Pennsylvania Disabled Veteran Benefits by Rating: 100%, 60%, TDIU

Pennsylvania disabled veteran benefits grow most at two VA ratings: 60% unlocks a $1 fishing license, and 100% unlocks a free lifetime fishing license and a severely disabled veteran plate. Some Pennsylvania benefits need only a service-connected rating, and a few need no percentage at all.1,2

The percentage is only half the test. Pennsylvania's $1 and free hunting licenses require a disability incurred in a war or armed conflict, free vehicle registration requires a veteran who is "totally disabled", which PennDOT reads as 100% plus a reason code, and the state's tuition grant is worded "100%" in statute but "100% permanent and total" by the agency that runs it.3,4,5 Below is what each tier unlocks, who decides, and the letter each office wants to see.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Pennsylvania Disabled Veteran Benefits at Each Rating
• With Any Service-Connected Rating
• 40 Percent in Each of Two Limbs: The Amputee and Paralyzed Veterans Pension
• At 60 to 99 Percent: Reduced-Fee Hunting and Fishing Licenses
• Pennsylvania Benefits for 100 Percent Disabled Veterans
• Does TDIU Count as 100 Percent in Pennsylvania?
• When Permanent and Total Status Matters
• Benefits That Skip the Percentage
• What to Bring to Each Office
• Benefits for Spouses, Children and Survivors
• Where Property Tax Fits
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Pennsylvania Disabled Veteran Benefits at Each Rating

The table lines up each Pennsylvania benefit against the rating or condition that unlocks it. "War or armed conflict" means the qualifying disability must have been incurred in one; the federal benefits that also change with your rating are covered in our guide to state benefits by VA rating.

The federal side of your rating, the monthly VA disability compensation payment, is explained in our disability compensation guide.

With Any Service-Connected Rating

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) issues two disabled veteran plates under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1342. Section 1342(c) covers any veteran whose disability is certified as service-connected by the service unit or by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the subsection states no rating threshold.2 Both Pennsylvania disabled veteran plates, under § 1342(a) and (c), go only on a passenger car or truck with a registered gross weight of 14,000 pounds or less. Neither the statute nor PennDOT's page states a fee waiver for either plate, so don't assume the plate is free.2

Pennsylvania's civil service veterans' preference, set by 51 Pa.C.S. § 7103, adds a flat 10 points to the final score of a veteran who passes a civil service appointment exam for a Commonwealth, political subdivision or municipal job. The 10 points don't vary by VA disability rating, and the Office of Administration says the preference doesn't apply to promotions or internal postings.9

Veterans Temporary Assistance (VTA), run by the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), pays up to $1,600 in a 12-month period for food, shelter, fuel and clothing during an unexpected hardship, and a veteran with a service-connected disability qualifies regardless of the length or status of service.10

40 Percent in Each of Two Limbs: The Amputee and Paralyzed Veterans Pension

The Amputee and Paralyzed Veterans Pension pays $150 a month to a veteran who lost two or more limbs, or has permanent and severe or complete paralysis of two or more limbs, from a service-connected injury or disease.6 The test is per limb, not your combined rating: under 51 Pa.C.S. Chapter 77, each of at least two limbs must carry a VA rating of 40% or higher.6

Two more conditions apply. To receive the Amputee and Paralyzed Veterans Pension, you must have given Pennsylvania as your home when you entered the service, and a discharge under other than honorable conditions disqualifies you from the pension. The statute pays the pension "In addition to any other assistance provided by the Commonwealth and in addition to any compensation provided by the Federal Government".6 The Adjutant General decides eligibility, and the statute makes that decision final.

At 60 to 99 Percent: Reduced-Fee Hunting and Fishing Licenses

Apart from the 40%-per-limb test in the amputee pension, none of the Pennsylvania programs in this guide is keyed to a rating between 10% and 50%, so at those ratings the any-rating benefits above apply. A 60%, 70%, 80% or 90% rating falls inside the band Pennsylvania's wildlife laws use. The two agencies apply different service conditions, and that difference decides who gets which license.3,1

Hunting and furtaker licenses: war or armed conflict only

Under 34 Pa.C.S. § 2706, a veteran with a disability incurred in a war or armed conflict and a VA rating between 60% and 99% gets a resident hunting or furtaker license for $1. The Pennsylvania Game Commission lists the Resident Reduced DV Hunting License and Resident Reduced DV Furtaker License at $2.97, so expect the counter price to differ from the statute's $1.3

A peacetime service-connected disability doesn't qualify for Pennsylvania's $1 reduced-fee hunting or furtaker license, whatever its rating. The application must state that you are a war or armed conflict veteran and that the disability was service-incurred, and the issuing agent may ask for your discharge papers.3

Fishing licenses: no combat requirement

Act 21 of 2025 amended 30 Pa.C.S. § 2707 so that a veteran with a service-connected rating between 60% and 99% can buy a resident fishing license for $1, or a senior resident lifetime fishing license for $1.1 The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission says the disability need not be combat-related. Permits are not discounted: a veteran holding a reduced license pays the full price of any permit, such as the trout permit.1

Pennsylvania Benefits for 100 Percent Disabled Veterans

At the top tier, Pennsylvania adds the benefits below, and each one carries its own condition on top of the number.

Severely disabled veteran plate

Under Section 1342(a), PennDOT issues a plate bearing the words "disabled veteran" and the international symbol for access to a veteran whose service-connected disability is certified at 100%, or who has a service-connected disability of a type the statute cross-references to the person-with-disability plate. Motorcycles get a decal instead. PennDOT lets you self-certify with a legible photocopy of a letter showing a 100% service-connected disability.2

Free title and registration

75 Pa.C.S. § 1901(b) waives the title and registration fees for "Vehicles of totally disabled veterans" whose disability is certified as service-connected. The statute gives no percentage for "totally disabled". PennDOT's application, form MV-371DV, asks you to certify a 100% service-connected disability and to enter one of eight reason codes.4 The codes cover blindness, loss of full use of one or both arms, being unable to walk 200 feet without resting, needing a brace, cane, crutch, wheelchair or another person to walk, lung disease of the severity the form describes, portable oxygen, a Class III or Class IV cardiac condition, or a severe walking limit from an arthritic, neurological or orthopedic condition.4

PennDOT's free title and registration exemption for disabled veterans covers one passenger car or truck with a registered gross weight of 9,000 pounds or less, used for the purpose the exemption was granted. PennDOT's free-registration page says license plate fees still apply.4

Free hunting, furtaker and fishing licenses

A veteran rated 100% by VA, with a disability incurred in a war or armed conflict, gets a free regular hunting or furtaking license, and a lifetime license after documenting that the disability is permanent. The Game Commission's purchase page says the annual disabled veteran license, renewed each year, is sold online, at participating county treasurers and at Game Commission offices, while the lifetime license is sold at participating county treasurers only. If you move out of state, you can't renew a lifetime license.3

For fishing, a veteran with a 100% service-connected rating gets a free disabled veteran lifetime fishing license, with no combat requirement, and a free Combination Trout/Lake Erie Permit.1

Educational Gratuity for your child

The Educational Gratuity Program pays up to $500 per term or semester per child, directly to an approved school, for at most four scholastic years. For the Educational Gratuity Program, the child must be 16 to 23, a Pennsylvania resident for the five years before applying, and able to show financial need.5 The parent's disability must come from wartime service, or from hostile fire or a terrorist attack in peacetime. Which 100% counts is covered in the permanent and total section below.

Does TDIU Count as 100 Percent in Pennsylvania?

Individual Unemployability (TDIU) pays you at the 100% rate, but VA says your disability rating stays the same.11 So a Pennsylvania rule written as "100%" may or may not reach you, and the answer depends on the agency.

• Game Commission: counts it. A veteran documented as receiving 100% or total compensation is recognized as 100% disabled for the free hunting license, with the war or armed conflict condition still applying.3
• DMVA, for the real estate tax exemption: counts it.7
• Plates, free registration, fishing licenses and the Educational Gratuity: the rules we checked don't address TDIU. Silence is not a no. Ask PennDOT, the Fish and Boat Commission or your County Director before you apply.

Our TDIU guide explains how VA grants it.

When Permanent and Total Status Matters

Under VA regulations, a total disability is permanent when the impairment is reasonably certain to continue for the rest of the veteran's life.12 Three Pennsylvania benefits turn on that permanence.

• Educational Gratuity. The statute, 51 Pa.C.S. Chapter 87, covers a child of a veteran certified "as a 100% disabled veteran". DMVA's program page asks for "A 100% permanent and total service-connected disability rating".5 If your 100% rating isn't marked permanent, confirm with your County Director which wording DMVA applies before your child applies.
• Civil service preference for a spouse. The Office of Administration extends the preference to the spouse of a disabled veteran only when VA's Veterans Benefits Administration classifies the disability as a permanent total disability, and the veteran signs a statement transferring the credit.9
• Lifetime hunting license. The free annual license needs 100% (or limb loss); the lifetime version also needs documentation that the disability is permanent.3

Benefits That Skip the Percentage

Some Pennsylvania benefits are keyed to a condition or an award, not your combined rating.

• Blind Veterans Pension. The Blind Veterans Pension pays $150 a month for service-connected vision loss measured by a vision test: 3/60 or 10/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lens, or a visual field of 20 degrees or less, per DMVA. You must have entered the service as a Pennsylvania resident, with an Honorable or Under Honorable Conditions discharge. Neither source ties it to a VA percentage.6
• Free title and registration under Act 60 of 2024. The fee waiver also covers a veteran who lost a limb or eye or became partially paralyzed in service, a former prisoner of war captured in an armed conflict that carries a campaign medal, and Medal of Honor and Purple Heart recipients.4
• Free hunting license for limb loss. Loss of one or more limbs, or loss of their use, from a war or armed conflict qualifies for the free license without a 100% rating.3
• $1 fishing license for a former POW. A former prisoner of war who meets the residency rules can buy a resident fishing license for $1.1

What to Bring to Each Office

Most of these offices want proof of your rating. VA's Benefit Summary Letter, which VA says is sometimes called an award letter, can be downloaded from VA.gov with an identity-verified account.13

Your County Director of Veterans Affairs, often based at the county courthouse, is an accredited veterans service officer who helps you work out eligibility and prepare applications, and never charges for that help. DMVA's toll-free line is 800-547-2838.8

If your rating goes up, ask the issuing office what to submit once your new letter arrives. Our guide to requesting a VA disability rating increase covers the federal side.

Benefits for Spouses, Children and Survivors

• Civil service preference. A surviving spouse of a deceased veteran can use the 10-point preference, and so can the spouse of a veteran whose disability VBA classifies as permanent total, with the veteran's signed transfer.9
• Educational Gratuity. Besides children of 100% disabled veterans, the program covers children of veterans killed in action or who died of wounds in wartime or from peacetime hostile fire or terrorism, who died in service during a war or armed conflict, or who were honorably discharged and later died of a qualifying service-connected disability. The same age, residency and need rules apply.5
• Veterans Temporary Assistance. Surviving dependents of an eligible veteran can also receive VTA.10

If a parent needs long-term care, Pennsylvania's state veterans homes, federal Aid and Attendance (see our Pennsylvania guide) and the VA benefits that help pay for senior care are covered in their own guides.

Where Property Tax Fits

Pennsylvania's Disabled Veterans' Real Estate Tax Exemption is a full exemption from real estate tax on your principal dwelling, open to a wartime veteran rated 100% permanent or TDIU, or who is blind, paraplegic or has lost two or more limbs, and who meets a financial need test, among other requirements.14,7 The need test, the income figure and the filing steps are in our Pennsylvania disabled veteran property tax exemption guide.

Learn More

Find personalized help sorting out which Pennsylvania benefits your VA rating unlocks at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.