That first-step-out-of-bed heel pain is one of the most common complaints in the military — and until 2021 it didn't even have its own place in the rating schedule. Here's how the plantar fasciitis VA rating works now, why most claims land where they do, and what the evidence has to show.
If you spent years in boots, on ruck marches, on flight lines or ship decks, you know the feeling: the stabbing pain in the heel on the first few steps of the morning that eases up once you get moving and comes roaring back after a long day standing. That's plantar fasciitis — inflammation of the thick band of tissue running along the bottom of the foot. The plantar fasciitis VA rating is now set by its own diagnostic code, and the way that code is written surprises a lot of veterans, because the percentage turns less on how much your foot hurts and more on what treatment has and hasn't done for it.
For decades there was no code for plantar fasciitis in the rating schedule. Raters evaluated it by analogy — usually under Diagnostic Code 5284 for "foot injuries, other," which is graded moderate, moderately severe, and severe with no definitions attached. Results varied wildly from file to file.
That changed when VA's overhaul of the musculoskeletal rating schedule took effect on February 7, 2021, creating Diagnostic Code 5269 in 38 CFR § 4.71a specifically for plantar fasciitis. If you have an older rating assigned by analogy under a different code, that history can matter to how a request for increase is evaluated — the criteria in place when a claim is decided are the criteria that apply.
Here is what the schedule actually says, in the schedule's own terms:
| Rating | Diagnostic Code 5269 criteria (plantar fasciitis) |
|---|---|
| 10% | Otherwise — that is, all circumstances not described below — unilateral or bilateral. |
| 20% | No relief from both non-surgical and surgical treatment, unilateral. |
| 30% | No relief from both non-surgical and surgical treatment, bilateral. |
| 40% | Per Note (1): with actual loss of use of the foot. |
Two features of this code catch people off guard. First, bilateral involvement is built into the code itself — plantar fasciitis in both feet is a single evaluation under 5269, not two separate foot ratings that get combined. At the base level, one foot and two feet both read 10%. Second, the jump from 10% to 20% isn't about pain intensity, frequency, or flare-ups. It's a treatment-response test: the schedule asks whether you have gotten relief from non-surgical and surgical treatment.
There is a second note worth knowing. Note (2) covers veterans who have been recommended for surgical intervention but are not surgical candidates — for those veterans the code directs evaluation under the 20% or 30% criteria, whichever applies. That note exists precisely because it would be unfair to require a surgery a veteran medically cannot have.
Read the code again and the pattern is obvious: most veterans with plantar fasciitis have never had foot surgery. Orthotics, stretching, night splints, physical therapy, steroid injections, new boots — that's the usual road, and none of it opens the door to 20% under the text of 5269. So 10% is the common landing spot, and it is 10% whether one foot or both are involved.
That is worth understanding before you file, because it reframes what "documenting your condition" is for. The point isn't to argue your way to a number the code doesn't offer. It's to make sure the record accurately reflects the treatment history that the criteria actually ask about, and to make sure any other foot or leg condition you have is identified in its own right rather than swept into one line that reads "foot pain."
Plantar fasciitis and flat feet travel together often enough that veterans assume they're one claim. They aren't. Acquired flatfoot — pes planus — is rated under Diagnostic Code 5276, and that code is graded on physical findings rather than treatment response:
| Rating | Diagnostic Code 5276 criteria (acquired flatfoot) |
|---|---|
| 0% | Mild; symptoms relieved by built-up shoe or arch support. |
| 10% | Moderate; weight-bearing line over or medial to great toe, inward bowing of the tendo achillis, pain on manipulation and use of the feet — bilateral or unilateral. |
| 20% / 30% | Severe; objective evidence of marked deformity, pain on manipulation and use accentuated, indication of swelling on use, characteristic callosities — 20% unilateral, 30% bilateral. |
| 30% / 50% | Pronounced; marked pronation, extreme tenderness of the plantar surfaces, marked inward displacement and severe spasm of the tendo achillis on manipulation, not improved by orthopedic shoes or appliances — 30% unilateral, 50% bilateral. |
Whether a veteran can hold evaluations under both 5269 and 5276 at the same time depends on the anti-pyramiding rule at 38 CFR § 4.14, which bars evaluating the same disability picture twice under different codes. That call belongs to VA and turns on the specific findings in your file. What you control is making sure each diagnosis you actually carry is named in your records, so a rater isn't guessing.
Service connection for plantar fasciitis is usually direct: the in-service complaints of heel and arch pain are sitting right there in the service treatment records, often logged at sick call and never coded as a formal diagnosis. Pull those records and read them line by line — a physical profile limiting running, a podiatry consult, an issue of arch supports, or a "heel spur" note can all be the anchor a nexus needs.
Secondary theories run in both directions, and they're worth mapping honestly. Foot pain changes how you walk, and an altered gait is a recognized pathway to knee, hip, and back complaints — see our guides on the knee VA rating and the back pain VA rating for how those are scored. Running the other way, an already-service-connected knee or ankle condition that changes your mechanics can be the origin of foot problems. Either theory needs a medical opinion connecting the dots; a veteran's own belief that one caused the other isn't enough on its own.
To see how a 10% foot rating actually moves your combined percentage and monthly compensation alongside everything else you carry, run the numbers through our VA disability calculator, and read VA math explained for why the arithmetic isn't what you'd expect.
Three layers, same as any claim. A current diagnosis in the record from a treating provider — plantar fasciitis is usually diagnosed clinically, so the chart note is the evidence. Service records or lay evidence establishing the in-service event or onset. And a treatment history that is complete: every orthotic, injection, course of physical therapy, and any surgery, with what each one did or didn't accomplish. That last layer is the one veterans under-document, and under 5269 it is the layer the criteria are built on.
At the exam, describe function plainly and accurately — how far you can walk, what standing for a shift does, what the first steps in the morning are like, whether you've changed jobs or duties because of it. Our C&P exam preparation guide covers how to report symptoms without minimizing or inflating, and the complete evidence checklist shows how the pieces assemble into a file a stranger could follow.
What is the VA rating for plantar fasciitis?
Under Diagnostic Code 5269, effective February 7, 2021: 10% in all other circumstances, unilateral or bilateral; 20% for no relief from both non-surgical and surgical treatment, unilateral; 30% for the same, bilateral; and 40% with actual loss of use of the foot. VA assigns all ratings from the evidence of record.
Can I get more than 10% for plantar fasciitis without surgery?
The 20% and 30% levels turn on no relief from both non-surgical and surgical treatment. Note (2) to the code covers veterans recommended for surgery who are not surgical candidates, directing evaluation under the 20% or 30% criteria. Outside those situations the code points to 10%.
Are plantar fasciitis and flat feet rated separately?
They are separate codes — 5269 and 5276 — but whether both can be evaluated at once depends on the anti-pyramiding rule at 38 CFR § 4.14, which bars rating the same disability picture twice. Only VA can make that determination on your file.
Our VA Disability Mastery course walks through records retrieval, secondary theories, nexus letters, and exam prep the way we'd build our own file. Or start free: find your gaps in 60 seconds with the readiness quiz.
See CoursesWhen your situation calls for individual help, use an accredited VSO, claims agent, or attorney — VA's accreditation search lists every legitimate representative. Keep reading: Knee VA rating · Back pain VA rating
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