Ratings

Hearing loss: the VA rating and the audiology exam

Twenty years around loud noise and a 0 percent rating. Here is how VA does the math, and what a 0 percent still gives you.

← Back to vsgsolutions.org

What VA measures, and what it does not

VA does not rate hearing loss by how loud your service was or how many years you were around it. It rates test numbers. Under 38 CFR 4.85, the exam must be done by a state-licensed audiologist and include a speech test (Maryland CNC) and a pure-tone hearing test, both done without hearing aids. The pure-tone average is the thresholds at 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hertz added up and divided by four. Table VI turns the speech score and pure-tone average into a level from I to XI for each ear, and Table VII combines the two ears into a percentage. VA's Board of Veterans' Appeals puts it this way: hearing loss ratings come from "a mechanical application of the rating schedule to the numeric designations resulting from audiometric testing." (38 CFR 4.85, BVA decision A25000700)

How the rating is worked out, step by step

  1. Exam. A state-licensed audiologist runs the Maryland CNC speech test and a pure-tone test, without hearing aids (38 CFR 4.85(a)).
  2. Pure-tone average, each ear. Add your thresholds at 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hertz and divide by four (4.85(d)). Example: 20, 30, 40 and 50 decibels add to 140; divided by four is 35.
  3. Table VI, each ear. Find your speech score (the rows) and your pure-tone average (the columns). Where they meet is a Roman numeral from I (best) to XI (worst) (4.85(b)).
  4. Table VIa instead, when allowed. If the examiner certifies the speech test is not appropriate (language difficulties, inconsistent speech scores and similar) or an exceptional pattern applies, the numeral comes from the pure-tone average alone (4.85(c)).
  5. Table VII, both ears. The better ear is the row and the poorer ear is the column. Where they meet is the percentage (4.85(e)).
  6. One ear only. If only one ear is service-connected, the other ear is treated as Level I, subject to 38 CFR 3.383 (4.85(f)).

The tables themselves. The official Table VI, Table VIa and Table VII are printed in 38 CFR 4.85(h) as images, and I could not read the percentages reliably from the text, so I am not copying them here. Look up your own numerals in the official tables: 38 CFR 4.85 on eCFR or Cornell. What I can confirm is that Level I in both ears is 0 percent (see below). If your claim is decided, the decision letter should show the Roman numerals VA used for each ear.

Special monthly compensation. VA must also check 38 CFR 3.350 for special monthly compensation for deafness (4.85(g)).

Pure-tone average, each ear

Page reviewed September 2026.1000202000303000404000 Hertz50
Example: 20, 30, 40 and 50 decibels add to 140; divided by four is 35.38 CFR 4.85

Why 0 percent is common

In one 2025 Board decision, both ears tested at Level I (average thresholds of 26 to 33 decibels and speech scores of 94 to 96 percent). The Board wrote that under Table VII, when both ears are Level I, VA must assign a noncompensable rating. Noncompensable means 0 percent. You can be service-connected and still have hearing that tests too good for the tables to pay. A separate rule (38 CFR 3.385) sets when hearing counts as a disability for VA at all: a threshold of 40 decibels or more at any of 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 or 4000 Hertz, or thresholds of 26 decibels or more at three of those frequencies, or a Maryland CNC score under 94 percent.

Two special patterns that raise the level

38 CFR 4.86 covers unusual test shapes. If the pure-tone threshold is 55 decibels or more at each of 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hertz, the rater uses whichever table gives the higher level. If the threshold is 30 decibels or less at 1000 Hertz and 70 decibels or more at 2000 Hertz, the rater again uses whichever table gives the higher numeral, and then raises that numeral to the next higher Roman numeral. Ask for your audiologist's numbers and check whether either pattern fits you.

Tinnitus is rated separately

Ringing in the ears has its own rating and is usually combined with hearing loss. See Tinnitus: the VA rating.

Vertigo, Ménière’s, ear infections and other ear conditions are rated separately too. For those, and for how hearing loss and tinnitus can be connected to service, see Ear Conditions VA Ratings: Vertigo, Infection and the Exam.

What a 0 percent rating still gives you

VA says a 0 percent (non-compensable) rating means no monthly disability payment for that condition, but you can get VA health care (checkups, specialists, prescriptions), travel pay reimbursement, VA dental care, VA vision care and VALife. VA also says a second non-compensable disability may result in an automatic increase to 10 percent. (VA: Non-compensable disability)

Hearing aids. VA's hearing aid fact sheet says no service-connected rating is required: any Veteran eligible for VA health care may receive hearing aids, and there is no cost for the hearing aids, though visit co-pays may apply. To start: enroll (Form 10-10EZ), call the audiology clinic at your local VA medical center, get a hearing test, then work with the audiologist on the aids. VA News says enrolled Veterans can call their VA audiology clinic and ask to be scheduled for a hearing test. (VA Hearing Aids Fact Sheet, VA News, 10 Aug 2018)

How to ask for more money

  1. Get your exam results. Ask your audiologist or your VA claims file for the pure-tone numbers and the Maryland CNC score.
  2. If your hearing has gotten worse, VA says you can file a claim for increased disability compensation for a rated service-connected disability that has gotten worse, with current medical documentation. (VA: types of claims and when to file)
  3. If VA decided the claim and you have new and relevant evidence, such as a new audiogram, a Supplemental Claim is an option (VA Form 20-0995). (VA: Supplemental Claim)
  4. Get free help from an accredited representative before you file.

Traps

Where to call and where to go

Phone

Official pages

Free accredited help

Sources
Related: One ear service connected and the other not? See the paired organs and extremities rule.