Tool · VA Disability
VA Combined Rating Calculator
How Do You Combine VA Disability Ratings?
Enter each rating VA gave you. The calculator combines them the way VA does: highest first, using VA's combined ratings table (38 CFR 4.25), with the bilateral factor for paired limbs, and one rounding at the end. It then shows your 2026 monthly payment for that rating.
Your Ratings
How VA Combines Ratings
VA does not add ratings together. It uses the "whole person theory" so a combined rating can’t exceed 100%. VA puts your ratings in order from highest to lowest, finds the highest in the left column of the combined ratings table and the next highest in the top row, and reads the combined value where they meet (50% and 30% combine to 65). With more than 2 disabilities, VA takes the unrounded combined value and combines it with the next rating, and so on. Only the final value is rounded to the nearest 10%: values ending in 1 to 4 round down and 5 to 9 round up (65 becomes 70%). Two disabilities rated 10% each combine to 19%.
The calculator reads every step from VA's official combined ratings table, the copy in the federal regulation at 38 CFR 4.25. One cell in the copy on va.gov (row 86, column 80) shows 91 where the regulation shows 97; the calculator uses the regulation.
The Bilateral Factor
If you have ratings on both arms, both legs or paired skeletal muscles, check "bilateral" on each of them. VA combines those ratings first, adds 10% of that combined value, and treats the result as one rating when ordering by severity (38 CFR 4.26). In the regulation's own example, ratings of 60, 20, 10 and 10 (the two 10s bilateral) order as 60, 21 and 20, combine to 74 and round to 70%. If leaving the bilateral factor out gives a higher rating, VA leaves it out, and so does this calculator.
Next Steps
See how VA ratings work, the full 2026 VA pay rate tables, and how to file a claim or ask for a review. For help with your own claim, VA-accredited representatives can file and argue it; veterans service organizations do it for free (find one on va.gov).
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Doesn't VA Add My Ratings Together?
VA uses the whole person method: each rating applies to the part of you that's still "efficient" after the ratings above it. That's why 50% and 30% combine to 65%, and why a combined rating can't pass 100%.
When Does Rounding Happen?
Only once, at the end. VA combines every rating using the unrounded values, then rounds the final number to the nearest 10. A value ending in 5 rounds up, so 65 becomes 70%.
What Is the Bilateral Factor?
When you have ratings for both arms, both legs or paired skeletal muscles, VA combines those ratings first and adds 10% of that value before combining the rest (38 CFR 4.26). Since 2023, if leaving the bilateral factor out gives a higher rating, VA leaves it out.
Is This My Official VA Rating?
No. Only VA decides your rating. This calculator follows VA's published table so you can check a decision or plan a claim, and VA-accredited representatives (veterans service organizations help for free) can review your case.
Which Pay Rates Does the Calculator Use?
VA's compensation rates effective December 1, 2025, the 2026 rates on va.gov.