Compensation

2027 VA Disability Rates

Social Security announces the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment on October 14, 2026. If Congress passes the annual Veterans' COLA Act, VA disability pay rises by the same percentage on December 1, 2026.

Scenarios until SSA announces the 2027 COLA on October 14, 2026

Today's rates, the baseline

100% rating: $3,938.58; a month, tax-free
10% rating: $180.42; a month
2026 COLA: 2.8%; cost-of-living increase
Rates effective: Dec 1, 2025 (opens in a new tab); VA.gov rate table

SSA announces the 2027 COLA: October 14, 2026
Increase takes effect if the Veterans' COLA Act passes: December 1, 2026

Rule of thumb

How much does each 1% of COLA add?

Every 1% adds about $39 a month at 100% ($39.39 on today's $3,938.58). Lower ratings and dependent amounts follow VA's rounding rules below, so they do not all rise by exactly the same percentage.

Scenarios, not forecasts

Veteran alone: 2027 pay at four COLA scenarios

Each column projects the full 2026 table with that cost-of-living percentage, using the same rules VA applies. None of these is the 2027 rate until SSA announces the COLA and Congress passes the Veterans' COLA Act.

Rating	2026 rate	At 2.5%	At 3.0%	At 3.5%	At 4.0%
10%	$180.42	$184.93	$185.83	$186.73	$187.64
20%	$356.66	$365.58	$367.36	$369.14	$370.93
30%	$552.47	$566.28	$569.04	$571.81	$574.57
40%	$795.84	$815.74	$819.72	$823.69	$827.67
50%	$1,132.90	$1,161.22	$1,166.89	$1,172.55	$1,178.22
60%	$1,435.02	$1,470.90	$1,478.07	$1,485.25	$1,492.42
70%	$1,808.45	$1,853.66	$1,862.70	$1,871.75	$1,880.79
80%	$2,102.15	$2,154.70	$2,165.21	$2,175.73	$2,186.24
90%	$2,362.30	$2,421.36	$2,433.17	$2,444.98	$2,456.79
100%	$3,938.58	$4,037.04	$4,056.74	$4,076.43	$4,096.12

Scenarios, not forecasts

With a spouse: 2027 pay at four COLA scenarios

Dependent amounts start at 30%. Below 100%, the spouse amount is the 100% amount times the rating, rounded down to the whole dollar (38 U.S.C. 1115(2)), so it does not rise by exactly the COLA.

Rating	2026 rate	At 2.5%	At 3.0%	At 3.5%	At 4.0%
30%	$617.47	$633.28	$636.04	$639.81	$642.57
40%	$882.84	$905.74	$909.72	$913.69	$918.67
50%	$1,241.90	$1,273.22	$1,279.89	$1,285.55	$1,292.22
60%	$1,566.02	$1,605.90	$1,613.07	$1,621.25	$1,629.42
70%	$1,961.45	$2,010.66	$2,020.70	$2,030.75	$2,039.79
80%	$2,277.15	$2,334.70	$2,345.21	$2,356.73	$2,368.24
90%	$2,559.30	$2,623.36	$2,636.17	$2,648.98	$2,661.79
100%	$4,158.17	$4,262.12	$4,282.92	$4,303.71	$4,324.49

Method

How we project

Written in the statute

Dependent amounts at 30% to 90% are the 100% amount times the rating, rounded down to the whole dollar (38 U.S.C. 1115(2)), so they do not rise by exactly the COLA.
A spouse's Aid and Attendance amount below 100% is a difference: the spouse amount with Aid and Attendance and the plain spouse amount are each taken at the rating and rounded down to the whole dollar, then subtracted (38 U.S.C. 1115(1)(E) and 1115(2)). It can be a dollar more than the 100% amount times the rating: $61 at 30% in 2026, not $60.
SMC-Q is a protected rate the COLA Acts do not reach, so it does not change.

Read from VA's own tables

The basic rates, the 100% dependent amounts and the SMC rates rise by the COLA, rounded to the nearest cent. The COLA Acts set the percentage but say nothing about rounding; the nearest cent is what VA's tables show.
With dependent parents at 30% to 90%, each parent's share is rounded down to the whole dollar before it is doubled for two parents. The statute does not say which way; VA's tables do it per parent.
SMC-R.1 and SMC-R.2 rise by the COLA applied to VA's displayed totals, the rule that matches VA's published tables, not the component formula the statute's wording suggests.
The SMC half-step rates are the mean of the two neighbouring rates, rounded down to the dollar (38 U.S.C. 1114(p)), the way VA's tables have done it since 2025. Before 2025, VA raised the old half-step by the COLA to the cent, so which rule applies is read from VA's tables.

Tested against VA's own published tables, projecting each year from the year before. Compensation: 694 of 696 cells match to the cent for 2015 through 2026. The 2 that differ are errors in VA's own table effective December 1, 2016, which contradicts 38 U.S.C. 1115(2) at exactly those cells. With dependent parents: 487 of 488 cells of VA's full rate pages for 2023 through 2026 (255 of 256 parent cells). The one cell that differs is a VA error in its table effective December 1, 2022 (spouse and two parents at 80%), which breaks the per-parent rounding that same table uses everywhere else. SMC: all 162 published cells in each year from 2023 through 2026, 648 of 648.

Every 2027 figure on this page is a projection until VA publishes its official table. Current 2026 rates

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

When will 2027 VA disability rates take effect?

December 1, 2026, if Congress passes the annual Veterans' COLA Act for that increase. The bills pending are S. 4487 and H.R. 8552. Until the act passes and VA publishes its table, every 2027 figure on this page is a projection.

How much will VA disability go up in 2027?

By the same percentage as the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, which SSA announces on October 14, 2026, if Congress passes the Veterans' COLA Act. Every 1% adds about $39 a month at the 100% rate. At a 3.0% COLA, the 100% rate for a veteran alone would rise from $3,938.58 to $4,056.74 a month.

Is the 2027 VA COLA the same as Social Security's?

Each year's Veterans' COLA Act sets the increase. The last one, Public Law 119-42, set the December 1, 2025 increase equal to the Social Security COLA, 2.8%. The December 1, 2026 increase needs its own act; S. 4487 and H.R. 8552 are pending.

When does VA publish the official 2027 table?

VA has not published a 2027 table yet. Its official table appears on VA.gov after the Veterans' COLA Act sets the increase; until VA publishes, every 2027 figure on this page is labeled projected.