VA Combined Disability
Rating Calculator
Combine your service-connected ratings the way the VA actually does it, with the bilateral factor for paired limbs, dependents, and your full annual economic impact. Then see the true monthly and annual value of the rating you should be receiving, including dependents and SMC.
Combined ratings method (38 CFR 4.25) + bilateral factor (38 CFR 4.26) · 2026 rates (effective December 1, 2025)
Understanding VA Disability Calculations
Before you calculate, here is how the math really works, and why it matters for what you receive. The VA does not add your percentages. It runs them through the combined ratings table in 38 C.F.R. §4.25, applies the bilateral factor under §4.26 when both arms or both legs are involved, then rounds to the nearest 10. Your part is simple: enter every rating exactly as it appears on your decision letter, not the number you think you deserve, or the result will lie to you.
How Does the VA Calculate Combined Ratings?
The VA does not simply add your ratings together. It uses “whole person” math (38 CFR 4.25): each disability is applied to the healthy portion of your body that remains. A 50% rating leaves you 50% “healthy,” so the next disability only applies to that remaining half. That is why 50% + 50% + 20% + 20% combines to about 80%, not 140%.
Why Does This Matter?
The jump from 80% to 100% can mean hundreds of dollars more each month, plus dependent benefits that start at 30%. A 100% or TDIU rating can unlock VA health care, CHAMPVA for your family, property-tax relief, and Chapter 35 education benefits for dependents. Every combined percentage point can change what you and your family receive.
Other Factors That Affect Your Rating
Paired limbs (both arms or both legs) trigger the bilateral factor (38 CFR 4.26). Being unable to work may qualify you for TDIU, paid at the 100% rate even below 100%. Severe losses can add Special Monthly Compensation (SMC). Secondary conditions caused by a service-connected disability can be added too. This is where expert review changes outcomes.
Why 50% + 30% Does NOT Equal 80%
The VA uses “whole-person” math, not simple addition. This is how ratings really stack.
The VA always begins from a whole, healthy person (100%).
50% of 100 is subtracted. You have 50% “efficiency” left.
30% is taken from the REMAINING 50 (0.30 × 50 = 15). 50 − 15 = 35 left.
100 − 35 = 65, then rounded to the nearest 10 → 70%.
Bottom line: 50% and 30% combine to 65% → rounded to 70%, not 80%. The same math turns two 50% ratings into 75% → rounded to 80%, not 100%. Every rating you add is worth less than the last. That is why which conditions you claim, and in what order, matters as much as how many.
Enter your disabilities
Optionally tag a rating to a limb first (for the bilateral factor), then click a percentage to add it.
What is the bilateral factor?
When you have service-connected disabilities affecting both arms, both legs, or paired extremities, the VA adds an extra 10% of their combined value before rounding (38 CFR 4.26). That small boost can push your combined rating into a higher bracket. Tag each limb below so the calculator applies it for you.
Body location (optional)
Upper extremities (arms)
Lower extremities (legs)
Add a rating
Dependents
Dependent benefits unlock at a combined rating of 30% or higher. Add more disabilities above to enable this step.
Special Monthly Compensation (SMC)
Optional. Select any that apply, SMC recognizes severe losses beyond the standard rating schedule.
Estimated 2026 monthly VA compensation (not a service fee)
SMC-K, Loss / loss of use
+$139.87/mo add-on
SMC-S, Housebound
Veteran-alone total $4,408.53/mo
SMC-L, Aid & Attendance
Veteran-alone total $4,900.83/mo
SMC-M, Higher Aid & Attendance
Veteran-alone total $5,408.55/mo
Current combined rating
Estimated monthly payment
$0.00
Tax-free · December 1, 2025 rates
Free Case Evaluation 702-992-4883This is an estimate only, based on the 2.8% COLA rates effective December 1, 2025. Your actual rating and payment depend on VA decisions, effective dates, and evidence. An accredited agent (Accreditation #45147) should review your specific situation.
Don't leave money on the table
This calculator gives you an estimate, an accredited claims agent turns it into a strategy. We find the ratings, secondary conditions, and evidence the VA missed. No fees on representation unless you win. Here is your part before you pick up the phone: pull your most recent rating decision, your DD-214, and a list of every condition you are treated for today, service connected or not. Bring the estimate you just ran. If the number on your screen is higher than the number on your award letter, that gap is the conversation. The VA will not call you to point it out. Under 38 CFR 3.103 you have the right to see the evidence and to be heard, but only you can use it.
Explore every VA benefit calculator
Free, no sign-up. Each estimate is a starting point, an accredited agent turns it into a strategy that finds the ratings and benefits the VA missed. Every calculator below runs the same rules the VA uses, from the combined ratings table in 38 CFR 4.25 to the current compensation rates. Your part is simple: enter what is actually on your rating decision, not what you hope it says. If the number you get does not match what the VA pays you, that gap is worth a second look.
Real Veterans. Real Claims. Real Outcomes.
Every case on this desk belongs to someone who served. These are the veterans this practice represents, across every era, branch, and condition: the Vietnam vet who was told it was too late, the Gulf War vet the system called a mystery, the young veteran who walked out of a five minute exam with a zero. Different stories, same fight. The record decides the claim, so we build the record.
Veteran Representation
Veteran Representation
Veteran RepresentationThe Exam That Sets These Numbers
Your rating, and every dollar figure above, is decided at the C&P exam. Watch the official VA overviews of what to expect. The calculator only shows what a rating is worth. The exam decides which rating you get. Walk in prepared to describe how your conditions limit work and daily life on your worst days, because that is what the examiner writes down.
How Your Combined Rating Is Calculated
VA Claim Exams: Musculoskeletal / Rheumatological
