50% and 30% combine to a 70% final rating. 70% and 40% combine to 80%. VA applies each percentage to remaining capacity, rather than adding your individual ratings.
Use the Interactive VA Rating Calculator
This guide explains the steps behind the result. To compare monthly payments after combining your ratings, use the 2026 VA disability compensation chart.
Why VA Ratings Are Not Added Directly
If a veteran has a 50% rating, VA treats the veteran as 50% disabled and 50% efficient. A second 30% rating is applied to that remaining 50% efficiency, not to the full 100%.
A 70% rating leaves 30% capacity. The next 40% applies to that remaining 30%.
Three or More Ratings: Keep the Table I Values
Start with the highest individual rating. Combine it with the next highest using Table I, carry forward the table's whole-number value, and repeat for each remaining rating. Do not round a running subtotal to the nearest 10; that step belongs at the end.
The 76 subtotal stays 76 when combining the third rating. Rounding it to 80 too early can change later results.
The official method and combined-ratings table are in 38 CFR § 4.25. Multiplying remaining-capacity fractions explains the idea, but a long calculation must also follow Table I's intermediate values.
Final Rounding
Final combined ratings are rounded to the nearest 10%. For example: 64 rounds to 60, 65 rounds to 70, 94 rounds to 90, and 95 rounds to 100.
Bilateral Factor
For qualifying compensable disabilities of both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles, VA first combines the qualifying ratings, then adds 10% of that combined value. This is 10% of the subtotal, not 10 percentage points added to your final rating. The adjusted subtotal is combined with other ratings before the final rounding.
A 0% rating on the opposite side does not qualify a pair. When both arms and both legs qualify, the qualifying ratings form one group rather than two separate bilateral bonuses. The rule also provides an exception when excluding a disability from the bilateral group results in a higher evaluation. See 38 CFR § 4.26 for the requirements.
The combined-rating calculator handles qualifying arm and leg groups automatically. Hearing loss is rated using a different process: see how VA rates hearing loss. A condition affecting both ears does not receive this limb-based bilateral factor.
Use The Calculator
Use the calculator to estimate your combined rating and monthly compensation with dependents.
Use the Free VA Pay Calculator
For condition-specific context, visit the sleep apnea rating guide or see how tinnitus affects combined ratings. These examples explain combining assigned percentages, not which percentage a condition should receive.
When To Request Help
If your estimate appears higher than what VA is paying, or if a condition was denied or rated too low, you can get a source-cited VA decision and evidence review.
See What Your VA Records Reveal
Frequently Asked Questions
No. VA combines ratings using VA math rather than direct addition.
It combines to 65%, which rounds to 70%.
No. 94% rounds to 90%. A combined value of 95% or higher rounds to 100%.
For qualifying compensable disabilities of both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles, VA adds 10% of their combined value before combining other ratings. A 0% rating on the opposite side does not qualify a pair, and an exception applies when excluding a disability from the bilateral group produces a higher evaluation.