Individual Unemployability
TDIU Eligibility & Pay Calculator
If your service-connected conditions keep you from working, you can be paid at the 100% rate without a 100% rating. Check whether you meet the criteria — and see exactly how much more that is worth every month.
First, what is TDIU?
TDIU stands for Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability. It is a VA benefit that pays you at the full 100% disability rate when your service-connected conditions keep you from holding substantially gainful employment — even if your combined rating adds up to less than 100%. In plain terms: if your disabilities are what stop you from working a real job, TDIU lets you be paid as if you were rated 100%. It is governed by 38 CFR 4.16, and there are two ways to qualify — the schedular path and the extraschedular path, both explained below.
1. Start with your highest-rated condition
TDIU pays you at the full 100% rate even when your combined rating is lower. There is one hard requirement to get there the simple way: at least one service-connected condition rated 60% or higher. Pick your single highest rating to begin.
This is the highest rating you carry on any one condition. Tap it again to clear it.
TDIU’s simple path needs one condition at 60% or higher. Pick yours above — or, if your highest is under 60%, use the link below.
The VA combines ratings on a whole-person scale and rounds to the nearest 10% — it does not simply add them up.
2. Can you hold down a steady job?
This is the heart of a TDIU claim. Pick the one that best describes your situation.
3. Your family (for the payment estimate)
Dependents raise the monthly amount at every rating, so this makes your TDIU estimate accurate. Same dependents we use in the full compensation calculator.
A dependent parent must rely on you for financial support.
Your TDIU screening
Start with your highest-rated condition on the left to see whether you clear a TDIU door — and what the 100% rate would add to your monthly check.
What the 100% (TDIU) rate would pay you — if TDIU is granted
About $47,263 per year, dependents included.
How that monthly payment is built
Because TDIU pays at the 100% rate, you may also qualify for Special Monthly Compensation on top of this — plus the health care and family education below.
Free & no obligation — our accredited claims agents build the unemployability evidence VA actually looks for.
Special Monthly Compensation you may draw on top
TDIU pays you at the 100% rate — but if your conditions leave you housebound, needing daily aid and attendance, or with loss of use of a limb or organ, SMC pays more on top. Select what fits your situation to see the combined monthly amount with your dependents.
Select any SMC level above to see your combined monthly payment with your dependents factored in.
Can you afford to stop working? The TDIU trade-off
TDIU is a life decision, not just a bigger check. To be paid at the 100% rate you have to give up substantially gainful work — so before you file, see what your budget actually looks like on TDIU versus staying on the job.
Pushing through a job your body or mind can’t sustain isn’t “managing” — for many veterans it is the very proof that they qualify for TDIU.
The work rule you have to plan around
While you collect TDIU you cannot hold substantially gainful employment — in plain terms, a normal full-time job. You can still earn up to $15,940 a year (the 2024 Census poverty line, called “marginal employment”) and keep every dollar of TDIU. Earn more than that in the open job market and VA can move to end it. Your VA disability pay, Social Security, and retirement are not earnings and never count against you.
Enter your yearly wages (or leave it at 0 if you’re not working). We’ll line it up against what TDIU pays.
If you keep working full-time
$0/yr
Pick your highest rating above to add your current VA pay here.
You keep your paycheck and your current VA rating — but you cannot be paid TDIU while you hold a substantially gainful job.
If you take TDIU (stop gainful work)
$47,263/yr
TDIU is federally tax-free, so its take-home value is higher than the number looks — and it does not depend on you being able to keep working.
Enter your current yearly wages above to see, side by side, whether you can afford to leave work and live on TDIU.
Once you’re on TDIU: answer the VA’s income check — or you can lose it
Here is the part that trips up more veterans than anything else. Because TDIU is paid on the promise that you are not working a substantially gainful job, the VA periodically verifies your income. When their records show earnings above the $15,940 marginal limit, they mail you an Employment Questionnaire (VA Form 21-4140) and give you 60 days to respond. Ignore it and the VA can stop your TDIU and drop you back to your schedular rating — a loss of hundreds or thousands of dollars a month.
Why veterans really lose it
Most veterans who lose TDIU don’t lose it because they worked — they lose it because they never answered the letter. They assume the VA is trying to punish them for earning a little, panic, and set it aside. In reality, unless your income shows you have returned to substantially gainful work (and held it for 12 straight months), simply returning the form keeps your benefit in place.
How to stay protected
- Answer every 21-4140 within the 60-day window — even if you earned nothing at all.
- Report every job honestly. Your earnings are matched against Social Security records, so the number has to line up.
- Keep your mailing address current with the VA so the letter actually reaches you.
This is exactly why the numbers above matter. If you plan it so you can genuinely live on TDIU — instead of quietly straining to hold a job your conditions can’t sustain — you protect both your health and your benefit. Marginal work under $15,940 a year and work in a protected environment are still allowed; the danger is silence, not a small paycheck.
Already lost your TDIU — or had it cut — without proper notice? Talk to us.
The VA is required to give you notice and a chance to respond before it reduces or discontinues your benefit. If your TDIU was taken away or discontinued without that notification — or you only found out when your check dropped — that may not be a proper decision, and you may be able to get it restored. Don’t just accept it. Reach out to our accredited team and we’ll review what happened, free.
The benefits a TDIU rating unlocks — and what they’re worth
A TDIU award is paid at the 100% rate, so it opens the same ancillary benefits as a full 100% schedular rating. Here’s what each is worth in a typical year — many are for your dependents, so add your family above to see their value.
Comprehensive VA dental (you)
A 100% / TDIU rating unlocks full VA dental care for you — exams, cleanings, fillings, dentures, and more.
$1,500
per year (est.)
Priority Group 1 health care (you)
Being paid at the 100% rate puts you in the top VA health-care priority group — generally no copays for covered care or prescriptions.
$4,800
per year (est.)
Family health care (CHAMPVA)
When TDIU is permanent & total, your spouse and children can get comprehensive VA-funded health coverage.
Apply on VA Form 10-10d
Dependents’ education (DEA, Chapter 35)
A permanent & total award opens up to 36–48 months of tuition help and a monthly stipend for your spouse and children.
Apply on VA Form 22-5490
State property-tax exemption
Many states fully or partially exempt 100% P&T veterans from property tax — often worth thousands a year on its own.
Commissary, exchange & recreation
Full commissary and exchange access, Space-A travel, and reduced state park, hunting, and fishing fees in many states.
Estimated added value beyond your monthly check
$6,300 / year
That’s on top of the roughly $47,263 a year in TDIU compensation — and it doesn’t count state property-tax exemptions or commissary and exchange savings, which add thousands more depending on where you live.
Before you file: how TDIU actually works
Tap any topic to open it. The two ways in, the work test that trips people up, the evidence that wins, and what a permanent award unlocks for your family — know it before you touch a form.
The VA won’t connect the dots for you.
TDIU is winnable — but the VA will reach for your age, the economy, or a non-service-connected condition to deny it. Winning means tying your inability to work directly to your service-connected conditions, with the medical and vocational evidence that leaves no room for the easy denial. That is the whole job, and it is what our accredited claims agents do every day:
- Pull your records and build the five-year work history the 21-8940 demands.
- Line up the vocational and medical opinions that tie your conditions to unemployability.
- File it right and push for the 4.16(b) referral when your numbers fall short.
- Rebut an inadequate C&P exam and carry a denial through appeal.
The first review is free.
About this benefit
TDIU (Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability) lets a veteran be paid at the 100% disability rate when service-connected conditions prevent substantially gainful employment,even if the combined schedular rating is below 100%. It is governed by 38 CFR 4.16.
There are two ways in. The schedular path (4.16(a)) is automatic if you have one disability rated 60%+, or a combined 70%+ with at least one condition at 40%+. If you fall short of those numbers but still can’t work, the extraschedular path (4.16(b)) sends your case to the Director of Compensation Service for a decision on the facts.
How to use it
- 1Enter your VA combined rating and your highest single disability rating so we can test the schedular thresholds.
- 2Tell us how your conditions affect your ability to work — including marginal or protected work, which can still qualify.
- 3Add your spouse and children so the 100%-rate comparison reflects your real payment.
- 4Open the “Before you file” topics to learn the two paths, the evidence that wins, and the traps that sink claims — then get a free review.
What it covers
- The 60% and 70%/40% schedular thresholds under 38 CFR 4.16(a)
- Extraschedular TDIU (4.16(b)) when your ratings fall short
- Marginal employment and protected-work-environment rules
- The exact monthly and annual dollar gap between your rate and the 100% rate
Work with our accredited claims agents
Ready to turn this estimate into a claim? Let a specialist handle it.
Calculators are a starting point. Our VA-accredited claims agents can review your situation, make sure you’re not leaving benefits on the table, and file or appeal your claim for you — your first case evaluation is free, with no obligation.
This tool screens the TDIU criteria and estimates the payment difference using published VA rate tables. It is not an eligibility decision — TDIU turns on evidence about your ability to work, and the VA makes the final call. Consider a free review with our accredited claims agents before you file. VA Benefits Calculators is not affiliated with the VA — the VA makes all final decisions about eligibility and payment amounts. Always confirm details at va.gov.