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.
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.
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: two 50% ratings combine to 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.
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.
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.
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