The VA combined values chart, found at 38 C.F.R. § 4.25, calculates your overall disability rating by combining your individual ratings rather than adding them. You place your highest rating on the left column of the table, your next-highest on the top row, read the number at the intersection, then feed that combined value back into the left column against your next disability. Repeat until every rating is folded in, and round the final result to the nearest ten.1eCFR. 38 CFR 4.25 – Combined Ratings Table That’s why a 50% rating plus a 30% rating comes out to 65%, not 80%.
Why the VA Combines Instead of Adding
The system treats you as a whole person who starts at 100% efficient. Each disability chips away at what remains of that efficiency rather than stacking on top of previous losses. A veteran with a 60% rating is considered 40% efficient. A second disability rated at 30% doesn’t get added to 60 to make 90. That 30% applies only to the remaining 40% of efficiency, consuming 12 percentage points (30% of 40). The combined result is 72%, not 90%.1eCFR. 38 CFR 4.25 – Combined Ratings Table
The practical effect: each additional disability adds less to your combined total than the one before it. Your highest-rated condition drives the bulk of your combined rating, and lower-rated conditions contribute progressively smaller amounts. The math makes it impossible to exceed 100%, which is the whole point.
Gather Your Ratings First
Before running any numbers, you need the exact percentage assigned to each of your service-connected conditions. These appear in your rating decision letter or benefits summary letter, and you can view them online through the VA’s website.2U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. View Your Disability Ratings
Only rated service-connected conditions go into the calculation. A condition acknowledged at 0% still counts as service-connected for other purposes but won’t move your combined math. List every rated condition and its percentage, then sort them from highest to lowest. The regulation requires arranging disabilities from most severe to least severe before combining. The order keeps you on the correct row-column path and prevents mistakes when bilateral adjustments need to be slotted into the sequence.
Working Through the Table
The combined values table is a grid. Your highest disability goes on the left column. Your next-highest goes along the top row. The number at the intersection is the combined value of those two conditions. You then take that combined value, find it on the left column, and look across to the next disability on the top row. Repeat until all ratings are folded in.
Here’s how it works with three disabilities: 60% for PTSD, 30% for a lumbar spine condition, and 10% for tinnitus.
- First combination: Find 60 on the left column and 30 on the top row. The intersection is 72.
- Second combination: Find 72 on the left column and 10 on the top row. The intersection is 75.
- Round: Convert 75 to the nearest number divisible by 10. Values ending in 5 round up, so 75 becomes 80%.
The final combined rating is 80%. Simple addition of 60 + 30 + 10 would suggest 100%, but the chart produces 80.
Round Once, at the End
A common mistake is rounding intermediate values to the nearest ten before combining the next disability. Don’t do that. Carry the exact combined value from each table intersection into the next combination. Rounding to the nearest ten happens only at the very end, after every disability and bilateral adjustment has been folded in. Values ending in 1 through 4 round down; values ending in 5 through 9 round up.3eCFR. 38 CFR 4.25 – Combined Ratings Table
A combined value of 64 becomes a 60% rating. A combined value of 65 becomes 70%. That single percentage point can mean hundreds of dollars a month, which is why the intermediate steps matter.
The Bilateral Factor
When disabilities affect both sides of the body, such as both knees, both shoulders, or paired skeletal muscles, the VA adds a small bump called the bilateral factor before combining those ratings with the rest. The logic is that impairment on both sides creates more functional difficulty than the same ratings on one side would suggest.4eCFR. 38 CFR 4.26 – Bilateral Factor
To apply it, first combine the paired disabilities using the standard table. Then add 10% of that combined value. The key word is “add,” not “combine.” This is straight addition, not another trip through the table.
For example, a 20% left knee rating and a 10% right knee rating produce a combined value of 28 on the table. The bilateral factor is 10% of 28, which equals 2.8. Adding that gives a bilateral subtotal of 30.8. That 30.8 then gets treated as a single disability when you arrange everything in descending order and continue combining with your other conditions.
The bilateral factor only applies when both paired extremities carry a compensable rating. If one side is rated at 0%, the factor doesn’t kick in. The regulation uses “arms” and “legs” broadly: a compensable right thigh condition paired with a compensable left foot condition still qualifies, because the VA treats the entire upper or lower extremity as one unit. When disabilities affect all four extremities, you combine all four ratings together and apply the bilateral factor once to that combined value, rather than calculating upper and lower pairs separately.
Pyramiding: Why Your Rated Conditions May Not Match Your List
One trap when calculating an expected combined rating is counting the same symptoms twice under different diagnostic codes. The VA calls this “pyramiding,” and it’s prohibited. If a back condition causes both limited range of motion and radiating nerve pain, the VA might rate the orthopedic limitation and the neurological symptoms separately, because those are different manifestations. Rating the same limited motion under two different orthopedic codes is not allowed.5eCFR. 38 CFR 4.14 – Avoidance of Pyramiding
If your rating decision lists fewer conditions than you expected, pyramiding rules may explain why. The VA combined what you thought were separate issues into a single evaluation because the underlying symptoms overlapped.
What Your Combined Rating Pays in 2026
Your combined rating directly determines your monthly tax-free compensation. The 2026 rates for a veteran with no dependents:6U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Current Veterans Disability Compensation Rates
- 10%: $180.42
- 20%: $356.66
- 30%: $552.47
- 40%: $795.84
- 50%: $1,132.90
- 60%: $1,435.02
- 70%: $1,808.45
- 80%: $2,102.15
- 90%: $2,362.30
- 100%: $3,938.58
Veterans rated at 30% or higher receive extra monthly compensation for a spouse, children, or dependent parents. Below 30%, no dependent allowance is paid regardless of family size. At the 100% level with a spouse and one child, the 2026 monthly rate increases to $4,318.99. The jump from 90% to 100% is by far the largest gap in the table, over $1,576 per month, so whether a combined value lands at 94 or 95 has real consequences.
If Your Calculation Doesn’t Match the VA’s
After running your own numbers and comparing them to the rating the VA assigned, you might find a gap. Sometimes the discrepancy is a misunderstanding of the math. Other times the VA rated a condition lower than the evidence supports, missed a bilateral factor, or failed to consider a condition as service-connected. When you believe the rating is wrong, you have three options within one year of your decision letter.7U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Choosing a Decision Review Option
- Supplemental Claim: Submit new evidence the VA didn’t consider before, such as medical records, a specialist’s opinion, or buddy statements. A reviewer decides whether the new evidence changes the outcome.
- Higher-Level Review: Ask a more senior reviewer to look at the same evidence for errors. No new evidence is allowed at this stage, so this works best when you believe the VA misapplied the rating criteria or missed existing records.
- Board Appeal: Request review by a Veterans Law Judge at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. You can choose a direct review, submit additional evidence, or request a hearing.
Higher-Level Reviews and Board Appeals must be filed within one year of your decision letter. If you miss that deadline for a disability compensation claim, a Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is still available, though your effective date may be affected by when you file.