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Hearing loss claims rely on audiometric testing and a link to in-service noise exposure. Denials frequently hinge on exam adequacy, which is why many of these appeals are remanded for a new examination.
VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 6100
What it is and how the VA sees it: "Hearing loss" means your ears no longer pick up sounds the way they should, often after loud noise, illness, or injury. The VA does not count every drop in hearing as a disability. Under its rules, hearing loss only counts as a disability for VA purposes when a hearing test shows the sound level (auditory threshold) in any of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hertz is 40 decibels or greater; or the thresholds for at least three of those frequencies are 26 decibels or greater; or speech recognition scores using the Maryland CNC test are less than 94 percent. The exam must be done by a state-licensed audiologist and must include both a controlled speech discrimination (Maryland CNC) test and a puretone audiometry test, and it is done without hearing aids.
The diagnostic code and what raises the rating: The VA rates hearing loss under Diagnostic Code 6100. The rating is not a guess — it comes straight from your test numbers. The VA takes your "puretone threshold average" (the average of your thresholds at 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hertz) and your speech discrimination score and uses Table VI to find a Roman numeral (I through XI) for each ear. Then it combines the numeral for your better ear and your poorer ear on Table VII to get a percentage. In plain terms, the worse your test numbers, the higher the Roman numerals, and the higher the percentage can climb. For unusual hearing patterns — for example, very high thresholds across all four key frequencies, or a sharp drop between 1000 and 2000 Hertz — special rules let the VA use whichever table gives the higher numeral, which can raise the result.
Service connection and exposure pathways: Hearing loss is most often service-connected the direct way — by showing the loss is linked to noise or injury during service. It is not on the special exposure lists (such as Agent Orange or the PACT Act burn-pit lists) that automatically remove the nexus burden for certain illnesses. However, chronic diseases can qualify for a built-in (presumptive) link when the disease shows up to a degree of 10 percent or more within 1 year of leaving service, and the VA keeps a list of chronic diseases for this rule, including "other organic diseases of the nervous system." That can matter for some types of nerve-related hearing loss, so the exam findings and timing are important. This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work — it is not legal advice and it is not a VA decision about your claim.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 139,098 real Board appeals for Hearing loss
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are historical outcomes, not a prediction of your case.
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Among the appeals that were granted or partly granted, the most common ways Hearing loss was linked to service:
In appeals where Hearing loss was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
These appeals involved a recognized exposure — which can mean the link to service is presumed, with no nexus to prove:
The Veteran's right ankle sprain, lumbar strain, bilateral plantar fasciitis, headaches (tension), and erectile dysfunction are all granted as service connection. The Veteran's asthma is also granted as service connection. However, the Veteran's muscle pain/spasms do not meet VA compensation criteria.,Service connection for these conditions is based on their onset during or shortly after service.
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that her current hearing loss is at least as likely as not related to military noise exposure.
The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and thoracolumbar disorder (DDD of the thoracic and lumbar spine) have been granted. The decision also dismisses his claim for a compensable rating for left shoulder injury with pain.
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the conditions are presumed to have been incurred in service due to continuous symptoms since service.
The Board has granted service connection for radiculopathy, lower left extremity (claimed as chronic sciatica, left side) secondary to the service-connected lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis and for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran's current disabilities are considered proximately due to his service-connected conditions.
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral pes planus with hammer toes, hallux valgus and degenerative arthritis, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and bilateral kidney cysts, rendered him unable to secure or follow gainful employment. The Board granted the TDIU based on these conditions.
Jump to the decisions from a specific year.
New decisions are added every week, and older years are actively being backfilled — a year that looks thin or missing here (especially 2011–2017) is a gap in our library, not in the Board’s decisions.
Veterans appealing Hearing loss often look at outcomes for these too:
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