VA combined rating calculator.

The VA uses the whole-person theory from 38 CFR § 4.25. Your ratings are sorted from highest to lowest. The largest rating is applied to 100% first, leaving a "remaining" percentage. Each subsequent rating is applied only to that remaining percentage, not the full 100. The final result is rounded to the nearest 10. This calculator applies that exact formula, plus the 38 CFR § 4.26 bilateral factor when you mark paired limbs.

Because the VA does not add ratings together. Under the whole-person theory of 38 CFR § 4.25, a 50% rating means 50% of the "whole person" is disabled, leaving 50% remaining. A second 30% rating is 30% of that remaining 50% (which is 15%), bringing the total disability to 65%. Rounded to the nearest 10, the combined rating is 70%, not 80%. The math prevents the total from exceeding 100%.

The bilateral factor (38 CFR § 4.26) applies when a veteran has ratable disabilities affecting both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles. The combined rating for the bilateral conditions is increased by 10% of that combined value before being incorporated into the overall combined rating. For example, 20% bilateral ratings combine to 36% (20 + 20×0.8 = 36), then a 10% bilateral increase of 3.6 brings that to 39.6, which carries to 40% before being combined with other ratings.

Dependent allowances (for spouse and children) begin at a 30% combined rating under 38 USC § 1115 and 38 CFR § 3.4(b)(2). Veterans rated at 10% or 20% receive the same base compensation regardless of dependents. At 30% and above, the VA provides separate monthly rates for veterans with a spouse, with children, or with both. This calculator adjusts the monthly compensation figure when you select dependents at 30% or higher.

Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) under 38 CFR § 4.16 allows veterans to receive compensation at the 100% rate without a schedular 100% rating. You may qualify if you have one service-connected disability rated at 60% or higher, or two or more service-connected disabilities combined to at least 70% (with at least one rated 40% or higher), and your disabilities prevent substantially gainful employment.

Yes, in limited circumstances. The VA can reduce a rating if your condition has improved, but only after a thorough re-examination showing actual sustained improvement under ordinary conditions of life. Ratings in effect for 5 or more years are "stabilized" and require a showing of sustained improvement (38 CFR § 3.344). Ratings in effect 20 years or more are "protected" and cannot be reduced unless fraud is involved (38 CFR § 3.951(b)).

Usually not dramatically. Under 38 CFR § 4.25 a 10% condition applies only to a small remaining "whole person" percentage, so it has minimal impact. For example, if you already have a 70% combined rating, adding 10% yields 70 + (30 × 0.10) = 73%, which rounds back to 70%, so no change. The impact is greatest when your remaining whole-person percentage is large. Low-value conditions can still matter by pushing a borderline number past a rounding threshold.

Yes. This calculator applies the bilateral factor from 38 CFR § 4.26 on top of the 38 CFR § 4.25 combined rating, and the step-by-step breakdown shows it as its own line. Two things have to be true for it to apply. First, you have to pick the affected limb from the dropdown beside each condition, which starts on "Not a limb", because this page never infers laterality from a condition name, and that dropdown covers arms and legs, not paired skeletal muscles. Second, § 4.26(c) requires a compensable rating on both members of one pair, so two arms or two legs, since one arm plus one leg is not a pair. Example: 30% for the left knee and 30% for the right knee combine to 51 under § 4.25, then 10% of 51 (5.1) is added, giving 56.1, which carries to 56 and converts to a 60% combined rating. The same two ratings with no limb selected show 50%, so leaving those dropdowns unset gives you the plain § 4.25 number and your actual VA rating can be higher.