Calculator

VA Combined Rating Calculator

Calculate your combined VA disability rating using the VA's 'whole person' method.

Free, no sign-in, and built on the current VA rate tables. The calculator runs in your browser on this page.

How VA combines ratings

VA does not add ratings together. Under 38 CFR 4.25, each rating is applied to the part of you that is still considered efficient after the ratings before it. Start from 100 percent, take the largest rating first, and each following rating removes its percentage of whatever remains.

The exact result is then rounded to the nearest 10. Anything ending in 5 or more rounds up, so 74 becomes 70 and 75 becomes 80. That rounded number is the combined rating VA pays on.

The order does not change the exact figure, but VA lists the ratings from highest to lowest, and so does this calculator.

A worked example

Ratings of 50, 30 and 10

1. Start with 100 percent efficiency. A 50 percent rating leaves 50.
2. A 30 percent rating takes 30 percent of the remaining 50, which is 15. That leaves 35, so the combined value so far is 65.
3. A 10 percent rating takes 10 percent of the remaining 35, which is 3.5. That leaves 31.5, so the exact combined value is 68.5.
4. Rounded to the nearest 10, the combined rating is 70 percent, not the 90 you would get by adding.

What this estimate leaves out

• The bilateral factor (38 CFR 4.26) adds 10 percent of the combined value of paired arm or leg disabilities before combining the rest. This calculator does not apply it, so a veteran with matching left and right conditions may see a slightly lower number here than VA reaches.
• The calculator combines the ratings you type. It does not decide what each condition is rated; that comes from VA's rating schedule.

Questions veterans ask

Why is 50 plus 50 not 100?

The second 50 percent applies to the 50 percent of you that is left, which is 25. That makes 75, which rounds to 80.

Does the order I enter ratings in matter?

No. Multiplying the remaining percentages gives the same exact figure in any order. VA simply lists them from highest to lowest.

How do I get from 90 to 100?

The math runs out of room near the top: at 90 percent only 10 percent of efficiency is left, so a new 50 percent rating adds 5. Reaching 100 usually takes an increase in an existing rating, a large new rating, or Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability, which pays at the 100 percent rate without a 100 percent combined rating.

Is the combined rating the number on my rating decision?

Yes. The decision lists each condition's rating and then the combined evaluation, which is what the monthly compensation table uses.

Read next

• What that rating pays each month
• How VA combined ratings actually work
• Why 50 plus 50 is not 100

Sources

• 38 CFR 4.25, combined ratings table
• 38 CFR 4.26, bilateral factor
• About VA disability ratings, VA

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YourVABenefits is software you run on your own records. It is not part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and does not file claims. You file on VA.gov, or an accredited representative files for you at no charge.