2026 TDIU Income Limits and the VA Unemployability Poverty Threshold

Posted by Gregory M. Rada | June 16, 2026 | Disability Compensation

Last updated June 2026 with the most recent poverty threshold figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.

If you receive TDIU (a total disability rating based on individual unemployability), or you are thinking about applying, one number matters more than almost any other: the poverty threshold for one person. That figure sets the TDIU income limits that separate marginal employment from substantially gainful employment under VA’s rules. This guide covers the current limit, the official limits for the past 10 years, what income counts toward the limit, and what happens if your earnings cross the line.

Table of Contents

1. What Is the TDIU Income Limit?
2. What Is the TDIU Income Limit for 2026?
3. TDIU Income Limits by Year: 2015 to 2024
4. What Income Counts Toward the TDIU Income Limit?
5. Working While on TDIU: Marginal and Protected Employment
6. How VA Monitors Income After a TDIU Grant
7. TDIU Income Limit FAQs
8. Conclusion

What Is the TDIU Income Limit?

TDIU pays compensation at the 100 percent rate to veterans whose service-connected disabilities prevent them from securing and following substantially gainful employment, even though their combined schedular rating is below 100 percent. The governing regulation, 38 C.F.R. § 4.16, does not set a dollar limit directly. Instead, it defines the kind of work that does not count against you: marginal employment.

“Marginal employment generally shall be deemed to exist when a veteran’s earned annual income does not exceed the amount established by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, as the poverty threshold for one person.”

In plain English: if your earned income for the year stays at or below the Census Bureau’s poverty threshold for one person, your work is generally considered marginal, and marginal employment is not substantially gainful employment. That is why the poverty threshold functions as the TDIU income limit.

Two points veterans often miss. First, TDIU is not a means test. There is no asset limit, and unearned income does not count. The limit applies to earned income because earnings above the poverty line suggest an ability to work. Second, the income limit is one factor in a larger analysis. VA still has to evaluate whether your disabilities prevent substantially gainful employment, a two-step analysis we explain in our guide to the VA TDIU approval rate.

What Is the TDIU Income Limit for 2026?

The most recent poverty threshold for one person is $15,940 per year, or about $1,328 per month. That is the Census Bureau’s final figure for calendar year 2024, published in September 2025, and it is the most current number VA can apply.

Here is the part most websites get wrong: there is no published “2026 threshold” yet, and there will not be one until late 2027. The Census Bureau finalizes each year’s poverty threshold the following September. VA compares the income you earned in a given calendar year to the threshold for that same year. So if VA reviews your 2024 earnings, it uses $15,940. The final 2025 figure arrives in September 2026, and the 2026 figure in September 2027.

What does that mean for money you are earning right now? Thresholds rise with inflation, typically 2 to 3 percent per year, so each new figure comes in modestly higher than the last. As a practical matter, if your earned income in 2025 or 2026 stays at or below $15,940, you are generally below the marginal employment line for those years as well, because the eventual thresholds will only be higher. Veterans earning close to the line should be careful, and may want to talk to an attorney before assuming a particular year’s income is safe.

Why Other Websites Show a Different Number

The federal government publishes two different poverty measures, and they are easy to confuse. The Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds are the statistical measure that 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) actually cites. The HHS poverty guidelines, often called the “federal poverty level,” are a simplified version used to determine eligibility for programs like Medicaid and SNAP. The 2026 HHS guideline for one person is $15,960. It is close to the Census figure, but it is not the number the regulation points to. For TDIU purposes, the Census Bureau threshold controls.

TDIU Income Limits by Year: 2015 to 2026

TDIU cases often turn on income earned years ago. Appeals can run for a long time, and effective-date disputes may require VA to decide whether work you did in 2017 or 2020 was marginal. In those situations, VA generally measures each year’s earnings against that year’s threshold, not the current one. If your claim involves an earlier period, the historical numbers below matter, and they can also affect how much back pay you receive if you win an earlier effective date for TDIU.

VA applies the final threshold for the year it is evaluating, and each year’s figure becomes effective the date the Census Bureau establishes it. Because the final number publishes the following September, the most recent finalized figure is the safest benchmark for income you are earning now. The full series is available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

What Income Counts Toward the TDIU Income Limit?

The regulation limits earned annual income. That generally means wages from employment and, if you are self-employed, your net earnings after business expenses.

Income that is not earned generally does not count toward the limit. That includes VA disability compensation, Social Security retirement and SSDI payments, military retirement pay, other pensions, and interest or investment income. Your spouse’s income does not count either; the analysis looks only at the veteran’s own earnings.

One more point that surprises many veterans: the limit does not increase if you have dependents. The regulation uses the poverty threshold for one person no matter how large your household is, so a veteran supporting a family of five is measured against the same dollar figure as a single veteran.

Working While on TDIU: Marginal and Protected Employment

Yes, you can work and still receive TDIU in some circumstances. We cover the details in our guide on whether you can work and still get TDIU, but the short version is that two kinds of work generally do not defeat a TDIU claim or rating.

The first is marginal employment: earned income at or below the poverty threshold. A veteran who works a few hours a week and earns $9,000 in a year is generally engaged in marginal employment, no matter what kind of job it is.

The second is employment in a protected work environment, such as a family business or a position with substantial accommodations that would not exist in the open labor market. In a protected environment, VA may find marginal employment “on a facts found basis” even when earnings exceed the poverty threshold. These cases are fact-intensive, and documentation from the employer matters. Work that falls outside those two categories generally counts as substantially gainful employment, which is what TDIU requires you to be unable to secure and follow.

How VA Monitors Income After a TDIU Grant

Until 2019, VA required veterans receiving TDIU to return an annual employment questionnaire (VA Form 21-4140). That annual requirement is gone. VA now runs a wage match with the Social Security Administration to identify veterans whose reported earnings appear to exceed the poverty threshold.

If the wage match flags your earnings, VA will send a notice proposing to terminate TDIU. You generally have 6o days to respond to the proposal, and if you don’t, VA will terminate TDIU and resume paying you at your combined rating level.  This is your opportunity to show that the work was marginal, that it occurred in a protected environment, or that the wage data is simply wrong. Do not ignore the proposal.

Federal regulation also builds in an important protection. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.343(c), VA generally may not reduce a TDIU rating just because you took a substantially gainful job unless you maintain that employment for 12 consecutive months. A short-lived work attempt that ends because of your disabilities should not, by itself, cost you the rating. If you were recently approved, our post on what to do after a TDIU grant explains how to protect the benefit, and we also cover when VA can take away TDIU benefits in more detail.

TDIU Income Limit FAQs

Does my spouse’s income count toward the TDIU income limit?

No. The marginal employment analysis under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) looks only at the veteran’s own earned annual income. Household income is irrelevant, and the limit stays the same regardless of how many dependents you have.

Do VA disability or Social Security payments count toward the limit?

No. Benefits are not earned income. VA compensation, Social Security retirement, SSDI, military retirement, pensions, and investment income do not count. Wages and self-employment earnings do.

Can I earn more than the poverty threshold and keep TDIU?

Possibly, but only in limited circumstances. If you work in a protected environment, VA may treat your employment as marginal on a facts found basis even though your earnings exceed the threshold. These determinations depend heavily on the specific facts and on documentation, so it is wise to talk to an attorney before relying on this exception.

What happens if my income goes over the limit?

VA’s wage match will likely flag it, and you will receive a notice proposing to terminate TDIU. Going over the limit does not automatically end your benefits. You may be able to show the work was marginal or protected, and VA generally cannot reduce TDIU based on substantially gainful work unless you sustain that work for 12 consecutive months. Respond by the deadline, and consider getting legal help before you reply.

Conclusion

The TDIU income limit is the Census Bureau’s poverty threshold for one person: currently $15,940, based on the final 2024 figure. The limit applies to your earned income only, it does not change with family size, and earnings above it may still be excused in a protected work environment. Because new thresholds publish more than a year behind, the most recent figure is the safest benchmark for money you are earning now.

If VA denied your TDIU claim, or if you are worried that working could put your existing benefits at risk, contact After Service LLC for a free consultation. We represent veterans nationwide, and we can evaluate your earnings history, your work situation, and whether an earlier effective date could mean additional back pay.