The VA Test Most Missouri Borrowers Have Never Heard Of
Program and regulatory figures verified October 10, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
This is the test that decides files nobody expected to be decided, and in Missouri it pulls in two directions at once.
What the test is
Residual income is the money left each month after the mortgage payment, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities, other debts and federal and state tax withholding. The VA asks whether what remains clears a threshold set by household size and by geographic region.
★ There is no conventional-loan equivalent. Conventional underwriting looks at ratios; the VA looks at a dollar amount actually left in the household. That is why a VA file can clear where a conventional file does not, and occasionally the reverse.
★ Where the table lives
The governing document is VA Pamphlet 26-7, Chapter 4, Credit Underwriting, published by the VA in its KnowVA portal. That is the current authority and the place to go.
★ The chapter is rendered by JavaScript, so a plain HTTP fetch of that page returns the application shell rather than the table text, and the VA's older WARMS document paths now redirect into the same portal. Tools that execute JavaScript read it fine. It is worth knowing only because it explains why secondary sites quoting "the VA residual income table" so often disagree with each other.
★★ Why we are not reproducing the numbers
This is a policy choice, not an access problem. Two reasons.
- ★ We do not publish underwriting tables on a marketing page. Thresholds change, regional assignments change, and a stale figure in a Key Takeaway is worse than no figure. Standing policy here, not a Missouri exception.
- ★★ The figure on its own does not help you. Residual income depends on utilities, maintenance, household size, the actual withholding on your pay and every debt on your credit report. Reading a threshold tells you nothing about whether your file clears it.
★ What we will do instead: run it on your actual numbers, before you are under contract, and tell you where you stand. That takes one conversation. (480) 296-6513.
★★ Why Missouri helps on this test
A low payment is the single biggest lever on residual income, and Missouri's housing is cheap relative to the $832,750 limit. Kansas City, the dearest metro, is about 39% of it; Kennett is $95,780.
★★ On the same income, a Missouri file clears this test far more comfortably than the equivalent file in an expensive state. That is a genuine and under-stated reason Missouri suits a borrower whose income is modest relative to their household size. All 25 metros.
★★★ And the Missouri-specific thing that works against you
Property tax is escrowed into the payment, and the payment is what residual income is measured against.
★★★ In Ohio, a veteran with a total rating holds a homestead reduction that lowers the escrowed tax and therefore raises residual income. In Missouri, unless you were a former prisoner of war, there is no exemption to lower it. The same veteran escrows the full bill. Why.
★★ Note too what the Missouri Property Tax Credit does and does not do here. It is claimed on a return, so it reduces your annual cost of owning. It does not reduce the escrowed figure, so it does not help your residual income calculation. That is an honest distinction and most descriptions of the credit skip it. What the credit is.
★ Net effect: Missouri's cheap houses push your residual income up and Missouri's missing exemption pulls it back down. Which dominates depends on the metro and on your household, which is precisely why it should be run rather than guessed.
What we decide and what we do not
We are a lender. The VA writes the thresholds and we apply them. We are not affiliated with the VA or any government agency, we do not set these figures, and we will not guess at yours.
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555. (480) 296-6513 · mcerto@cfmtg.com.
Frequently asked questions
What is VA residual income?
It is the money left each month after the mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities, other debts and tax withholding. The VA requires that what remains clears a threshold set by household size and geographic region. Conventional underwriting uses ratios and has no equivalent test.Does Missouri help or hurt on the VA residual income test?
Both. Missouri's low house prices mean a lower payment, which raises residual income. But because Missouri gives most disabled veterans no property tax exemption, the full tax bill is escrowed into that payment, where an Ohio veteran with a homestead reduction would escrow less.Does the Missouri Property Tax Credit improve my residual income?
No. The credit is claimed on a return rather than applied by the assessor, so it lowers your annual cost of owning but not the property tax escrowed into the monthly payment. Residual income is measured after that payment, so the credit does not help the calculation.Why does this site not publish the VA residual income figures?
As a matter of policy rather than availability. The authority is VA Pamphlet 26-7, Chapter 4 on the VA's KnowVA portal. We do not reproduce underwriting tables that change, and a threshold tells you nothing without your household size, utilities, debts and tax withholding.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about VA home loan financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax or financial advice. Cornerstone First Mortgage is a private lender and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. VA entitlement, funding-fee exemption and disability ratings are determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Missouri's property tax exemption for former prisoners of war is established by article X, section 6 of the Missouri Constitution, and the Missouri Property Tax Credit is governed by sections 135.010 to 135.030 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri and administered by the Missouri Department of Revenue, not by Cornerstone. Proposed constitutional amendments described on this site are proposals and are not law. Figures here carry the date we verified them against primary sources. All loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.