Missouri veteran benefits
- Verified veteran benefits
- 10
- each with its statute
- Counties covered
- 115
- every one has its own page
- Veterans in this state
- 0.38M
- Rating thresholds that matter
- 0
- each one opens something different
How to use this, in four steps
You are on step 1. Nothing is locked — browse everything first, then check the ones that look relevant.
See what you may be entitled to
Browse every verified benefit in your state. No questions, no account — everything is open.
Check whether you qualify
Open any benefit and answer a few questions about that one. We stop as soon as we know.
Get the letter that shows the finding
A VA Benefit Summary Letter configured to show service connection and permanence satisfies most offices without disclosing any diagnosis.
File before the deadline
The deadline for the main property tax relief is: April 15, with your return. File with your the Missouri Department of Revenue.
Which of these sounds like you?
Pick one and we will narrow the list. You can change or clear it at any point.
Two things sharpen this a lot
Both optional. Your county decides where you file and what a property tax exemption is actually worth; your rating decides which thresholds you cross.
Where do you live?
We use this once to work out your county, because property tax is decided county by county. No benefit is ever matched on a ZIP code alone.
Your VA disability status
What does my rating actually unlock?
Read the record for the test that actually applies in Missouri — several reliefs across this corpus turn on the words on your VA letter rather than on the number.
1 likely, 20 possible
What you appear to qualify for — worth checking.
One question checks 18 of them. You can skip it and keep browsing.
Did you serve in the U.S. armed forces?
2 more questions could resolve others. We ask them one at a time.
Disabled Veteran Plates Free at Any Rating — and Free to Replace
Missouri gives one complimentary set of Disabled Veteran plates to an honorably discharged resident with a service-connected disability. ANY rating qualifies. No specialty fee, no transfer fee, no processing fee and no replacement fee applies to that set; further sets are charged at the standard rates. The VA letter must be LESS THAN A YEAR OLD and must come directly from the VA — a photocopy of an older letter is refused, and that is the single most common reason applications bounce. The wheelchair-accessibility symbol and disabled-parking privilege need a separate physician's statement.
VeteransApplies statewideOne complimentary set of DV plates, with no specialty, transfer, processing or replacement fee
Read it and check if you qualifyState Jobs: the Tie Goes to the Veteran — and Your Training Counts
RSMo 36.220 gives veterans and disabled veterans a preference in appointment to Missouri merit-system positions WHEN ALL OTHER RELEVANT JOB-RELATED FACTORS ARE EQUAL. That is a tiebreak, not a points bonus, and the statute deliberately specifies no point values — anyone quoting you a number for Missouri is quoting another state. The second half is easy to miss and often worth more: the state must give credit for relevant military training and experience, which can be what makes you equal in the first place.
VeteransApplies statewidePreference where other job-related factors are equal, plus credit for military training
Read it and check if you qualifyVETERAN on the Licence — Proved Once, Never Asked Again
Missouri prints a VETERAN banner on a driver's licence or state ID at no cost beyond the standard transaction fee. Accepted proof includes a DD-214 showing honorable or general under honorable conditions, a DD Form 2 (retired), a VA photo ID and several alternates — and if none of your paperwork fits, a Missouri Veterans Commission Veteran Service Officer can issue an EQUIVALENCY LETTER. Once it is on, DOCUMENTATION IS NOT REQUIRED AGAIN AT RENEWAL, so it is proved once and carried thereafter.
VeteransApplies statewideVETERAN banner on the licence or state ID, at no extra cost
Read it and check if you qualifyMissouri Guard Tuition — a Full Fee Waiver Since 2025-26, Not Just a Grant
Missouri National Guard members get tuition and mandatory fees waived at Missouri public institutions. This CHANGED for the 2025-26 academic year: what used to be a grant capped at the University of Missouri average is now a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees, applied after all other aid, up to 120 credit hours. A certificate of satisfactory service is needed each semester. The condition that surprises people is repayment — losing Guard status means paying it back, except where the loss is by death or disability.
VeteransApplies statewideTuition and mandatory fees waived, up to 120 credit hours
Read it and check if you qualifyBurial in a Missouri State Veterans Cemetery Costs Nothing — and Needs No Residency
Missouri runs five state veterans cemeteries — Springfield, Higginsville, Bloomfield, Fort Leonard Wood and Jacksonville — and interment is at no cost: grave opening and closing, the concrete liner, a granite headstone, coordination of military honours, and perpetual care. THERE IS NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT, which is unusual; a veteran who never lived in Missouri may be buried there. Service tests: discharge under honorable conditions, 24 consecutive months of active duty for those who enlisted after 7 September 1980, or 20 creditable years toward retired pay for Guard and Reserve. A capital-crime conviction bars burial.
VeteransApplies statewideNo-cost interment, headstone, liner, honours coordination and perpetual care
Read it and check if you qualifyEmergency Grants for Guard and Reserve Families — Funded by a Tick Box on a Tax Return
Missouri's Military Family Relief Fund makes emergency financial grants to Missouri National Guard members and to Missouri residents serving in the federal reserve components. The criteria are set by the Adjutant General on the recommendation of a statutory panel, so they move rather than sitting in the statute. Secondary sources put the cap at $3,000 but THE STATUTE NAMES NO FIGURE and we are not going to publish one as though it were settled — ask the Adjutant General's office what is currently payable.
VeteransApplies statewideEmergency financial grants; the cap is not set in statute
Read it and check if you qualifyOperation Recognition — the Diploma, Signed by the Governor
Missouri awards an honorary high school diploma, naming the school you attended and SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR, to honorably discharged veterans who did not return to finish school after service. Civilian prisoners of war are covered too. You may be a current OR FORMER Missouri resident, so leaving the state does not close it. Apply through the Missouri Veterans Commission with your discharge papers; MVC verifies and forwards to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
VeteransApplies statewideAn honorary diploma naming your school, signed by the Governor
Read it and check if you qualifyFormer POW at 100%: the Home Comes Off the Tax Roll Entirely
Missouri exempts the homestead from real property tax altogether for a former prisoner of war who is 100% disabled as a result of military service. There is NO INCOME LIMIT, and this is a statewide constitutional entitlement rather than something each county chooses to offer — an assessor cannot decline it as a matter of local policy. Both conditions must be met: former POW status and a total service-connected disability, evidenced by a VA letter. You must own and occupy the home as your primary residence.
VeteransApplies statewideThe homestead exempt from real property tax in full
Read it and check if you qualifyEvery Licensing Board Must Count Your Military Training — Since 2014
RSMo 324.007 requires ALL Missouri professional licensing boards to accept relevant military education, training and service toward the qualifications for a licence. It has been mandatory since 1 January 2014. It reaches members of the armed forces, the Reserves, the National Guard, the state military reserves and the naval militia, on satisfactory evidence. The value is what it removes: coursework and hours you would otherwise repeat and pay for. The word to hold on to when a board resists is that this is a duty on the board, not a discretion.
Licensed professionalsApplies statewideMilitary education, training and service credited toward licence qualifications
Read it and check if you qualifyMissouri Property Tax Credit — One of Several Routes, and Renters Count
A credit claimed on your income tax return rather than relief applied to the bill — and it reaches renters as well as owners. Veterans are one qualifying class among several: the veteran route is a 100% service-connected permanent and total disability. Seniors and disabled persons reach the same credit by their own routes, so not qualifying as a veteran does not mean not qualifying.
VeteransApplies statewideA credit against Missouri income tax, claimed on Form MO-PTC
Read it and check if you qualify$2 Off Every Night's Camping, Year Round — and Veterans Day Is Free
Missouri State Parks takes $2 a night off camping for retired, veteran and active-duty military personnel, all year, on production of a valid military ID at check-in — a CAC, DD Form 1173, DD-214 or listed alternate. Veterans Day brings a FREE camping night and free historic-site tours around the holiday. It is small per night and it adds up: a fortnight's camping is $28, and unlike most park discounts it has no blackout on weekends or peak season.
VeteransApplies statewide$2 a night off camping, year round; a free night on Veterans Day
Read it and check if you qualifyShow-Me Heroes — Half Your Wages Reimbursed to the Employer Who Trains You
Missouri reimburses a participating employer 50% of the wages it pays a veteran in a qualifying on-the-job training post, for up to six months. The job must be permanent and full time — 32 hours a week or more — and the employer must be enrolled and using E-Verify. Like the hire credits in other states, the money goes to the employer, so the way a veteran uses it is to name it: a small firm hesitating over the cost of training you may take the job seriously once it knows half the wage bill is covered.
VeteransApplies statewide50% of wages reimbursed to the employer for up to six months of training
Read it and check if you qualifyThree Bid Points and a 3% Target — but You Cannot Stack Them
A service-disabled veteran business enterprise certified in Missouri gets a THREE-POINT bonus preference on state bids and proposals, and 3% of state contract dollars are targeted at SDVEs. The certification asks for at least 51% ownership by a service-disabled veteran certified by the federal VA, with control of management and daily operations, and the firm must do business as a Missouri firm or keep a Missouri office. Two limits to plan around: the three points CANNOT BE STACKED with the RSMo 34.069 points, and the 3% goal is waived where there are not enough qualified bids.
Veteran business ownersApplies statewideThree bonus points on state bids, against a 3% contracting goal
Read it and check if you qualifyMissouri Deducts Military Pay, Pensions and Drill Pay
Active duty pay is 100% deductible, military pension income is subtracted on Form MO-A, and inactive-duty drill pay for Guard and Reserve members is deductible in full from tax year 2024 under a separate provision.
VeteransApplies statewideActive duty pay fully deducted; pensions subtracted; drill pay fully deducted from 2024
Read it and check if you qualifyWartime Veteran's Survivors Grant
For children and spouses of veterans killed or badly injured in combat action since 11 September 2001 — including an 80% disability route.
VeteransApplies statewideA grant toward tuition at a Missouri institution
Read it and check if you qualifyHunting and Fishing Without a Permit
A 60% service-related disability, former prisoner of war status, or a Warrior Transition assignment lets you fish and hunt in Missouri without buying a permit at all.
VeteransApplies statewideNo fishing or hunting permit to buy at all
Read it and check if you qualifyCalled Up Mid-Season? The Permit Is Reinstated, and the Next One Is Cheap
A Missouri resident mobilised on full-time active duty in the Guard or Reserve hunts, fishes and traps on a low-cost permit for twelve months afterwards — and a permit you could not use because you were called away is reinstated free on your return.
VeteransApplies statewideA low-cost small game, fishing and trapping permit, plus free reinstatement of a permit lost to a call-up
Read it and check if you qualifyReturning Heroes — $50 a Credit Hour, Because the University May Not Charge More
The Missouri Returning Heroes’ Education Act caps what an approved institution may charge a qualifying combat veteran: $50 per credit hour for approved undergraduate programmes, and no more than 30% of tuition and fees at graduate level.
VeteransApplies statewide$50 per credit hour undergraduate; graduate charges capped at 30% of tuition and fees
Read it and check if you qualifyIn-State Tuition Without Moving — the Guard and Reserve Route
A member currently serving in the National Guard or a reserve component is deemed domiciled in Missouri for in-state tuition at any approved public institution, and a member stationed here on orders is treated as a resident along with a spouse and children under 24.
VeteransApplies statewideIn-state rather than out-of-state tuition at an approved public institution
Read it and check if you qualifySkilled Nursing in a State Veterans Home — 180 Days’ Residency First, and a Hardship Rate If You Cannot Pay
The Missouri Veterans Commission admits veterans needing skilled nursing care to its veterans homes on eight eligibility conditions, including 180 days’ physical residency in the state before applying. A waiting list runs on two priorities, with a 70 percent or higher service-connected rating, a need for care for an adjudicated service-connected disability, or individual unemployability all placing an applicant in priority one. A resident who cannot afford the monthly room and care fee may apply for a hardship rate.
VeteransApplies statewideSkilled nursing care in a state veterans home, at a monthly room and care fee set by the commission — reducible on hardship
Read it and check if you qualifyHeat Cannot Be Cut Off 1 November to 31 March — and a Federal Disability Award Letter Is One of the Three Keys
From 1 November to 31 March a gas or electric utility may not disconnect heat-related service for non-payment where the customer says they cannot pay in full, makes an initial payment and enters a payment agreement — and must reconnect on the same terms without a deposit. Registering as an elderly or disabled customer adds protection, and one of the three ways to register is a formal disability award letter from the federal government. Service may not be cut on any day the forecast is below 32°F for the next 72 hours.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitNo winter disconnection and mandatory reconnection without a deposit, on an initial payment of no more than 12% of the annual budget bill
Read it and check if you qualify
Does my county change the answer?
For the statewide records, no — the same law applies in all 115 counties. What changes is the office you file with and the rate your bill is calculated at, and we do not yet hold Missouri rates.
- Adair County
- Andrew County
- Atchison County
- Audrain County
- Barry County
- Barton County
- Bates County
- Benton County
- Bollinger County
- Boone County
- Buchanan County
- Butler County
- Caldwell County
- Callaway County
- Camden County
- Cape Girardeau County
- Carroll County
- Carter County
- Cass County
- Cedar County
- Chariton County
- Christian County
- Clark County
- Clay County
- Clinton County
- Cole County
- Cooper County
- Crawford County
- Dade County
- Dallas County
- Daviess County
- DeKalb County
- Dent County
- Douglas County
- Dunklin County
- Franklin County
- Gasconade County
- Gentry County
- Greene County
- Grundy County
- Harrison County
- Henry County
- Hickory County
- Holt County
- Howard County
- Howell County
- Iron County
- Jackson County
- Jasper County
- Jefferson County
- Johnson County
- Knox County
- Laclede County
- Lafayette County
- Lawrence County
- Lewis County
- Lincoln County
- Linn County
- Livingston County
- McDonald County
- Macon County
- Madison County
- Maries County
- Marion County
- Mercer County
- Miller County
- Mississippi County
- Moniteau County
- Monroe County
- Montgomery County
- Morgan County
- New Madrid County
- Newton County
- Nodaway County
- Oregon County
- Osage County
- Ozark County
- Pemiscot County
- Perry County
- Pettis County
- Phelps County
- Pike County
- Platte County
- Polk County
- Pulaski County
- Putnam County
- Ralls County
- Randolph County
- Ray County
- Reynolds County
- Ripley County
- St. Charles County
- St. Clair County
- Ste. Genevieve County
- St. Francois County
- St. Louis County
- Saline County
- Schuyler County
- Scotland County
- Scott County
- Shannon County
- Shelby County
- Stoddard County
- Stone County
- Sullivan County
- Taney County
- Texas County
- Vernon County
- Warren County
- Washington County
- Wayne County
- Webster County
- Worth County
- Wright County
- St. Louis city
Every benefit here was checked against the statute or rule behind it, and each page shows the date. This is an informational match, not a government eligibility determination — the responsible agency decides your application.