Veterans who claim disability compensation benefits can look forward to a boost in their benefits starting next year. Thanks to the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, benefits issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will rise in 2027 to help offset rising costs. The change will impact around 6.3 million veterans who claim disability benefits, which are paid to former military servicemen and women who have acquired a disability or long term health condition that is connected to their service.
The COLA is an annual percentage increase designed to help federal benefits keep pace with inflation and maintain their purchasing power. It applies to Social Security retirement, disability and survivor benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and VA disability compensation. The COLA is calculated using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which is reported monthly by Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) compares the average CPI-W for the third quarter of the year—July, August and September—with the average for the same three months the year prior. The percentage increase, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent, becomes the following year's COLA. If prices do not rise enough to produce an increase, there is no COLA.
For example, the 2026 COLA was 2.8 percent, based on the rise in the average CPI-W between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025. The next COLA, for 2027, will be determined after September 2026 inflation data is released on October 14. How much disabled veterans can receive depends on numerous factors, including their level of disability and whether they have any dependents like spouses and children.
Current COLA estimates fall between 3.5 percent and 3.6 percent, according to seniors groups like The Senior Citizens League and AARP. Veterans with a 10 percent or 20 percent disability rating receive a flat monthly amount, regardless of whether they have a spouse, child or dependent parent. The VA does not begin adding extra compensation for dependents until a veteran has a disability rating of at least 30 percent.
Under a potential 3.5 percent COLA, the current $180.42 monthly payment for a veteran with a 10 percent rating would rise by about $6.31, to roughly $186.73 per month. The $356.66 payment for a 20 percent rating would increase by about $12.48, to approximately $369.14 per month. The table above shows what a 3.5 percent increase would mean for some benefit scenarios, using current 2026 rates for veterans with 50 percent and 100 percent disability ratings.
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