VA sets no minimum credit score, and it treats debt-to-income as secondary. What it leans on instead is residual income: the money left each month, after the mortgage and your other obligations, for your family to actually live on. Here are VA's tables, how the figure is worked out, and where your state falls.
VA defines it as the amount of net income remaining, after deducting debts and obligations and monthly shelter expenses, to cover family living expenses. The minimums come from the Department of Labor's Consumer Expenditures Survey, and they vary by three things: the loan amount, the size of your family, and the region of the country.
Shelter expense includes an allowance for maintenance and utilities of 14 cents per square foot of gross living area from the appraisal. A 1,800 square foot home carries a $252 monthly allowance whether or not your actual bills are that high.
VA calls its minimums a guide rather than a trigger - but it also states that an inadequate residual income alone can be a basis for disapproving a loan. Below the table is a real problem. Above it is where approvals get easier.
Family of 1: Northeast $450 · Midwest $441 · South $441 · West $491
Family of 2: Northeast $755 · Midwest $738 · South $738 · West $823
Family of 3: Northeast $909 · Midwest $889 · South $889 · West $990
Family of 4: Northeast $1,025 · Midwest $1,003 · South $1,003 · West $1,117
Family of 5: Northeast $1,062 · Midwest $1,039 · South $1,039 · West $1,158
Over 5: add $80 for each additional member, up to a family of seven.
Family of 1: NE $390 · MW $382 · S $382 · W $425 2: $654 / $641 / $641 / $713
3: $788 / $772 / $772 / $859 4: $888 / $868 / $868 / $967 5: $921 / $902 / $902 / $1,004
Over 5: add $75 for each additional member, up to a family of seven.
Two worked examples from VA's own text: a family of three buying in Arizona with a $400,000 loan needs $990. A family of eight buying in Georgia with a $150,000 loan needs $1,199 - the family-of-five figure of $1,039 plus $80 each for the sixth and seventh members. The eighth person is not added, because the table stops at seven.
For the states we are licensed in, the split is simple: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia are South. Iowa is Midwest, and Wyoming is West. For most loan sizes and family sizes, South and Midwest share the same figure, while West runs noticeably higher.
VA counts every member of the household regardless of relationship, including a spouse who is not on the loan and anyone who depends on you for support. If you claim someone as a dependent on your federal tax return, they count. VA also says to consider the ages of dependents when judging whether residual income is adequate.
Residual income is also what decides how much a high debt-to-income ratio matters. When it clears the table by 20 percent, the usual scrutiny above 41 percent falls away - the full rule is on VA debt-to-income.
Source: VA Pamphlet 26-7, Lender's Handbook, Chapter 4 Credit Underwriting, Topic 10(a) Residual Income and Tables 9 to 11 (current version on KnowVA, updated August 26, 2026). VA figures change; confirm current tables before relying on them. Lenders may apply their own additional requirements. Not a commitment to lend.
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