the examiner can certify that the speech test is not appropriate, for example because of language difficulties or inconsistent scores, and § 4.85(c) then moves the rating to Table VIa, which ignores the speech score. Otherwise, two numbers from the audiogram go into a table:

1. The puretone threshold average for each ear: the average of your thresholds at 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz.
2. The speech discrimination score for each ear, from the Maryland CNC word list.

Table VI converts those two numbers into a Roman numeral from I (best) to XI (worst) for each ear. Table VII then takes the two Roman numerals, one per ear, and reads off the percentage. A veteran at Level I in both ears is 0%. A veteran at Level III in one ear and Level II in the other is also 0%, and so is Level IV with Level II. The percentages climb slowly; the first 10% cells need something like Level V in one ear and Level II in the other, or Level IV and Level III, and getting to 30% or more means significant loss in both ears.

There is one variation. § 4.86 handles "exceptional patterns": when all four thresholds are 55 dB or more, or when the 1000 Hz threshold is 30 or less and the 2000 Hz threshold is 70 or more, the rating specialist reads that ear on both Table VI and Table VIa, which rates on puretone average alone, and uses whichever numeral is higher. For the second pattern, that numeral is then raised one more level. Each ear is checked separately. VA added that second pattern, decent low-frequency hearing with a steep high-frequency drop, because a speech test in a quiet room does not always show how hard it makes hearing in everyday background noise, so it is worth checking whether your audiogram qualifies.

The exam

Hearing loss and tinnitus exams are done by a VA or contract audiologist, usually in one visit. The examiner runs the audiogram and the Maryland CNC test, reviews your file, and writes a nexus opinion for each condition. Because the rating is arithmetic, there is little to say during the test itself. The conversation that matters is the history: your MOS, specific noise events, hearing protection use, post-service occupational noise (be honest; the examiner will look for it), and when you first noticed each problem.

Bring your separation audiogram if you have it. Even a "normal" separation test can show a threshold shift compared with your entrance exam, and a documented shift in service is strong evidence of noise damage even if it did not yet meet § 3.385. Hensley v. Brown (1993) held that a normal separation audiogram does not by itself bar service connection.

Hearing loss, tinnitus, and what comes after

Tinnitus and hearing loss are rated separately and both combine into the total. Tinnitus can also be the primary condition in a secondary claim: a veteran may claim a sleep disorder such as insomnia, anxiety or depression, or migraines as secondary to chronic tinnitus, with a medical opinion supporting the link. See the secondary conditions guide for what those opinions need.

If hearing loss is denied under § 3.385, that decision reflects the numbers on the audiogram in the file, not a permanent finding, and a later test can come out differently. Get a private audiogram with Maryland CNC scores every couple of years, and once the numbers cross a § 3.385 line, file a supplemental claim with it as new and relevant evidence. If hearing loss is already service connected at 0%, the same audiogram supports a claim for increase. See filing for an increase.

The checklist

1. Entrance and separation audiograms from your STRs, and any in-service hearing conservation records.
2. Your MOS and the noise sources that came with it, in your own statement.
3. A specific account of when tinnitus started, with any in-service mention or a buddy statement.
4. A current audiogram with Maryland CNC scores, VA or private.
5. Honest detail on post-service noise exposure, so the examiner does not discover it and discount you.

Sources

• 38 CFR § 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260. The single 10% rating for recurrent tinnitus, and the notes that let it combine with a hearing loss rating while allowing only one tinnitus rating, whether it is heard in one ear, both, or the head.
• 38 CFR § 3.385, Disability due to impaired hearing. The 40 dB, 26 dB, and 94% Maryland CNC thresholds that decide whether hearing loss counts as a disability at all.
• 38 CFR § 4.85, Diagnostic Code 6100 and Tables VI, VIa, and VII. The puretone average, the Roman numeral tables, and the grid that turns two ears into one percentage.
• 38 CFR § 4.86, Exceptional patterns of hearing impairment. The two exceptional patterns, the higher-of-two-tables rule, and the one-level raise for the 1000/2000 Hz pattern.
• M21-1, Part V, Subpart iii, Chapter 2, Section B (Conditions of the Auditory System). VA's instructions on the Duty MOS Noise Exposure Listing, lay evidence of ringing, tinnitus opinions, and Hensley v. Brown.
• 38 CFR § 17.149(c), Sensori-neural aids and § 17.108(e)(1). When VA furnishes hearing aids to a veteran whose service-connected hearing loss is rated 0%, and the rule that care for a 0% service-connected disability is not subject to a copay.
• 38 CFR § 3.2501, Supplemental claims. The supplemental claim, and the new and relevant evidence standard a later audiogram has to meet.
• VBA Annual Benefits Report, Fiscal Year 2025, Compensation. Tinnitus as the most prevalent service-connected disability among compensation recipients (3,583,295) and hearing loss sixth (1,690,837).