VA Caregiver Stipend in 2026: How PCAFC Pay Is Calculated and What It Is Where You Live

In 2026 the VA caregiver stipend is $1,896.30 a month at Level 1 and $3,034.08 at Level 2 for a veteran living in OPM's "Rest of U.S." pay area, and up to $2,370.63 and $3,793.00 in San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland. VA's stipend page prints no dollar amounts, only a formula: the stipend is based on the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule "Annual Rate for grade 4, step 1, based on the locality pay area in which the eligible veteran resides, divided by 12," in the words of 38 CFR 71.15. The 2026 rates below are settled; they come from OPM's 2026 salary tables. The 2027 rates are not: the President's pay plan holds civilian pay at 2026 levels, and Congress can still change that.

The formula, line by line

The program is the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, PCAFC. Only the Primary Family Caregiver is paid; secondary caregivers get training, counseling and travel benefits but no stipend. 38 CFR 71.40(c)(4) says the primary caregiver "will receive a monthly stipend for each month's participation."

Start with the "monthly stipend rate": the GS-4 step 1 annual salary for the locality where the veteran lives, divided by 12. Then apply one of two multipliers. Under 71.40(c)(4)(i)(A)(1) the stipend is that rate "by 0.625." Under (A)(2), if VA finds the veteran "unable to self-sustain in the community," it is the rate "by 1.00." VA's stipend page calls these Level One and Level Two.

Level Two turns on a definition in 71.15. The veteran must need personal care "each time he or she completes three or more of the seven activities of daily living" and be "fully dependent on a caregiver" for them, or have "a need for supervision, protection, or instruction on a continuous basis." Your rating percentage does not set the level; VA's evaluation of personal care needs does.

Where the veteran lives matters, not where the caregiver lives or where the veteran served. The 2026 GS-4 step 1 base salary is $31,103.00 before locality pay, and OPM's locality tables raise it by 17.06 percent in Rest of U.S. and by as much as 46.34 percent in San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland.

The 2026 stipend in 14 pay areas

Each row is the GS-4 step 1 figure from OPM's 2026 table for that area, divided by 12, times 0.625 or 1.00. A Level 2 caregiver's yearly total equals the GS-4 step 1 salary itself; Level 1 is 62.5 percent of it, or $22,755.63 a year in Rest of U.S. OPM's locality pay area definitions list which counties fall in each area.

What the stipend adds to a household on VA compensation

PCAFC requires a service-connected rating of 70 percent or more, so every eligible veteran already draws compensation. When the Primary Family Caregiver is the veteran's spouse, the two payments land in the same household. The table pairs the 2026 compensation rate for a veteran with a spouse and no other dependents with the Rest of U.S. stipend.

Compensation rates are VA's table effective December 1, 2025. They leave out special monthly compensation and any children. Run your own rating and dependents in the VA Disability Calculator; a medically retired member can add retired pay with the Military Retirement Calculator.

When the amount changes

January pay tables. Under 71.40(c)(4)(ii)(A), changes that come from OPM's update to the GS-4 step 1 rate "take effect prospectively following the date the update to such rate is made effective by OPM." No new OPM table, no change.

A move. A new address takes effect "the first of the month following the month in which VA is notified." VA must hear from you within 30 days of the move. Report it late after moving to a cheaper area and VA "will seek to recover overpayments" back to the date the change would have applied. Moving to a higher-locality area and reporting late simply costs you the months you waited.

A reassessment. An increase takes effect on the date of the reassessment. A decrease takes effect no earlier than 60 days after VA sends advance notice of its findings.

Legacy caregivers: a third rate and a protected amount until 2028

Caregivers approved before October 1, 2020, and those whose application VA received before that date, are the legacy cohort. For eight years from October 1, 2020, their stipend can be figured under the program's 2019 clinical ratings: a total of 21 or higher pays the rate "by 1.00," 13 to 20 pays "by 0.625," and 1 to 12 pays "by 0.25," which is $758.52 a month in Rest of U.S. A veteran who also meets the current rules gets whichever amount is higher.

A legacy participant who has not moved also keeps at least the amount paid the day before October 1, 2020. VA's final rule of September 29, 2025 (90 FR 46477) extended the legacy transition period through September 30, 2028. VA's program page says the cohort "will not experience a decrease in the monthly stipend amount based on a reassessment" through that date, with exceptions.

Who can be paid

The veteran, or a service member going through a medical discharge, needs a service-connected rating of 70 percent or more and "at least 6 months of continuous, in-person personal care services," per VA's PCAFC page. The caregiver must be at least 18 and either family (spouse, son, daughter, parent, stepfamily or extended family) or someone who lives full time with the veteran or is willing to. A member facing the board can check separation pay in our Disability Severance Pay calculator.

Apply jointly on VA Form 10-10CG, online or by mail to the 10-10CG Evidence Intake Center, PO Box 5154, Janesville, WI 53547-5154. VA's program page says not to send medical records with it. The stipend is paid only by direct deposit set up through VA's customer engagement portal; the stipend team is at 1-833-930-0816. A Primary Family Caregiver with no other health insurance can also get CHAMPVA; our CHAMPVA guide covers it. Neither VA's stipend page nor its stipend fact sheet addresses income tax, so ask a tax professional about your own return.

Stipend figures use OPM's 2026 General Schedule tables and compensation uses VA's rates effective December 1, 2025 (FY2026). Always verify with VA's Caregiver Support Program and your finance office before making financial decisions.