Rating guide · Hearing
Tinnitus Claims: Put the Ringing on Record
Gunfire on the range, generators humming all night, presses and grinders on Arsenal Island. If your ears still ring years later, Illinois veterans can turn that noise history into a 10% rating.
- One flat 10% rating
- Documenting your noise
- How 10% moves the total
- Related claims
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The Tinnitus Rating Schedule
Where Your Noise History Comes From
- Rock Island Arsenal: soldiers assigned to the Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center worked near foundry, machining and fabrication equipment that is loud by design
- Weapons and ranges: rifle qualification, crew-served weapons, artillery and demolitions in any branch
- Aviation and Guard units: flight lines, helicopter crews and drill weekends spent around engines and turbines
- Ships, motor pools and generators: engine rooms, vehicle bays and power equipment that ran around the clock
Tinnitus is something only you can hear, so your own written account matters a great deal. Explain when you first noticed it and keep that date the same every time you describe it. VA also recognizes many military jobs as carrying a high probability of hazardous noise, which can stand in for missing records.
Small Rating, Real Money
VA does not simply add percentages. It combines them, then rounds to the nearest 10. Picture a Moline veteran rated 50% who adds tinnitus: the combined value lands at 55, which rounds to 60%. For a single veteran with no dependents in 2026, that is $302.12 more each month. Run your own numbers in the VA pay calculator.
Nonstop ringing can also wreck sleep and feed anxiety or low mood, and those conditions may qualify as secondary mental health claims. Measured hearing loss gets its own separate rating.
Tinnitus VA Rating: Common Questions
Ringing in both ears means two ratings, right?
No. VA assigns one 10% rating for recurrent tinnitus whether you hear it in one ear, both ears or inside your head.
I worked in JMTC shops at Rock Island Arsenal while on active duty. Is that useful?
It can be. Industrial noise from foundry and machining work during service supports the in-service exposure piece of the claim. Civilian employment there is a separate matter from military service.
My service records never mention ringing. Am I out of luck?
Not at all. Few service members reported it. A steady account of when it began, paired with documented noise exposure, can carry the claim.
Will VA stop rating tinnitus on its own?
VA has proposed that change, but as of October 2026 it has not taken effect and tinnitus still earns its own 10%.
Illinois Veterans: Get the Rating You Earned
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