The State of VA Claims Agents 2026: What VA's Own Records Show
Quick answer: VA's public records list 700 accredited claims agents as of October 2026, up 33% from 525 in June 2020. Florida has the most (92). VA paid $422.2 million to attorneys and agents in the last 12 months. Nationally there is about one agent for every 26,100 veterans.
Key findings
- 700 currently accredited claims agents, up from 525 in June 2020: a 33% increase.
- 118 of today's agents were accredited in 2026 (through early October), vs 99 in all of 2025 and 69 in 2024. The profession is adding agents at its fastest pace on record.
- Agents are about 12% of the fee-eligible representative pool: 700 agents vs 5,077 accredited attorneys.
- VA paid $422.2 million to attorneys and agents over the last 12 months (monthly average $35.2M), up about 7% since VA began publishing the figure in January 2026.
- Nationally: about one agent per 26,100 veterans. Florida (92 agents) and Rhode Island (79) lead; Delaware, Montana, and Vermont have none listed.
Nobody had published a current, sourced census of the VA claims agent profession. So we built one, from VA's own records. Every number below comes from a public VA source, cited inline. Where a number requires a judgment call, we say so.
How many agents: 700, and climbing
VA's Office of General Counsel (OGC) maintains a public, searchable directory of every accredited attorney, claims agent, and VSO representative, with downloadable complete lists that refresh Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings. We downloaded the claims-agent list on October 5, 2026 and counted 700 accredited agents.
The last public baseline we could find is from the Congressional Research Service, which reported 525 accredited claim agents in the same directory as of June 23, 2020. That is growth of 175 agents, or about 33%, in just over six years.
Currently-accredited agents by year accredited, 2018 to 2026
From the "Date Accredited" field in VA's October 2026 list. 2026 covers January through early October only. This shows surviving agents by cohort, not total accreditations granted per year (see caveats).
The 2024 to 2026 surge is the clearest pattern in the data. More agents joined in the first nine months of 2026 (118) than in all of 2025 (99). One plausible driver: VA began publicly reporting the hundreds of millions in fees flowing to attorneys and agents in January 2026, making the economics of the profession visible for the first time. That is a hypothesis, not a proven cause, but the timing lines up.
Where the agents are
The directory lists each agent's city, state, and zip. Florida leads with 92 agents, followed by Rhode Island with 79 and Georgia with 53. Three states, Delaware, Montana, and Vermont, have no agents listed at all.
Rhode Island is the striking outlier: 79 agents in a state with about 55,000 veterans. That count reflects listed business addresses, and a small state can host the headquarters of firms whose clients are nationwide. Remember the key point about geography: VA accreditation is federal. An agent listed in Florida can represent a claimant in Oregon. The map below shows where agents are based, not who they serve. See working remotely in any state.
Top 12 states by accredited claims agent count
Agent counts from VA OGC directory, October 2026.
Agents vs. veterans, state by state
To put the counts in context, we divided each state's agent count into its veteran population, using VA's official VetPop2023 projections for fiscal year 2023 (the latest published state estimates, rounded to the nearest 1,000 per VA guidance). Nationally: 18,267,000 veterans divided by 700 agents = about 26,100 veterans per agent.
| State | Code | Agents | Veterans (FY2023) | Veterans per agent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | FL | 92 | 1,413,000 | 15,358 |
| Rhode Island | RI | 79 | 55,000 | 696 |
| Georgia | GA | 53 | 662,000 | 12,498 |
| California | CA | 44 | 1,475,000 | 33,521 |
| Texas | TX | 43 | 1,538,000 | 35,777 |
| North Carolina | NC | 40 | 689,000 | 17,223 |
| Virginia | VA | 24 | 686,000 | 28,563 |
| Illinois | IL | 23 | 621,000 | 27,010 |
| Tennessee | TN | 19 | 435,000 | 22,876 |
| Nebraska | NE | 18 | 120,000 | 6,690 |
| Arizona | AZ | 15 | 473,000 | 31,558 |
| New York | NY | 15 | 662,000 | 44,160 |
| Washington | WA | 15 | 510,000 | 33,991 |
| Indiana | IN | 13 | 371,000 | 28,567 |
| Oklahoma | OK | 13 | 282,000 | 21,729 |
| Maryland | MD | 12 | 360,000 | 30,008 |
| Nevada | NV | 12 | 209,000 | 17,390 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | 12 | 688,000 | 57,350 |
| Michigan | MI | 11 | 500,000 | 45,431 |
| South Carolina | SC | 11 | 390,000 | 35,490 |
| Louisiana | LA | 10 | 257,000 | 25,738 |
| Kansas | KS | 9 | 181,000 | 20,141 |
| Massachusetts | MA | 9 | 274,000 | 30,437 |
| Missouri | MO | 9 | 392,000 | 43,506 |
| New Jersey | NJ | 9 | 308,000 | 34,179 |
| Arkansas | AR | 8 | 203,000 | 25,385 |
| Ohio | OH | 8 | 669,000 | 83,648 |
| Mississippi | MS | 7 | 182,000 | 26,063 |
| Alabama | AL | 6 | 343,000 | 57,166 |
| Colorado | CO | 6 | 368,000 | 61,352 |
| Kentucky | KY | 5 | 262,000 | 52,433 |
| Maine | ME | 5 | 107,000 | 21,367 |
| Minnesota | MN | 5 | 296,000 | 59,140 |
| Utah | UT | 5 | 130,000 | 25,957 |
| Puerto Rico | PR | 4 | 80,000 | 19,952 |
| West Virginia | WV | 4 | 124,000 | 30,980 |
| Wisconsin | WI | 4 | 327,000 | 81,798 |
| Idaho | ID | 3 | 122,000 | 40,762 |
| North Dakota | ND | 3 | 49,000 | 16,168 |
| Connecticut | CT | 2 | 152,000 | 76,099 |
| District of Columbia | DC | 2 | 28,000 | 13,958 |
| Oregon | OR | 2 | 266,000 | 132,878 |
| Alaska | AK | 1 | 71,000 | 71,006 |
| Hawaii | HI | 1 | 111,000 | 111,343 |
| Iowa | IA | 1 | 182,000 | 181,636 |
| New Hampshire | NH | 1 | 93,000 | 92,892 |
| New Mexico | NM | 1 | 153,000 | 153,411 |
| South Dakota | SD | 1 | 64,000 | 64,099 |
| Wyoming | WY | 1 | 45,000 | 45,445 |
| Delaware | DE | 0 | 63,000 | no agents listed |
| Montana | MT | 0 | 89,000 | no agents listed |
| Vermont | VT | 0 | 39,000 | no agents listed |
Agents: VA OGC accreditation directory, downloaded October 5, 2026. Veterans: VA National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, VetPop2023 state estimates, FY2023, rounded to nearest 1,000.
The money: $422.2 million in 12 months
In January 2026, VA began publishing a monthly report, "Attorney and Agent Fees Paid by VA," showing what it withholds from veterans' past-due benefits (back pay) and pays directly to accredited attorneys and agents. The current report reads:
- Last 12 months: $422.2 million
- Monthly average: $35.2 million
- August 2026: $37.2 million; July 2026: $39.9 million
When VA launched the report in January 2026, the 12-month figure was $394.7 million. The total has risen about 7% in eight months.
Fees paid by VA to attorneys and agents, trailing 12 months
From VA's monthly fee report. January 2026 figure from VA News announcement of the report's launch.
Two honest notes on this figure. First, it combines attorneys and agents; VA does not break out the agent share. Second, it covers only fees VA withholds and pays directly. Fees veterans pay representatives directly are not in the report, so the true total is higher, by an amount VA cannot measure.
A rough illustration of scale: direct-pay fees are capped at 20% of past-due benefits. If every dollar in the report were a 20% fee, $422.2 million in fees would correspond to about $2.1 billion in past-due benefits awarded through direct-pay agreements. Actual fee percentages vary, so treat that as an order-of-magnitude illustration, not a finding.
Agents vs. attorneys
We also downloaded the OGC's attorney list on the same day and counted 5,077 accredited attorneys, down from 8,080 in June 2020. (The Congressional Research Service has noted that OGC revoked more than 1,000 attorney accreditations at one point for failure to meet continuing-education requirements.)
That makes agents about 12% of the 5,777 fee-eligible representatives (agents plus attorneys). Attorneys need no exam; agents must pass VA's accreditation exam. Both operate under the same fee rules in 38 CFR 14.636. For what that means in dollars, see how much claims agents make and agent vs. attorney: which path fits you.
Methodology
- Agent counts: Downloaded the OGC "complete list of accredited claims agents" Excel file on October 5, 2026 from the VA OGC accreditation search page. Parsed 700 data rows. Counted the State column for the geographic table and the Date Accredited column for the yearly chart.
- Attorney count: Downloaded the OGC "complete list of accredited attorneys" the same day; counted 5,077 data rows.
- Historical baseline: Congressional Research Service report R46428, "Veterans Accredited Representatives: Frequently Asked Questions," which cites the OGC directory as of June 23, 2020 (525 agents, 8,080 attorneys, 9,705 VSO representatives).
- Veteran population: VA National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, VetPop2023 state estimates, FY2023 totals by state, accessed via VA's open data portal. Rounded to the nearest 1,000 per VA guidance. Total: 18,266,986.
- Fee totals: Read from VA's "Attorney and Agent Fees Paid by VA" monthly report on October 5, 2026. Launch figure ($394.7M) from VA News, January 2026.
This analysis was produced by VA Claims Agent Exam Prep, an independent exam-preparation site. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Caveats and limits
- Currently accredited only. VA's directory excludes pending applications and anyone whose accreditation lapsed, was suspended, or was cancelled.
- State means mailing address. The state column is the agent's listed business address, not a practice territory. VA accreditation is federal; agents may represent claimants in any state and work remotely.
- The yearly chart has survivorship bias. It shows currently-accredited agents grouped by the year they were accredited. Agents accredited in, say, 2019 who later left do not appear, so earlier years are understated relative to true annual accreditation totals.
- 2026 is a partial year. The 2026 bar covers January through the list's early-October refresh, not the full year.
- Four agents have non-state codes (blank, PH, EU) in the state field. They are counted in the national total of 700 but not in any state row.
- Fee totals combine attorneys and agents and cover only fees VA withholds from past-due benefits and pays directly. Fees veterans pay directly to representatives are excluded.
- Veteran counts are projections. VetPop2023 is VA's official projection model, not a headcount, and FY2023 is the latest published state-estimate year.
What this means if you are considering the exam
The profession is small, growing fast, and national in reach. Seven hundred agents serve a veteran population of over 18 million, and the fee pool VA reports keeps growing. Accreditation requires passing VA's exam, a character and fitness review, and ongoing continuing education. If you want in, start with how to become a VA-accredited claims agent and the exam format.
Frequently asked questions
How many VA-accredited claims agents are there?
700, according to the VA Office of General Counsel's public accreditation directory downloaded on October 5, 2026. That is up from 525 in June 2020, a 33% increase.
Which state has the most VA claims agents?
Florida, with 92 accredited claims agents, followed by Rhode Island with 79 and Georgia with 53. Delaware, Montana, and Vermont have no agents listed. The state shown is the agent's listed business address; VA accreditation is federal, so agents may represent claimants in any state.
How much did VA pay attorneys and agents in fees?
VA reports paying $422.2 million to accredited attorneys and agents in the last 12 months, a monthly average of $35.2 million. The figure covers only fees VA withholds from past-due benefits and pays directly; it does not include fees veterans pay representatives directly, and VA does not separate attorney fees from agent fees in the public report.
How fast is the claims agent profession growing?
118 currently-accredited agents earned accreditation in 2026 through early October, compared with 99 in all of 2025 and 69 in 2024. The total count of 700 is up 33% from 525 in June 2020.
Are claims agents allowed to practice in any state?
Yes. VA accreditation is federal, so an accredited claims agent may represent claimants in any state and work entirely remotely. The state-by-state counts on this page reflect agents' listed business addresses, not where they are allowed to practice.