Average VA disability payments rose nearly 40% in past 14 years, study finds

An analysis of Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation since 2010 found that the average annual payments to veterans climbed by nearly 40% while the percentage of veterans who receive payments almost doubled.

Researchers at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University School of Medicine in California looked at VA disability benefits and Social Security Disability payments to veterans across 14 years.

They found that the average yearly payment rose from $17,286 in 2010 to $24,057 in 2024, while the percentage of U.S. veterans receiving compensation rose from 9% in 2010 to 22% in 2024.

The increases are likely attributable to a number of causes, the authors said. They noted the high rate of deployments and increased possibility of serious service-connected illness and injury for post 9/11 veterans, improved medical care that resulted in increased survivorship of combat injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan and VA policies that have made more veterans eligible and made it easier to receive benefits.

Over the same time period, meanwhile, annual Social Security Disability Insurance payments to veterans remained steady, averaging around $19,550. Veterans may be eligible for SSDI payments if they have a condition that affects their ability to work.

According to the study published Thursday in JAMA Network Open, college educated, married and younger veterans were more likely to receive VA compensation while older veterans with non-service-connected disabilities were more likely to receive SSDI.

The authors theorized that the challenges associated with filing VA claims — “administrative hurdles,” as they described them — and the draw of VA education benefits may favor those who can navigate the system.

The increase in the percentage of veterans receiving VA disability benefits as well as the rise in amounts paid comes at a time when the population of U.S. veterans is declining: In 2010, the country had 22 million veterans; by 2024, that figure had declined to 15.8 million.

The researchers described their study as “descriptive” and drew few conclusions.

“These findings can inform policy discussions about optimal fiscal payments and program structures needed to achieve and streamline federal programmatic goals, while underscoring the need to reduce growing disability burden among veterans and to ensure ease of benefits navigation,” they wrote.

The authors did not respond to a request for an interview by publication.