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VA rating for tinnitus, diagnostic code 6260

Ten percent is the only evaluation the schedule prints for recurrent tinnitus. The code is 6260, in 38 CFR 4.87, and it sets no measurement of loudness or frequency at all. Three notes attached to it do the rest of the work, including whether one ear or two makes any difference.

Published 2026-08-21. Last updated 2026-08-24. Written and reviewed under Veteran Health Network's institutional review process.

What each level requires

tinnitus is rated under diagnostic code 6260, which the schedule calls "Tinnitus, recurrent", at 38 CFR 4.87.

10%

10 percent requires

In plain English

Recurrent tinnitus. There is one level and it is 10 percent. The schedule sets no frequency, no loudness and no measurement, and it provides no higher step, so severity cannot move the number under this code.

As written in 38 CFR 4.87

Tinnitus, recurrent

Notes the schedule attaches to this code

These are part of the regulation and they change how the criteria above are applied. They are reproduced word for word.

  • 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 supports an evaluation under one 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): Do not evaluate objective tinnitus (in which the sound is audible to other people and has a definable cause that may or may not be pathologic) under this diagnostic code, but evaluate it as part of any underlying condition causing it.

Regulation text reproduced from 38 CFR 4.87, read on 2026-08-21. Read the section at the eCFR. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the date above is the date this text was checked and not the date it was written.

One level, and three notes that matter more than the level

Derived from the regulation

The criterion is two words long: "Tinnitus, recurrent", evaluated at 10 percent. There is nothing above it under this code and nothing below it.

Note (2) answers the question people most often arrive with: a single evaluation is assigned for recurrent tinnitus whether the sound is heard in one ear, in both, or in the head. Two ears do not produce two ratings under this code.

Note (3) removes a category of tinnitus from the code altogether. Objective tinnitus, meaning a sound audible to other people with a definable cause, is not evaluated here but as part of whatever condition is producing it.

Note (1) works in the other direction. It permits a separate evaluation for tinnitus to be combined with an evaluation under codes 6100, 6200, 6204 or another code, except where tinnitus is itself supporting that other evaluation.

This code has moved sections twice

Derived from the regulation

Anyone comparing an older decision letter against the current schedule should know that this code has not always lived where it lives now.

Appendix A to Part 4 records it across 2 entries: "Added October 1, 1961; criterion October 1, 1961; evaluation March 10, 1976; removed December 18, 1987; re-designated § 4.87a December 18, 1987." and "Moved to § 4.87 June 10, 1999."

The ear section keeps its own dates, and they move whenever anything in 4.87 moves: 64 FR 25210, May 11, 1999, as amended at 68 FR 25823, May 14, 2003. Both records were read on 2026-08-21 against the edition current at 2026-08-01.

The codes tinnitus sits next to

Reference

Section 4.87 is the ear schedule. Immediately around code 6260 are 6200 for chronic suppurative otitis media, 6204 for peripheral vestibular disorders and 6205 for Meniere's syndrome. Hearing impairment is rated separately under 38 CFR 4.85 and 4.86.

Note (1) under 6260 names three of those neighbors specifically, which is unusual: most codes in Part 4 do not state their own combination rules.

Questions

Can tinnitus be rated higher than 10 percent?

Not under diagnostic code 6260, which prints one evaluation and no others. A separate condition rated under a different code is a different question.

Does tinnitus in both ears get two ratings?

No. Note (2) to the code assigns a single evaluation whether the sound is perceived in one ear, both ears, or in the head.

See every level beside the regulation it comes from

The rating threshold cheatsheet shows all of the levels for tinnitus in one view, plain English on the left and the regulation itself on the right, in a layout built to print.

It is free and it never says which level anyone meets. It describes what each one requires and leaves the reading to the person whose record it is.

Open the rating threshold cheatsheet

Sources

Accuracy owner Brayden Marley. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the retrieval date above is what this page is accurate as of.