How the VA disability calculator works
The VA does not add disability ratings. Each rating is treated as a percentage of the ability you have left after the previous ones are counted, so two 50% ratings are not 100% but 75%, rounded to 80%. The calculator applies that rule from 38 CFR 4.25, adds the bilateral factor from 38 CFR 4.26 when you tick it, rounds the result to the nearest 10, and looks up your monthly pay in the 2026 compensation tables that took effect 2025-12-01 with a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment.
The combined ratings formula (VA math)
Order the ratings from highest to lowest. Start with the highest, then fold in each of the others with:
combined = a + b x (100 - a) / 100
where a is the value combined so far and b is the next rating. Each step is rounded to a whole number, which is what the Combined Ratings Table in 38 CFR 4.25 tabulates. When every rating has been folded in, the whole-number result is converted to the nearest multiple of 10: 74 becomes 70, 75 becomes 80, and 95 becomes 100. That last rounding is why most veterans with several ratings sit a few points above or below the paid rating.
Worked example: 60 + 30 + 20
Start with the 60. The veteran is 40% "efficient", so the 30 applies to that remainder: 60 + 30 x (40) / 100 = 60 + 12 = 72. Now 72 is the value so far and 28% remains, so the 20 adds 5.6: 72 + 5.6 = 77.6, rounded to 78. The combined value is 78%, which the VA rounds to 80%. Adding the three ratings would have given 110%, so the combined method is the whole game.
The calculator's defaults, 50 + 30 + 10, combine to 65 and then 68.5, rounded to 69 and paid at 70%.
VA math table
Combined value of two ratings before the final rounding to 10. Read the larger rating down the first column and the smaller across the top; for three or more ratings, take the result and combine it with the next one.
| Larger \ smaller | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 |
| 80 | 82 | 84 | 86 | 88 | 90 | 92 |
| 70 | 73 | 76 | 79 | 82 | 85 | 88 |
| 60 | 64 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 80 | 84 |
| 50 | 55 | 60 | 65 | 70 | 75 | |
| 40 | 46 | 52 | 58 | 64 | ||
| 30 | 37 | 44 | 51 | |||
| 20 | 28 | 36 | ||||
| 10 | 19 |
The bilateral factor
If you have ratings for both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles, 38 CFR 4.26 says to combine those first, add 10% of the result, and round to a whole number before combining with the rest. In the regulation's own example, 60, 20, 10, 10 with the two 10s bilateral: the 10s combine to 19, plus 10% (1.9) is 20.9, rounded to 21. The order is then 60, 21, 20, giving 68 and then 74, paid at 70%. Tick "bilateral" on the matching ratings above and the steps show the same arithmetic.
2026 VA disability pay chart
Monthly compensation by combined rating, from the VA's rate table effective 2025-12-01. Ratings of 10% and 20% pay one flat amount; from 30% up, the amount rises with dependents.
| Rating | Veteran alone | With spouse | With spouse and one child |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 | $180.42 | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 | $356.66 | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 | $617.47 | $666.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 | $882.84 | $947.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 | $1,241.90 | $1,322.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 | $1,566.02 | $1,663.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 | $1,961.45 | $2,074.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 | $2,277.15 | $2,406.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 | $2,559.30 | $2,704.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 | $4,158.17 | $4,318.99 |
How dependents change the amount
From 30% upward the VA publishes one amount for each household shape rather than a single per-dependent add-on. A spouse and a first child are built into the base row (veteran alone, with spouse, with one child, or with spouse and one child). Each dependent parent adds a fixed amount per rating, each additional child under 18 adds a smaller amount, each additional child aged 18 to 23 in school adds a larger one, and a spouse who receives Aid and Attendance adds a further supplement. At 70%, for example, a veteran alone gets $1,808.45; with a spouse $1,961.45; with a spouse and one child $2,074.45; a second child under 18 adds $76.00, a schoolchild $246.00, and a parent $123.00. A 70% veteran with a spouse, two children under 18, and one dependent parent therefore receives $2,273.45 a month, or $27,281.40 a year.
Back pay
When a claim is granted, the VA pays retroactively from the effective date, normally the date the claim was filed (or up to a year earlier for claims filed within a year of separation). Enter the effective date and the decision date above and the calculator multiplies the whole months in between by your monthly rate. The real payment starts on the first day of the month after the effective date, uses the rate in force for each month covered, and can be reduced by severance or drill pay offsets, so treat the figure as a ceiling.
This is an estimate built from the public 2026 rate tables (verified against va.gov on 2026-09-14) and the regulations cited above. It does not include Special Monthly Compensation, Individual Unemployability, or concurrent-receipt offsets. The rating and amount in your VA decision letter control.