# Tinnitus VA rating: the DC 6260 scale and guides > How VA rates tinnitus under 38 CFR 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260: a single 10% evaluation for recurrent tinnitus, the three notes that govern the code, and guides to filing, increases, and TBI residuals. Canonical: https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/tinnitus-va-rating Last updated: 2026-11-05 Updated November 5, 2026 · By AIVA VA rates tinnitus under Diagnostic Code 6260 with a single 10% evaluation for recurrent tinnitus — whether the sound is perceived in one ear, both ears, or in the head. There is no higher tinnitus percentage. What decides the claim is connection, not severity: evidence that the tinnitus began in service or was caused by noise exposure or another service-connected condition. ## What’s your situation? - VA denied my claim: [What to check after a denial](https://aivaclaims.com/guides/va-claim-denied) - I'm claiming this condition for the first time: [How to file a VA claim for tinnitus](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/tinnitus-va-rating/how-to-file) - My current rating no longer fits: [Tinnitus rating increase: what can actually change](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/tinnitus-va-rating/rating-increase) - I have a claim exam coming up: [C&P exam preparation](https://aivaclaims.com/guides/c-and-p-exam-preparation) \**Deadline:** An Intent to File can protect your potential effective date for 1 year — file it before you gather evidence [Prepare an intent to file](https://aivaclaims.com/services/intent-to-file). ## Tinnitus VA rating: a single 10% | Rating | Criteria — Diagnostic Code 6260, Tinnitus | In plain language | Watch for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **10%** | Tinnitus, recurrent | Recurrent tinnitus — ringing or another sound that comes back — in one ear, both ears, or in the head. One 10% evaluation is the whole scale. | Note (2) allows a single evaluation however the sound is perceived; there is no higher tinnitus percentage under this code. | \**Notes from the regulation:** - Note (1): A separate evaluation for tinnitus may be combined with an evaluation under diagnostic codes 6100, 6200, 6204, or other diagnostic code, except when tinnitus is used in support of an evaluation under any of those diagnostic codes. - Note (2): Assign only a single evaluation for recurrent tinnitus, whether the sound is perceived in one ear, both ears, or in the head. - Note (3): Objective tinnitus (in which the sound is audible to other people and has some identifiable cause that may be resolved by surgery or other treatment) is not evaluated under DC 6260, but rather as part of the underlying condition from which it results. Source: [38 CFR 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260 — Tinnitus (eCFR)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-4/section-4.87) ## [The whole scale is one line](#the-whole-scale-is-one-line) Most VA rating schedules run from 0% to 100% in steps. Tinnitus does not. Diagnostic Code 6260 assigns a single 10% evaluation for recurrent tinnitus, and Note (2) to the code allows only one evaluation whether the sound is perceived in one ear, both ears, or in the head. Severity, loudness, and how much the ringing bothers you do not move the percentage — recurrence and service connection are the whole test. That makes tinnitus claims simpler than most, and worth filing even at 10%: the evaluation combines with other ratings, and a service-connected tinnitus finding documents the noise exposure that often sits behind a hearing-loss claim too. [38 CFR 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260 — Tinnitus (eCFR)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-4/section-4.87) ## [What decides the claim](#what-decides-the-claim) Because the rating itself is fixed, tinnitus claims are won and lost on service connection. VA looks for a current record of recurrent tinnitus, an in-service event or exposure — typically noise — and a link between the two. The link can come from service records showing the exposure and symptoms, from continuity of ringing since service described in your own statement, or from a medical opinion connecting the tinnitus to the exposure or to a service-connected condition. A separate tinnitus evaluation may also combine with evaluations for hearing loss and certain other ear conditions under Note (1) — except when the tinnitus itself was used to support the evaluation under one of those codes. [38 CFR 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260 — Tinnitus (eCFR)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-4/section-4.87) ## [When 10% is not the end of it](#when-10-is-not-the-end-of-it) The 10% cap applies to tinnitus rated under DC 6260. It does not cap the conditions around it. Hearing loss is rated separately on its own schedule. Meniere's syndrome (DC 6205) is evaluated either under its own criteria or by separately evaluating vertigo, hearing impairment, and tinnitus — whichever method gives the higher overall evaluation. And after a traumatic brain injury, DC 8045 directs that tinnitus be evaluated under its own diagnostic code as a distinct residual rather than folded into the TBI table. If a rater denied tinnitus or folded it into another evaluation in a way the notes do not allow, that is an error worth challenging — the criteria page walks through the three notes that govern the code. [38 CFR 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260 — Tinnitus (eCFR)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-4/section-4.87) ## Tinnitus evidence worksheet DC 6260 turns on recurrence and service connection rather than severity, so the useful record is a timeline: when the ringing started, what you were exposed to, and that it has continued since. Use this worksheet to assemble that line before you file. - When the ringing first started, as best you can date it - Your in-service noise exposure — weapons, aircraft, engines, blasts - Service treatment records or hearing tests noting ringing or hearing change - Post-service audiology or treatment records describing the tinnitus - Whether the sound is in one ear, both ears, or in the head, and how often it recurs - A short personal statement covering onset and continuity since service ## Tinnitus guides in this series - [Tinnitus VA rating criteria: the DC 6260 notes](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/tinnitus-va-rating/criteria) The full text of Diagnostic Code 6260 — recurrent tinnitus at 10% — and the three regulatory notes that decide how the evaluation combines with other ear ratings. - [How to file a VA claim for tinnitus](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/tinnitus-va-rating/how-to-file) What to file for tinnitus under DC 6260: the claim itself, the noise-exposure and continuity evidence that carries service connection, and the audiology exam. - [Tinnitus rating increase: what can actually change](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/tinnitus-va-rating/rating-increase) There is no tinnitus evaluation above 10% under DC 6260. What can change: a missing separate evaluation, a Meniere's evaluation, and the ratings of the conditions around the tinnitus. - [Tinnitus after a TBI: rating it as its own residual](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/tinnitus-va-rating/secondary-to-tbi) DC 8045 directs that hearing loss and tinnitus after a traumatic brain injury be evaluated under their own diagnostic codes — what that means for a tinnitus claim alongside TBI residuals. ## Related help - [The DC 6260 criteria and notes](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/tinnitus-va-rating/criteria) - [How to file a VA claim for tinnitus](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/tinnitus-va-rating/how-to-file) - [VA claim evidence checklist](https://aivaclaims.com/guides/va-claim-evidence-checklist) ## Check your likely claim paths Answer a few taps in AIVA's pre-eligibility check and see the paths that may fit your situation, before you decide anything. [Start the pre-eligibility check](https://aivaclaims.com/check) This educational series reproduces and explains the linked regulation and VA sources. It is not an individual legal or medical assessment, and it does not predict a rating. For representation or help with your claim, [find VA-accredited assistance](https://www.va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative/). Check the current VA instructions and your own decision letter before filing.