BVA Outcome Rates by Condition & Benefit Type
What actually happens to each kind of issue at the Board — granted, denied, or remanded —
computed at the issue level from the full text of public BVA decisions. Every rate shows its raw counts.
What this is computed from: 1,929,585 Board decisions
(4,382,791 individual issues) dated 1992-03-30 to 2026-07-31, parsed from the public
BVA decision archive at va.gov. Every archive year 1992–2025 is complete. 2026 is partial: decisions dated through 2026-07-31 are in, and newer ones are added as the Board publishes them. Years follow the Board's archive folders; some older
decisions carry no decision date and are counted under their archive year (see the
dataset coverage table). Rates are
issue-level: one appeal often
decides several issues, so counting a whole decision as a grant when any one issue was granted would overstate
grant rates. 23,206 decisions our parser could not fully classify are excluded from rate math.
Data build: 2026-10-05.
New: What evidence actually wins — the same corpus, split by whether the record held a nexus opinion, DBQ, buddy statements, service records or a hearing.
Board-wide baseline
| All parsed issues | Issues | Granted | Denied | Remanded | Dismissed / other |
|---|
| Board-wide | 4,368,736 | 18.4% (801,714/4,368,736) | 32.6% (1,424,221/4,368,736) | 42.7% (1,867,393/4,368,736) | 6.3% (275,408/4,368,736) |
This single figure blends 1992–2026, each year weighted by how many issues the Board decided in it. Rates differ from year to year (table below), so for a specific period quote that year's row.
“Dismissed / other” is every issue that was not granted, denied or remanded: dismissed, withdrawn, vacated, moot or referred. The four columns add up to 100% of the issues in each row.
By year
| Year | Issues | Granted | Denied | Remanded | Dismissed / other | Coverage |
|---|
| 1992 | 44,230 | 11.8% (5,211/44,230) | 28.9% (12,792/44,230) | 59.0% (26,115/44,230) | 0.3% (112/44,230) | complete |
| 1993 | 32,049 | 12.2% (3,896/32,049) | 35.2% (11,272/32,049) | 52.3% (16,760/32,049) | 0.4% (121/32,049) | complete |
| 1994 | 37,059 | 13.1% (4,855/37,059) | 28.5% (10,578/37,059) | 53.3% (19,746/37,059) | 5.1% (1,880/37,059) | complete |
| 1995 | 43,238 | 13.4% (5,789/43,238) | 24.1% (10,438/43,238) | 53.3% (23,063/43,238) | 9.1% (3,948/43,238) | complete |
| 1996 | 60,603 | 12.8% (7,757/60,603) | 38.3% (23,210/60,603) | 45.6% (27,611/60,603) | 3.3% (2,025/60,603) | complete |
| 1997 | 68,612 | 11.1% (7,613/68,612) | 42.0% (28,806/68,612) | 45.7% (31,337/68,612) | 1.2% (856/68,612) | complete |
| 1998 | 61,258 | 12.0% (7,377/61,258) | 44.7% (27,403/61,258) | 41.9% (25,655/61,258) | 1.3% (823/61,258) | complete |
| 1999 | 60,888 | 15.1% (9,201/60,888) | 47.2% (28,740/60,888) | 36.3% (22,093/60,888) | 1.4% (854/60,888) | complete |
| 2000 | 61,651 | 16.8% (10,376/61,651) | 46.2% (28,507/61,651) | 35.0% (21,596/61,651) | 1.9% (1,172/61,651) | complete |
| 2001 | 48,125 | 14.1% (6,780/48,125) | 32.2% (15,485/48,125) | 52.0% (25,038/48,125) | 1.7% (822/48,125) | complete |
| 2002 | 30,723 | 20.3% (6,226/30,723) | 61.2% (18,813/30,723) | 15.8% (4,841/30,723) | 2.7% (843/30,723) | complete |
| 2003 | 66,664 | 11.8% (7,841/66,664) | 26.0% (17,318/66,664) | 60.5% (40,304/66,664) | 1.8% (1,201/66,664) | complete |
| 2004 | 64,592 | 11.6% (7,515/64,592) | 33.3% (21,519/64,592) | 53.1% (34,324/64,592) | 1.9% (1,234/64,592) | complete |
| 2005 | 67,058 | 13.0% (8,690/67,058) | 48.2% (32,309/67,058) | 36.6% (24,522/67,058) | 2.3% (1,537/67,058) | complete |
| 2006 | 75,791 | 11.8% (8,909/75,791) | 52.8% (40,026/75,791) | 33.2% (25,174/75,791) | 2.2% (1,682/75,791) | complete |
| 2007 | 81,586 | 12.7% (10,330/81,586) | 50.3% (41,016/81,586) | 34.4% (28,103/81,586) | 2.6% (2,137/81,586) | complete |
| 2008 | 90,166 | 13.5% (12,142/90,166) | 49.6% (44,764/90,166) | 34.1% (30,757/90,166) | 2.8% (2,503/90,166) | complete |
| 2009 | 98,968 | 15.2% (15,053/98,968) | 45.7% (45,193/98,968) | 35.9% (35,527/98,968) | 3.2% (3,195/98,968) | complete |
| 2010 | 98,887 | 16.9% (16,691/98,887) | 38.2% (37,769/98,887) | 41.2% (40,695/98,887) | 3.8% (3,732/98,887) | complete |
| 2011 | 95,580 | 18.0% (17,246/95,580) | 34.9% (33,404/95,580) | 42.9% (41,020/95,580) | 4.1% (3,910/95,580) | complete |
| 2012 | 91,905 | 17.6% (16,152/91,905) | 33.0% (30,292/91,905) | 45.0% (41,328/91,905) | 4.5% (4,133/91,905) | complete |
| 2013 | 88,830 | 16.5% (14,695/88,830) | 33.0% (29,274/88,830) | 45.7% (40,554/88,830) | 4.8% (4,307/88,830) | complete |
| 2014 | 125,551 | 17.7% (22,190/125,551) | 29.9% (37,503/125,551) | 47.9% (60,098/125,551) | 4.6% (5,760/125,551) | complete |
| 2015 | 128,581 | 17.7% (22,755/128,581) | 27.3% (35,059/128,581) | 50.1% (64,364/128,581) | 5.0% (6,403/128,581) | complete |
| 2016 | 115,857 | 18.4% (21,320/115,857) | 27.7% (32,056/115,857) | 48.6% (56,299/115,857) | 5.3% (6,182/115,857) | complete |
| 2017 | 144,457 | 18.6% (26,834/144,457) | 31.9% (46,069/144,457) | 44.1% (63,689/144,457) | 5.4% (7,865/144,457) | complete |
| 2018 | 144,495 | 23.8% (34,458/144,495) | 28.5% (41,241/144,495) | 41.2% (59,460/144,495) | 6.5% (9,336/144,495) | complete |
| 2019 | 291,374 | 17.9% (52,296/291,374) | 30.0% (87,404/291,374) | 46.1% (134,212/291,374) | 6.0% (17,462/291,374) | complete |
| 2020 | 279,811 | 18.2% (50,929/279,811) | 31.5% (88,048/279,811) | 43.8% (122,595/279,811) | 6.5% (18,239/279,811) | complete |
| 2021 | 263,056 | 19.3% (50,760/263,056) | 29.5% (77,507/263,056) | 43.6% (114,823/263,056) | 7.6% (19,966/263,056) | complete |
| 2022 | 269,804 | 20.6% (55,482/269,804) | 25.1% (67,836/269,804) | 46.1% (124,486/269,804) | 8.2% (22,000/269,804) | complete |
| 2023 | 301,445 | 20.2% (60,974/301,445) | 25.3% (76,303/301,445) | 45.3% (136,490/301,445) | 9.2% (27,678/301,445) | complete |
| 2024 | 317,966 | 22.0% (69,998/317,966) | 27.5% (87,341/317,966) | 39.7% (126,162/317,966) | 10.8% (34,465/317,966) | complete |
| 2025 | 333,146 | 22.5% (75,069/333,146) | 31.1% (103,748/333,146) | 35.4% (117,909/333,146) | 10.9% (36,420/333,146) | complete |
| 2026 | 184,730 | 26.1% (48,304/184,730) | 29.9% (55,178/184,730) | 32.8% (60,643/184,730) | 11.2% (20,605/184,730) | year in progress |
The trend is the finding. Across complete years, the issue-level grant rate moves from 11.8% in 1992 to 22.5% in 2025, while remands move from 59.0% to 35.4%. Those years behave differently enough that a single all-years average describes none of them well — read the row for the year you care about, not the headline.
Every count here opens the decisions behind it in the Board decision finder: same issues, same counting, with links to each decision on va.gov and a CSV.
By condition
| Condition | Issues | Granted | Denied | Remanded | Dismissed / other |
|---|
| Back | 411,208 | 18.3% (75,271/411,208) | 32.3% (132,645/411,208) | 45.1% (185,519/411,208) | 4.3% (17,773/411,208) |
| Knee | 353,866 | 18.4% (65,133/353,866) | 33.1% (117,227/353,866) | 43.9% (155,462/353,866) | 4.5% (16,044/353,866) |
| Ankle Foot | 231,711 | 17.1% (39,701/231,711) | 33.7% (78,007/231,711) | 43.7% (101,340/231,711) | 5.5% (12,663/231,711) |
| Hearing Loss | 219,680 | 18.4% (40,369/219,680) | 43.0% (94,554/219,680) | 33.1% (72,766/219,680) | 5.5% (11,991/219,680) |
| Psychiatric | 197,621 | 25.7% (50,778/197,621) | 29.5% (58,248/197,621) | 39.6% (78,169/197,621) | 5.3% (10,426/197,621) |
| PTSD | 174,787 | 20.4% (35,666/174,787) | 21.2% (37,041/174,787) | 52.5% (91,733/174,787) | 5.9% (10,347/174,787) |
| Radiculopathy | 173,172 | 23.0% (39,786/173,172) | 32.8% (56,848/173,172) | 37.4% (64,752/173,172) | 6.8% (11,786/173,172) |
| Respiratory | 117,596 | 16.2% (19,108/117,596) | 35.2% (41,380/117,596) | 42.6% (50,119/117,596) | 5.9% (6,989/117,596) |
| Hand Wrist | 108,839 | 14.3% (15,528/108,839) | 37.0% (40,259/108,839) | 42.8% (46,562/108,839) | 6.0% (6,490/108,839) |
| Tinnitus | 107,559 | 36.5% (39,230/107,559) | 34.1% (36,666/107,559) | 23.9% (25,753/107,559) | 5.5% (5,910/107,559) |
| Depression | 106,851 | 28.1% (30,062/106,851) | 25.9% (27,681/106,851) | 39.8% (42,503/106,851) | 6.2% (6,605/106,851) |
| Shoulder | 103,039 | 15.4% (15,850/103,039) | 33.5% (34,548/103,039) | 45.5% (46,855/103,039) | 5.6% (5,786/103,039) |
| Hypertension | 92,775 | 16.9% (15,637/92,775) | 34.7% (32,169/92,775) | 42.8% (39,720/92,775) | 5.7% (5,249/92,775) |
| Skin | 82,105 | 16.2% (13,275/82,105) | 38.1% (31,318/82,105) | 39.9% (32,746/82,105) | 5.8% (4,766/82,105) |
| Headache | 81,811 | 25.7% (21,005/81,811) | 28.5% (23,329/81,811) | 39.7% (32,462/81,811) | 6.1% (5,015/81,811) |
| GI | 81,763 | 16.9% (13,842/81,763) | 33.1% (27,030/81,763) | 44.1% (36,082/81,763) | 5.9% (4,809/81,763) |
| Sleep Apnea | 74,108 | 23.6% (17,463/74,108) | 22.0% (16,309/74,108) | 47.6% (35,269/74,108) | 6.8% (5,067/74,108) |
| Hip | 73,647 | 14.0% (10,283/73,647) | 34.0% (25,049/73,647) | 45.6% (33,570/73,647) | 6.4% (4,745/73,647) |
| Heart | 72,505 | 17.4% (12,599/72,505) | 34.1% (24,738/72,505) | 42.4% (30,711/72,505) | 6.1% (4,457/72,505) |
| Diabetes | 70,143 | 17.5% (12,252/70,143) | 36.6% (25,695/70,143) | 40.0% (28,067/70,143) | 5.9% (4,129/70,143) |
| Eye | 60,595 | 13.9% (8,421/60,595) | 39.5% (23,949/60,595) | 40.5% (24,547/60,595) | 6.1% (3,678/60,595) |
| Anxiety | 58,808 | 25.6% (15,054/58,808) | 25.8% (15,192/58,808) | 42.4% (24,953/58,808) | 6.1% (3,609/58,808) |
| Cancer | 58,032 | 23.1% (13,378/58,032) | 31.7% (18,369/58,032) | 39.0% (22,625/58,032) | 6.3% (3,660/58,032) |
| Neck | 39,266 | 15.9% (6,240/39,266) | 32.2% (12,626/39,266) | 46.2% (18,135/39,266) | 5.8% (2,265/39,266) |
| Elbow Arm | 35,371 | 12.6% (4,456/35,371) | 37.0% (13,075/35,371) | 44.4% (15,692/35,371) | 6.1% (2,148/35,371) |
| Liver | 23,322 | 12.8% (2,979/23,322) | 40.0% (9,338/23,322) | 42.1% (9,824/23,322) | 5.1% (1,181/23,322) |
| Erectile Dysfunction | 20,285 | 15.6% (3,163/20,285) | 34.6% (7,011/20,285) | 41.3% (8,368/20,285) | 8.6% (1,743/20,285) |
| Kidney | 16,176 | 13.1% (2,119/16,176) | 35.1% (5,685/16,176) | 44.5% (7,191/16,176) | 7.3% (1,181/16,176) |
| TBI | 15,795 | 15.7% (2,478/15,795) | 29.3% (4,631/15,795) | 46.6% (7,367/15,795) | 8.4% (1,319/15,795) |
| Arthritis | 14,419 | 10.7% (1,539/14,419) | 38.6% (5,559/14,419) | 45.6% (6,569/14,419) | 5.2% (752/14,419) |
| Gulf War | 12,886 | 7.6% (985/12,886) | 35.6% (4,584/12,886) | 53.9% (6,950/12,886) | 2.8% (367/12,886) |
| Herbicide | 11,213 | 7.6% (857/11,213) | 38.3% (4,295/11,213) | 51.0% (5,715/11,213) | 3.1% (346/11,213) |
| Thyroid | 9,693 | 16.1% (1,557/9,693) | 32.1% (3,108/9,693) | 45.3% (4,389/9,693) | 6.6% (639/9,693) |
| Fibromyalgia | 7,467 | 18.1% (1,349/7,467) | 31.6% (2,356/7,467) | 43.6% (3,259/7,467) | 6.7% (503/7,467) |
| Prostate | 6,210 | 6.3% (390/6,210) | 38.7% (2,402/6,210) | 47.6% (2,959/6,210) | 7.4% (459/6,210) |
| Insomnia | 5,696 | 16.1% (918/5,696) | 32.7% (1,860/5,696) | 41.2% (2,346/5,696) | 10.0% (572/5,696) |
| Gyn | 4,720 | 17.6% (832/4,720) | 29.3% (1,384/4,720) | 47.9% (2,261/4,720) | 5.1% (243/4,720) |
| Burn Pit | 69 | 5.8% (4/69) | 24.6% (17/69) | 56.5% (39/69) | 13.0% (9/69) |
By benefit type
| Benefit type | Issues | Granted | Denied | Remanded | Dismissed / other |
|---|
| Service Connection | 2,303,804 | 18.8% (433,118/2,303,804) | 30.2% (696,403/2,303,804) | 45.7% (1,052,467/2,303,804) | 5.3% (121,816/2,303,804) |
| Increased Rating | 928,363 | 11.3% (105,328/928,363) | 43.8% (406,762/928,363) | 39.2% (363,936/928,363) | 5.6% (52,337/928,363) |
| TDIU | 173,360 | 22.2% (38,534/173,360) | 16.5% (28,588/173,360) | 55.1% (95,443/173,360) | 6.2% (10,795/173,360) |
| Effective Date | 163,094 | 26.7% (43,470/163,094) | 49.2% (80,294/163,094) | 14.8% (24,165/163,094) | 9.3% (15,165/163,094) |
| Special Monthly Compensation | 47,345 | 30.8% (14,593/47,345) | 29.3% (13,859/47,345) | 32.8% (15,539/47,345) | 7.1% (3,354/47,345) |
| Pension | 29,169 | 9.7% (2,836/29,169) | 43.0% (12,531/29,169) | 42.0% (12,258/29,169) | 5.3% (1,544/29,169) |
| Rating Reduction / Restoration | 24,294 | 54.2% (13,168/24,294) | 18.8% (4,566/24,294) | 18.4% (4,477/24,294) | 8.6% (2,083/24,294) |
| DIC & Survivor Benefits | 15,354 | 7.4% (1,131/15,354) | 52.7% (8,084/15,354) | 32.9% (5,054/15,354) | 7.1% (1,085/15,354) |
| Overpayment / Debt Waiver | 12,925 | 19.7% (2,549/12,925) | 33.4% (4,315/12,925) | 38.9% (5,024/12,925) | 8.0% (1,037/12,925) |
| Auto / Adaptive Equipment / Housing | 12,683 | 19.1% (2,421/12,683) | 35.8% (4,545/12,683) | 34.5% (4,379/12,683) | 10.5% (1,338/12,683) |
| Education Benefits | 12,432 | 16.8% (2,084/12,432) | 45.3% (5,632/12,432) | 32.0% (3,973/12,432) | 6.0% (743/12,432) |
| Medical Reimbursement | 11,807 | 16.8% (1,979/11,807) | 33.2% (3,916/11,807) | 33.6% (3,973/11,807) | 16.4% (1,939/11,807) |
| Clear & Unmistakable Error (CUE) | 11,755 | 9.4% (1,103/11,755) | 48.7% (5,726/11,755) | 24.1% (2,835/11,755) | 17.8% (2,091/11,755) |
| Caregiver Program (PCAFC) | 6,000 | 2.5% (153/6,000) | 11.6% (696/6,000) | 72.2% (4,330/6,000) | 13.7% (821/6,000) |
| New & Relevant Evidence | 4,172 | 29.4% (1,228/4,172) | 37.7% (1,572/4,172) | 30.7% (1,281/4,172) | 2.2% (91/4,172) |
| Apportionment | 3,879 | 16.1% (623/3,879) | 31.0% (1,201/3,879) | 41.5% (1,608/3,879) | 11.5% (447/3,879) |
| Attorney Fees | 2,846 | 34.6% (986/2,846) | 27.8% (792/2,846) | 13.6% (388/2,846) | 23.9% (680/2,846) |
| Burial Benefits | 2,739 | 10.7% (294/2,739) | 61.8% (1,694/2,739) | 24.0% (658/2,739) | 3.4% (93/2,739) |
| Home Loan Guaranty | 1,374 | 16.2% (223/1,374) | 26.2% (360/1,374) | 50.9% (699/1,374) | 6.7% (92/1,374) |
| Competency | 670 | 5.5% (37/670) | 27.6% (185/670) | 34.6% (232/670) | 32.2% (216/670) |
| Insurance | 634 | 6.0% (38/634) | 54.1% (343/634) | 34.4% (218/634) | 5.5% (35/634) |
Reading the table honestly
Issue-level counting. One Board decision frequently decides several issues with different
outcomes. These tables count each issue once, which does not overstate grant rates the way counting a
whole decision as granted would.
A remand is unfinished business. Remanded issues return to the regional office for more
development. Some come back and win; some don't. Treat the remand column as "still in play," not as a win rate.
Selection effects are real. Issues that reach the Board are the ones veterans chose to
appeal — usually the stronger denials. These rates describe Board dockets, not the fate of all VA claims.
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