VA Disability Calculator: Combined Rating and Monthly Pay
Enter each disability rating from your VA decision to get your combined rating using VA math, including the bilateral factor, and then your monthly and yearly compensation with dependents. Pay uses the 2026 rates VA published, or an estimate for 2027.
Maintained by Archie Chang · Rates and formulas checked against VA and 38 CFR October 16, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Your individual ratings
For a disability of one arm or one leg, pick which one. The bilateral factor applies only when both the left and right arm, or both the left and right leg, have a rating of 10% or more.
Dependents and rate year
Count an adult child who became permanently unable to support themselves before 18 with children under 18. Children 18 to 23 must attend a VA-approved school; they are paid the school-child amount instead of a minor-child amount.
Result
Combined rating (rounded)
70%
Exact combined value before rounding: 65%
Order used (highest first): 50%, 30%
Monthly compensation, 2026 rates
$1,808.45
$21,701.40 per year
- Basic rate, 70%, veteran alone
- $1,808.45
Does not include special monthly compensation (SMC), individual unemployability (TDIU, paid at the 100% rate), offsets for military retired pay or separation pay, or reductions for debts, hospitalization or incarceration. VA decides your actual amount.
Your math, step by step
Start with the highest value, 50%.
- Combine 30% with 50%: 50 + 30 x (100 - 50) / 100, rounded to a whole number = 65%
Exact combined value: 65%. Rounded to the nearest 10 (5 rounds up): 70%.
How VA math works
VA combines ratings instead of adding them (38 CFR 4.25). Think of a person as 100% efficient. The first and highest rating takes its share, and the next rating applies only to the efficiency that is left. Table I in the regulation gives the whole-number result of each pair, and combining continues down the list in order of severity.
The final exact value is rounded to the nearest degree divisible by 10, and a value ending in 5 is adjusted upward. For example, 65 becomes 70, while 64 becomes 60.
The bilateral factor (38 CFR 4.26) applies to disabilities of both arms, both legs or paired skeletal muscles. The bilateral ratings are combined with each other, 10% of that result is added, and the sum is then combined with the remaining ratings as one rating. The 10% is added to the bilateral result, not combined. The calculator also tries leaving bilateral ratings out of the factor and keeps the better outcome, as 38 CFR 4.26(d) allows.
Once you have the combined rating, find your amount in the VA disability pay chart or see the 2027 estimate.
VA disability calculator questions
How does VA math work?
VA does not add ratings. It starts with the highest rating, treats the rest of the body as the remaining efficiency, and applies the next rating to that. A 50% and a 30% give 50 + 30% of 50 = 65, which rounds to a 70% combined rating. Table I in 38 CFR 4.25 gives these results.
How does VA round the combined rating?
The exact combined value is rounded to the nearest 10. Values ending in 5 round up, so 65 becomes 70 and 64 becomes 60.
What is the bilateral factor?
When you have compensable ratings on both the left and right arm, or both the left and right leg, VA first combines those ratings, adds 10% of that result, and treats the total as a single rating that is then combined with your other ratings (38 CFR 4.26). A right arm and a right leg are not a pair. Paired skeletal muscles also qualify; this calculator covers arms and legs only.
Do dependents change my payment?
Only at a combined rating of 30% or higher. At 10% and 20% the amount is the same with or without dependents.
Is the 2027 result official?
No. VA has not published 2027 rates. The 2027 option applies the 3.6% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment to the 2026 table the way VA builds its yearly table, and VA’s own table decides the actual amount.