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VA Disability Calculator

Combine your VA ratings step by step as a rater does, with the bilateral factor, its 2023 exception and your 2026 monthly pay.

Updated · By Niraj Kumar · 5 sources

Your ratings

Mark arms and legs by side: the bilateral factor depends on it.

Dependents

Married?Married?

In a VA-approved school program.

Your VA rating70%Combined value 72, rounded down
Monthly pay
$1,808.45
Tax-free; rates effective December 1, 2025
Yearly pay
$21,701.40
Bilateral factor
19 + 1.9 → 21
Both arms or both legs combined, plus 10%, counted as one disability
To reach the next band
One more 10%
An extra 10% rating (not on an arm or leg) would take you to 80%.
How VA combines your ratingsHighest first; each rating takes its share of the efficiency left, rounded to a whole number at each step.
#DisabilityRatingEfficiency leftCombined
Step 1: bilateral factor (38 CFR 4.26)
1Left knee1010010
2Right knee109019 → 19
Plus 10% of 19+1.920.9 → 21
Step 2: combine everything (38 CFR 4.25)
1PTSD5010050
2Migraines305065 → 65
3Bilateral factor213572.35 → 72
Combined 72, rounded to the nearest 1070%

How does VA combine disability ratings?

VA combines ratings from highest to lowest: each one applies to the efficiency left after the ones before, rounded to a whole number at each step. Disabilities of both arms or both legs get a 10% bilateral factor first. The total is rounded to the nearest 10, so 94 is paid at 90% and 95 at 100%.

VA does not add ratings. It treats you as 100% efficient, and each disability, from the most to the least severe, takes its percentage of what efficiency is left. Disabilities of both arms or both legs are combined first and increased by 10% of their value, the bilateral factor, then treated as one disability. Since 2023, if leaving some of them out of the bilateral factor gives a higher rating, VA must do that instead.

combined = A + B × (100 − A) ÷ 100, rounded to a whole number at each step bilateral = combined(arms or legs) + 10% of it, rounded rating = combined rounded to the nearest 10 (ending in 5 → up)
A
The combined value so far, starting with the highest rating
B
The next rating down
efficiency
100 minus the combined value: what the next rating takes a share of
bilateral factor
10% of the combined value of paired-extremity disabilities, added rather than combined (38 CFR 4.26)
4.26(d)
The 2023 exception: bilateral disabilities are combined separately when that gives a higher rating

Worked example

A Veteran rated 50% for PTSD, 30% for migraines and 10% for each knee.

  1. 1Bilateral: 10% left knee and 10% right knee combine to 19; plus 10% (1.9) = 20.9 → 21
  2. 2Start with the highest, PTSD: 50
  3. 350 and 30 (Migraines): 50 + 30 × 50 ÷ 100 = 65
  4. 465 and 21 (Bilateral factor): 65 + 21 × 35 ÷ 100 = 72.35 → 72

A combined value of 72, rated 70%: $1,808.45 a month for a Veteran alone.

Frequently asked questions

Why doesn't VA add my ratings together?

Under 38 CFR 4.25, each rating applies to the part of you that is still able-bodied, not to the whole. A 50% and a 30% rating combine to 65%, not 80%: the 30% applies to the 50% that remains, adding 15. The combined value is then rounded to the nearest 10, so 65 becomes 70%.

How does VA round a combined rating?

Twice. After every combination the value is rounded to a whole number, .5 and above going up, exactly as the combined ratings table does. The final value is then rounded to the nearest 10, with values ending in 5 going up: 74 becomes 70%, 75 becomes 80%, and 95 becomes 100%. A combined value of 94 is paid at 90%.

What combined value do I need for 100%?

95. A combined value of 95 to 99 rounds up to a 100% schedular rating; 94 rounds down to 90%. Because each new rating applies only to what is left, going from 90 to 95 usually takes more than one small rating. The calculator shows the smallest extra rating that would move you up a band.

Does the calculator include SMC or TDIU?

No. Special monthly compensation and individual unemployability (TDIU, paid at the 100% rate) are decided on separate rules. The monthly amounts shown are the schedular rates for your combined rating and dependents, effective December 1, 2025.

Is this calculator up to date with the 2023 bilateral factor rule?

Yes. Since April 16, 2023, 38 CFR 4.26(d) requires VA to take bilateral disabilities out of the bilateral factor when combining them separately gives a higher rating. The calculator tries every way of doing that and shows both results when the exception helps. See the bilateral factor calculator for the Federal Register's examples.

Sources

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