SMC Calculator

Look up a published special monthly compensation (SMC) amount. Pick the level from an award letter. This page does not decide eligibility.

Basic disability pay, without SMC levels L through S, is on the calculator and the 2026 pay chart. Combined ratings are explained in how VA math works.

Rate lookup

2026 amounts, veteran alone

These are the “Veteran alone (no dependents)” figures from VA’s 2026 SMC tables, effective December 1, 2025, plus SMC-K and SMC-Q. Dependent columns (spouse, parents, one child, additional children, and spouse Aid and Attendance) are the same columns VA publishes. The lookup above uses them. It does not invent a dependent amount.

OFFICIAL VA.gov SMC rates, effective December 1, 2025. Checked October 19, 2026.

What the levels are, in short

38 CFR 3.350 says the SMC rates in that section are those provided under 38 USC 1114. The statute’s dollar figures are base amounts in the code. Current payable amounts are the VA.gov table, not those statutory figures. This page does not reprint the statutory dollars.

• SMC-K (38 USC 1114(k), 38 CFR 3.350(a)). Payable for each listed anatomical loss or loss of use, including one hand, one foot, both buttocks, one or more creative organs, blindness of one eye having only light perception, deafness of both ears with absence of air and bone conduction, complete organic aphonia with constant inability to communicate by speech, and, for a woman veteran, loss of 25% or more of tissue from a single breast or both breasts in combination, or following receipt of radiation treatment of breast tissue. It is paid in addition to basic compensation, with caps in 3.350(a) when it is stacked. This lookup does not apply those caps.
• SMC-L (1114(l), 3.350(b)). Anatomical loss or loss of use of both feet, or of one hand and one foot, or blindness in both eyes with visual acuity of 5/200 or less, or being permanently bedridden, or so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance. The aid-and-attendance and bedridden criteria are in 38 CFR 3.352(a), which this page does not restate.
• SMC-M and SMC-N (1114(m) and (n), 3.350(c) and (d)). Higher levels of loss or loss of use of the hands, arms, or legs, and more severe bilateral blindness, as listed in those paragraphs. Read the regulation for the prosthesis and amputation conditions. This tool does not test them.
• Half steps (L 1/2, M 1/2, N 1/2). 38 CFR 3.350(f), under 38 USC 1114(p), authorizes intermediate rates. VA publishes them as their own columns. The lookup uses the published column. It does not compute an intermediate rate from scratch.
• SMC-O/P. VA publishes O and P in one column. 3.350(e) covers 1114(o), including specified combinations and paraplegia with loss of anal and bladder sphincter control. 3.350(f) covers 1114(p). This page does not split the column.
• SMC-R.1 and SMC-R.2/T. 38 CFR 3.350(h) and 38 USC 1114(r) provide an additional aid-and-attendance allowance, including a higher level of care under (r)(2), in the situations that section describes. 38 USC 1114(t) is a separate aid-and-attendance allowance for residuals of traumatic brain injury when the veteran is not eligible under (r)(2). VA publishes R.2 and T as one column, SMC-R.2/T. This lookup does not assign part of that column to (r)(2) and part to (t).
• SMC-S (1114(s)). A service-connected disability rated as total, plus either additional service-connected disability independently ratable at 60 percent or more, or permanent housebound status because of service-connected disability. The statute treats “permanently housebound” as met when the veteran is substantially confined to the house (or ward or clinical areas, if institutionalized) or immediate premises due to a service-connected disability which it is reasonably certain will remain throughout the veteran’s lifetime. VA.gov says level S may apply if you can’t leave the house because of service-connected disabilities.
• SMC-Q. VA.gov says this is a protected rate that VA hasn’t awarded since August 19, 1968, paid in place of the basic disability compensation rate. 38 CFR 3.350(g) sets a $67 minimum for a veteran who was receiving or entitled to receive compensation for tuberculosis on August 19, 1968, and says that minimum is not combined with or added to any other disability compensation. VA’s 2026 table lists SMC-Q at $67.00.

VA.gov says level R may apply if you need daily help from another person for basic needs, and that levels L through O cover specific disabilities and situations. Those sentences are orientation only. The regulation is the criteria.

For free help with a claim, find a VA-accredited representative.

Sources

• VA.gov, special monthly compensation rates, effective December 1, 2025. Checked October 19, 2026.
• 38 CFR 3.350. eCFR title 38 latest issue date August 27, 2026 (up to date as of October 16, 2026). Text retrieved October 20, 2026.
• 38 USC 1114 (Cornell LII). Last checked October 20, 2026. Statutory dollar amounts on that page are not the current payable rates.
• 2027 estimate method: each official 2026 SMC amount × the 3.6% COLA announced October 14, 2026, rounded to the cent. Same method as the 2027 basic-rate estimate. Not an official VA table.

Last checked October 20, 2026. The 2026 SMC table itself was checked October 19, 2026.

Related

• VA disability calculator
• 2026 VA disability pay chart
• How VA math works
• Back pay calculator
• TDIU percentage check

Frequently asked questions