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VA disabilitycalculator

VA combined rating calculator

VA doesn’t add ratings. Each one takes its share of what’s still “efficient”, and the total is rounded once, at the end. Tap your ratings and watch every step, drawn to scale.

Your ratings

Tap a percentage to add a rating

Bilateral factor: tag each rating on an arm or a leg. Knee, hip, ankle, foot = leg; shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand = arm; anything else is Neither.

Dependents for the monthly amountNone added: the amount is for a veteran alone
Spouse
Children
Dependent parents

Examples

Your result

Your VA math

Example

70% combined rating

Combined value 72, rounded once to 70%.$1,808.45 a month alone

VA rates as of  · verified  · Change log · Report an error
Independent estimate · not an official statement · general information, not legal or benefits advice

Each rating takes its share of what’s still efficient
1 · 50%50 taken+5050 left2 · 30% of 50 = 1565 taken50+1535 left3 · 20% of 35 = 772 taken6528 leftCombined value 72 → rounds to 70%7270%65–74 → 70050100
  1. Start with 50%: 50 taken, 50 still efficient.
  2. 30% of the 50 still efficient = 15 → 65 taken, 35 left.
  3. 20% of the 35 still efficient = 7 → 72 taken, 28 left.
  4. Round once, at the end: 72 is in 65–74, so it rounds to 70%.

Estimate by Rank and Pay · VA rates as of December 1, 2025 · not an official statement · rankandpay.com

The TDIU percentage check

Your ratings meet the percentage part of the TDIU rule (38 CFR 4.16(a)). VA also has to find you can’t keep substantially gainful work. If granted, TDIU pays the 100% rate.

Not modeled: 4.16(a) also lets VA count some groups of disabilities as one (same body system, a single accident, etc.); those groupings aren’t modeled.

The monthly amount at 70%

VA’s rate table effective December 1, 2025, alone

70% aloneVA’s rate table
$1,808.45
Each month
$1,808.45
Each year (× 12)
$21,701.40

Use this rating in VA disability pay Estimate back pay at 70%

Check the official source: VA’s current disability compensation rates (va.gov)

How the math works

The same rules VA applies, in the order it applies them. Each line links the regulation it comes from.

  1. Largest firstRatings are put in order from largest to smallest. 0% ratings are set aside: they don’t change the math, but they can matter for other benefits.38 CFR 4.25, Combined ratings table (page dated )
  2. Each rating takes its share of what’s left50% leaves 50 efficient; 30% of those 50 is 15, so 65; 20% of the 35 left is 7, so 72. Each step is a whole number exactly as found in Table I, carried to the next step.We compute Table I with its formula; all 684 cells match the regulation’s table.38 CFR 4.25, Combined ratings table (page dated )
  3. Round once, at the endThe combined value is rounded to the nearest 10, and a value ending in 5 rounds up: 65 → 70, 72 → 70, 75 → 80, 95 → 100. Any 100% rating makes the result 100%.38 CFR 4.25, Combined ratings table (page dated )
  4. Bilateral factorWhen both arms, or both legs, have a compensable (10% or more) rating, those ratings are combined first and 10% of that value is added, not combined (19 + 1.9 → 21 in the regulation’s example). The result is treated as one rating. Both arms and both legs together form one group: 20, 20, 20 and 20 → 59 + 5.9 → 65 → 70%.38 CFR 4.26, Bilateral factor (page dated ) · Schedule for Rating Disabilities; bilateral factor (88 FR 22914) (page dated )
  5. The 4.26(d) ruleIf leaving one or more ratings out of the bilateral factor gives a higher combined rating, VA does that. We try every combination and say so when it applies.38 CFR 4.26, Bilateral factor (page dated )
  6. TDIU percentage checkOne disability at 60% or more, or two or more with one at 40% or more and a combined 70% or more. Meeting the percentages is only part of the rule: VA also has to find you can’t keep substantially gainful work.38 CFR 4.16, Total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployability (page dated )
  7. The monthly amountVA’s published rate for the combined rating and your dependents, to the cent. 10% and 20% pay the same with or without dependents; dependents count from 30%.Current Veterans disability compensation rates (page dated ) · Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Service-Connected Benefits (91 FR 7386) (page dated )
  8. A typo on VA.gov’s copy of Table IVA.gov’s page shows 91 at row 86, column 80; the regulation and the formula give 97. We use the regulation.About VA disability ratings (Table I copy) (page dated ) · 38 CFR 4.25, Combined ratings table (page dated )

Not modeled here

  • Paired skeletal muscles: Not modeled — 38 CFR 4.26 also applies the bilateral factor to paired skeletal muscles; the calculator only offers arms and legs (checked October 6, 2026).

  • TDIU groupings: Not modeled — 4.16(a) lets VA count some groups of disabilities as one (same body system, a single accident and others); those groupings aren’t applied in the percentage check.

  • Special monthly compensation: Not modeled — SMC levels change the monthly amount but not the combined rating; the VA disability pay calculator adds SMC-K.

How we check the numbers

  1. From the agency’s own tables. Pay from DFAS, housing from DoD’s BAH file, VA rates from VA, fitness scores from each service’s current scoring tables — looked up the way the tables read, never interpolated.
  2. Two dates on every answer. The date a rate took effect and the date it was last checked against the agency’s page. A rule that can’t be confirmed says “Not modeled” and why, instead of a guess.
  3. Tested, then logged. The arithmetic runs on one engine with automated tests built from the agencies’ own worked examples; every rate or rule change goes into the public change log with its source.

  • In-depth guide · VA

    VA disability rates 2026 and VA math, step by step

    50%, 30%, 20% → 65 → 72 → 70%

    Why 50% + 30% + 20% is a 70% VA rating, how Table I and rounding work, and what the December 1, 2025 rates pay with a spouse or children.

    Updated · 9 min read

  • Guide · VA

    The VA bilateral factor, with worked examples

    20/20/20/20 on all four limbs → 59 + 5.9 → 65 → 70%

    How the VA bilateral factor in 38 CFR 4.26 works: when it applies, how the extra 10% is added and rounded, and seven worked examples with the final rating.

    Updated · 5 min read

  • Guide · VA

    VA dependents, TDIU and SMC-K: when your monthly pay goes up

    70%: $1,808.45 alone → $2,207.45 with spouse and a child in school

    What raises a VA disability payment besides the rating: dependents at 30% and up, children in school, TDIU at the 100% rate and SMC-K, with worked amounts.

    Updated · 5 min read

Sources

  1. 38 CFR 4.25, Combined ratings tableeCFR · page dated October 2, 2026 · read
  2. 38 CFR 4.26, Bilateral factoreCFR · page dated October 2, 2026 · read
  3. Schedule for Rating Disabilities; bilateral factor (88 FR 22914)Federal Register · page dated April 14, 2023 · read
  4. 38 CFR 4.16, Total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployabilityeCFR · page dated October 2, 2026 · read
  5. Current Veterans disability compensation ratesU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs · page dated December 2, 2025 · read
  6. Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Service-Connected Benefits (91 FR 7386)Federal Register · page dated February 17, 2026 · read
  7. About VA disability ratings (Table I copy)U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs · page dated November 5, 2024 · read