Depression VA Rating: The 0 to 100% Criteria and Your Combined Rating

A depression VA rating comes from the VA's General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, which sets six levels: 0, 10, 30, 50, 70 and 100%. Major depressive disorder is diagnostic code 9434 (38 CFR § 4.130). The level depends on how much the symptoms affect your work and social life, not on the diagnosis itself.

Rating	What the formula describes (shortened)
0%	Diagnosed, but symptoms aren't severe enough to interfere with work and social functioning or to need continuous medication
10%	Mild or passing symptoms that lower work efficiency only during significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication
30%	Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of being unable to do tasks
50%	Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity
70%	Occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking or mood
100%	Total occupational and social impairment

The formula lists example symptoms at each level, but the VA looks at the overall effect on your life, so you don't need every symptom listed. We read § 4.130 on November 7, 2026.

Your combined rating

The VA doesn't add ratings. Each one applies to what's left after the larger ones, and the result is rounded to the nearest 10 (38 CFR § 4.25). Put in your depression rating and your other ratings:

With the defaults, 50% for depression plus 30% and 10% for other conditions come to a combined value of 69, which rounds to a 70% rating. That also meets the rating threshold for individual unemployability; see our TDIU guide.

Secondary service connection

Depression doesn't have to come from an event in service. If a service-connected condition, such as chronic pain or a back injury, causes or worsens your depression, it can be service connected on a secondary basis (38 CFR § 3.310). That needs a medical opinion linking the two.

What raises or lowers the level

The VA examiner and your records decide the level. Things that tend to matter:

• how often symptoms affect work: missed days, lost jobs, conflict with supervisors;
• relationships with family and friends, and whether you've withdrawn;
• panic, memory problems, trouble with judgment, or thoughts of self-harm;
• whether medication controls the symptoms.

Bring a written list of how symptoms affect a normal week. A short exam is easy to underestimate.

Mental health and other ratings

The VA gives one rating for all mental health conditions together, because their symptoms overlap. If you have PTSD and depression, you get one mental health rating, not two. Physical conditions are rated separately and then combined as shown above.

If you need help right now

If you're a veteran in crisis, call 988 and press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line, available every day, all day.