Tinnitus: VA Rating Criteria

Plain-language guide

What this rating actually turns on

Every granted tinnitus claim lands on the same 10 percent, and nothing you say about the sound moves it higher. Diagnostic Code 6260, “tinnitus, recurrent”, has exactly one rating level, and there is no higher schedular rating no matter how loud, constant, or disruptive the sound is. Note 2 to DC 6260 locks in a single evaluation whether you perceive the sound in one ear, both ears, or in your head. So the real fight in a tinnitus claim is never the percentage. It is service connection: a current condition, an in-service event, and a link between the two.

The criteria are deliberately loose. “Recurrent” replaced “persistent” effective June 10, 1999, and VA dropped the old requirement that tinnitus stem from head injury, concussion, or acoustic trauma, a liberalizing change per M21-1, Part V, Subpart iii, 2.B.3.d. Tinnitus is the most prevalent service-connected disability in the system: 3,583,295 ratings among all compensation recipients, and 287,138 new ones in FY 2025, per the VBA Annual Benefits Report.

A worked example

An Army motor transport operator (MOS 88M) files for constant ringing in both ears after years around diesel engines and convoy traffic. At the C&P there is no machine that can confirm the ringing, so the audiologist weighs three facts: his MOS carries a high probability of hazardous noise on the Duty MOS Noise Exposure Listing, so exposure is conceded; his service treatment records note a 2011 complaint of ringing after a roadside blast; and he credibly reports it has never let up since. That chain, a current report plus a conceded in-service event plus continuity, is what establishes service connection.

The percentage is not where the claim is won or lost. Both ears ring, but Note 2 forbids a second evaluation, so the award is a single 10 percent, and no amount of severity opens a path to more under DC 6260. Where the total actually grows is by stacking: the same veteran also claimed hearing loss, and because Note 1 lets a tinnitus evaluation combine with a hearing loss rating under DC 6100, his 10 percent and his hearing loss percentage combine (not add) with his other ratings. See the pay table on this page for what each combined figure pays.

What the C&P exam measures

There is no machine that detects subjective tinnitus. The exam is built around your report and the examiner’s etiology opinion. Per M21-1, V.iii.2.B.3.b, the tinnitus-only examination under the Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Disability Benefits Questionnaire can be conducted by an audiologist or a non-audiologist clinician, and the DBQ gives the examiner a menu of etiology opinions. That DBQ is not available for public use, you cannot bring a self-completed copy.

One nuance from the manual: you are competent to testify that you hear ringing, that is valid lay evidence of symptoms, but a diagnosis of tinnitus is a medical determination. Your statement alone does not establish the diagnosis; it does carry weight on symptoms, onset, and continuity.

What to have in your file

• Service records showing noise exposure. VA’s Duty MOS Noise Exposure Listing tells raters to concede hazardous noise exposure when your MOS or Air Force Specialty Code shows a high, moderate, or even low probability of it (per M21-1, V.iii.2.B). Combat service gets the benefit of the doubt on lay evidence alone.
• In-service complaints plus continuity. Under M21-1, V.iii.2.B.3.b, if your service treatment records document tinnitus, you credibly report it now, and you assert continuity since service, no medical opinion is even required for direct service connection.
• A current diagnosis or credible current report, plus any record of other accepted causes, ear infections, ototoxic medications, head injury, barotrauma.

Tinnitus is also an organic disease of the nervous system eligible for presumptive service connection under 38 CFR 3.309(a) if it appeared to a compensable degree within the presumptive period.

Common mistakes

• Expecting two ratings for two ears. Note 2 forbids it. One 10 percent, period.
• Filing only for tinnitus and assuming hearing loss rides along. It doesn’t. Per M21-1, V.iii.2.B.3.a, a claim worded “tinnitus” is treated as unambiguous and generally does not raise a hearing loss claim. The reverse is more forgiving, a “hearing loss” claim can bring tinnitus within scope. Claim both explicitly.
• Stacking tinnitus on a rating it already supports. Note 1 bars a separate tinnitus evaluation when tinnitus supports the rating under another code, most concretely Ménière’s syndrome (DC 6205), whose criteria already include tinnitus. That is the pyramiding rule in action.
• Claiming objective tinnitus under DC 6260. Note 3 says rate it as part of the underlying condition causing it.

Worth knowing

Note 1 works in your favor too: a separate 10 percent for tinnitus can be combined with a hearing loss rating under DC 6100, ear disease under 6200, or vestibular disorders under 6204. And if the examiner calls your tinnitus a symptom of service-connected hearing loss, M21-1 directs a separate 10 percent on a direct basis anyway. For Ménière’s, VA must use whichever method rates higher, DC 6205 alone, or separate ratings for hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo, never both.

If your rating came back lower than this

A decision that ignores the criteria above is a frequent reason veterans are underpaid. Line your decision up against the levels on this page. If the evidence supports a higher level than VA assigned, you have three ways to challenge it, and the right one depends on why it went wrong:

• Something was missing from the record (an exam finding, a prescription, a flare-up statement, a nexus letter): add it with a Supplemental Claim.
• The evidence was already there and VA misread it: ask for a Higher-Level Review by a more senior rater, with no new evidence needed.
• A legal or judgment error: take it to the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

Before you file, recombine this rating with your others (VA math does not add ratings), check how long each lane is taking right now, and remember a VA-accredited representative or VSO will help you for free. You can also browse every other condition's criteria to make sure you are claiming everything you are owed.