Va Disability Calculator
VA disability ratings do not add up, and that single fact decides what thousands of veterans get paid. This calculator combines your ratings with the VA’s whole-person method from 38 CFR 4.25 (plus the 4.26 bilateral factor for paired limbs, when you tick the bilateral-pair box), shows every step of the math, and then looks up your 2026 monthly payment for your dependent status from the official VA compensation tables, effective December 1, 2025 with the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment. Every dependent combination in the dropdown resolves to a verified 2026 rate, including mid-range ratings with a spouse, a child, or dependent parents.
Rates are 2026 VA compensation rates (effective December 1, 2025, with the 2.8% COLA), verified against the VA compensation tables. Tick the bilateral-pair box when your ratings cover both arms, both legs, or paired muscles and the tool applies the 38 CFR 4.26 bilateral factor, the same factor the VA applies at decision time. Added amounts for extra children, school-age children over 18, and a spouse receiving Aid and Attendance are now included: use the additional-children fields and the Aid and Attendance box above.
Quick Answer
Ratings of 50% and 30% combine to 65%, which rounds to a 70% combined rating paying $1,808.45 a month for a veteran alone in 2026. Keep the same 70% combined rating and add a spouse, and the 2026 payment is $1,961.45 a month. The ratings never simply add: 50% + 30% is 70%, not 80%, because the second rating applies only to the efficiency the first one leaves behind.
Key takeaways
- VA math is whole-person math: each rating is taken from what remains after the ratings before it, highest first, and the result rounds to the nearest 10%.
- Pay follows the rounded combined rating, not the raw sum. A new claim changes your payment only when it pushes the combined value across a rounding bracket.
- Dependent money starts at 30%. At 10% and 20%, a spouse, child, or parent adds nothing.
- Every rate in this tool is a 2026 rate, effective December 1, 2025, checked against the VA's own compensation tables, including the full dependent table at 30% to 100%.
- Quick Answer
- How to use the VA disability calculator
- How the VA combines ratings: whole-person math
- Worked example, checked against this exact tool
- What if I add one more claim?
- The 2026 VA disability pay table used by this tool
- Dependents: when they raise your pay, and how the added amounts work
- The bilateral factor: now built into this tool
- What competing calculators miss
- Frequently asked questions
How to use the VA disability calculator
Your ratings plus your dependent details produce the combined rating, the step-by-step math, and the monthly payment. Results stay hidden until you calculate.
- Enter every rating from your decision letter. Commas, spaces, or one rating per line all work, and order does not matter: the tool sorts highest first, the way the VA does. Trailing percent signs are tolerated, so "50%, 30%" reads the same as "50, 30".
- Pick your dependent status. The twelve choices mirror the VA's basic rate tables: veteran alone, spouse, spouse and one child, one child alone, one or two dependent parents, and the same shapes combined with parents and children. Then add any further children and tick the Aid and Attendance box if it applies.
- Click Calculate. You get the combined rating in large type, each combining step written out, the 2026 monthly payment with a breakdown of the basic rate and any added amounts, and a note naming the rate basis.
- Test a what-if. Add a rating you are considering claiming and re-run. The payment moves only if the combined value crosses into the next 10% bracket.
Invalid entries are rejected with the reason: an empty box ("Enter at least one rating."), text that is not a number ('Could not read "abc" as a rating.'), a negative rating ("Ratings cannot be negative."), and a rating above 100 ("Ratings cannot exceed 100%."). One quirk to know: the tool accepts decimal ratings such as 33.3 and treats them literally. Real VA ratings come in 10% steps, so a decimal entry is a modelling choice, not a figure from a decision letter.
How the VA combines ratings: whole-person math
The VA never adds ratings. Under the combined ratings table in 38 CFR 4.25, each disability is applied to the efficiency that remains after the more severe disabilities, in order of severity.
Repeat for each rating, highest first. Round each step to a whole number, then round the final value to the nearest 10%, with values ending in 5 rounding up.
Read it as people, not percentages. A 50% rating leaves a person 50% efficient. A second rating of 30% disables 30% of that remaining half, which is 15 points, for a combined value of 65%. The regulation's own illustration runs the same way: a 60% disability leaves 40% efficiency, and a further 30% disability leaves 70% of that 40%, or 28% efficiency, so the person is 72% disabled.
Two rounding points matter in practice. First, the steps follow the combined ratings table, which works in whole numbers: with genuine VA ratings, which are always multiples of 10, every step lands on a whole number exactly, so the table method and the formula method agree. Some guides tell you to carry unrounded decimals to the end; for real ratings that changes nothing, and this tool follows the table. Second, only the final conversion rounds to the nearest 10, and a final value ending in 5 rounds up: 65% becomes 70%, while 64% becomes 60%. That one point of combined value can be worth hundreds of dollars a month.
Worked example, checked against this exact tool
The pre-filled case is ratings of 50% and 30%, veteran alone. It is already in the calculator, so one click reproduces every figure below.
Four more combinations, each a real run of this tool at the veteran-alone status:
| Ratings entered | Combining steps | Combined | 2026 pay, alone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% + 20% | 30 + 20 − 6 = 44 | 40% | $795.84/mo |
| 50% + 50% | 50 + 50 − 25 = 75 | 80% | $2,102.15/mo |
| 70% + 50% + 30% | 70 + 50 − 35 = 85; 85 + 30 − 25.5 rounds to 90 | 90% | $2,362.30/mo |
| 30% + 30% + 20% + 10% | 51, then 61, then 65 | 70% | $1,808.45/mo |
What if I add one more claim?
A new rating raises your pay only when it moves the combined value into the next 10% bracket. Small ratings added to an already high combined value often change nothing, and this is the fastest way to see it before you file.
Start from the worked example: 50% + 30% gives a combined value of 65%. Add a new 10% claim and the math runs 65 + 10 − (65 × 10 ÷ 100) = 68.5, which the table rounds to 69 and then to 70%: the combined rating stays 70%, and the payment stays at $1,808.45 a month. Add a 30% claim instead and the value runs 65 + 30 − 19.5 = 75.5, rounds to 76, then to 80%: the payment rises to $2,102.15 a month. Both runs are worth doing in the tool with your own ratings, because the bracket you sit in, not the size of the new claim alone, decides the answer. Veterans weighing whether a disability payment changes their wider benefit picture can also check the separate disability amount calculator, which prices a benefit amount without the VA combining step.
The 2026 VA disability pay table used by this tool
Every figure below is a basic monthly rate from the VA's 2026 compensation tables, effective December 1, 2025, and every cell is a rate this calculator will actually return. The dependent columns start at 30% because the law pays no dependent amounts below that.
| Combined rating | Veteran alone | With spouse | Spouse + 1 child | 1 child only | 1 parent | 2 parents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 | Same as veteran alone (no dependent amounts below 30%) | ||||
| 20% | $356.66 | Same as veteran alone (no dependent amounts below 30%) | ||||
| 30% | $552.47 | $617.47 | $666.47 | $596.47 | $604.47 | $656.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 | $882.84 | $947.84 | $853.84 | $865.84 | $935.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 | $1,241.90 | $1,322.90 | $1,205.90 | $1,220.90 | $1,308.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 | $1,566.02 | $1,663.02 | $1,523.02 | $1,540.02 | $1,645.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 | $1,961.45 | $2,074.45 | $1,910.45 | $1,931.45 | $2,054.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 | $2,277.15 | $2,406.15 | $2,219.15 | $2,242.15 | $2,382.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 | $2,559.30 | $2,704.30 | $2,494.30 | $2,520.30 | $2,678.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 | $4,158.17 | $4,318.99 | $4,085.43 | $4,114.82 | $4,291.06 |
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, current Veterans disability compensation rates, effective December 1, 2025. The increase itself was enacted by the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2025 (Public Law 119-42), which ties VA rates to the same percentage as the Social Security increase announced by the Social Security Administration: 2.8% for 2026. The next table takes effect December 1, 2026, so treat these figures as the 2026 rates, not permanent ones.
The dropdown also covers six combined shapes from the same VA tables. Every figure below is a basic monthly rate the calculator will actually return.
| Combined rating | Spouse + 1 parent | Spouse + 2 parents | Spouse + 1 child + 1 parent | Spouse + 1 child + 2 parents | 1 child + 1 parent | 1 child + 2 parents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 | Same as veteran alone (no dependent amounts below 30%) | ||||
| 20% | $356.66 | Same as veteran alone (no dependent amounts below 30%) | ||||
| 30% | $669.47 | $721.47 | $718.47 | $770.47 | $648.47 | $700.47 |
| 40% | $952.84 | $1,022.84 | $1,017.84 | $1,087.84 | $923.84 | $993.84 |
| 50% | $1,329.90 | $1,417.90 | $1,410.90 | $1,498.90 | $1,293.90 | $1,381.90 |
| 60% | $1,671.02 | $1,776.02 | $1,768.02 | $1,873.02 | $1,628.02 | $1,733.02 |
| 70% | $2,084.45 | $2,207.45 | $2,197.45 | $2,320.45 | $2,033.45 | $2,156.45 |
| 80% | $2,417.15 | $2,557.15 | $2,546.15 | $2,686.15 | $2,359.15 | $2,499.15 |
| 90% | $2,717.30 | $2,875.30 | $2,862.30 | $3,020.30 | $2,652.30 | $2,810.30 |
| 100% | $4,334.41 | $4,510.65 | $4,495.23 | $4,671.47 | $4,261.67 | $4,437.91 |
The VA pays the amounts below on top of the basic rate for the first child or spouse already counted. At 10% and 20% there is no add-on: the payment is the veteran-alone rate.
| Combined rating | Each additional child under 18 | Each additional child over 18 in school | Spouse receiving Aid and Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% | $32.00 | $105.00 | $61.00 |
| 40% | $43.00 | $140.00 | $81.00 |
| 50% | $54.00 | $176.00 | $101.00 |
| 60% | $65.00 | $211.00 | $121.00 |
| 70% | $76.00 | $246.00 | $141.00 |
| 80% | $87.00 | $281.00 | $161.00 |
| 90% | $98.00 | $317.00 | $181.00 |
| 100% | $109.11 | $352.45 | $201.41 |
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, current Veterans disability compensation rates, effective December 1, 2025. The VA worked example at 70% is a spouse, three children under 18, and a spouse receiving Aid and Attendance: $2,074.45 + $76 + $76 + $141 = $2,367.45 a month.
Dependents: when they raise your pay, and how the added amounts work
Dependent amounts exist because the statute says so, and they switch on at 30%. Under 38 U.S. Code 1115, a veteran rated at least 30% is entitled to additional compensation for a spouse, children, and dependent parents, scaled to the rating.
The dropdown covers twelve basic family shapes in the VA tables, and the fields below it cover the three additions the VA pays on top:
- Each additional child: the basic rates above include one child. The VA adds a set amount for each further child under 18, and a larger amount for each child over 18 in a qualifying school program (at 70%, $76 and $246 a month respectively in 2026). Enter the counts below the dropdown and the calculator adds them. The counts add on top of a status that already includes one child.
- A spouse receiving Aid and Attendance: the VA adds a further amount (at 70%, $141 a month in 2026). Tick the box below the dropdown and the calculator adds it. The VA's own worked example combines all three additions: a 70% veteran with a spouse, three children under 18, and a spouse receiving Aid and Attendance is paid $2,074.45 + $76 + $76 + $141 = $2,367.45 a month.
- Combined shapes: spouse plus child plus parents, and similar stacks, are now in the dropdown above, and the calculator prices them at their basic 2026 rates.
Dependents are not automatic. You have to tell the VA they exist, through VA.gov or VA Form 21-686c, and report changes such as a marriage, a divorce, or a child leaving school, or the difference becomes an overpayment the VA will recover. A related military-pay figure is computed differently again: Guard and Reserve members checking drill weekends should use the drill pay calculator, not a compensation table.
The bilateral factor: now built into this tool
When disabilities affect both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles, the VA adjusts the math before combining. Under 38 CFR 4.26, the paired ratings are combined first, then 10% of that combined value is added, and the result is treated as one rating in the main calculation.
A small example shows the size of the effect. Knees rated 20% and 10% combine to 28%. The bilateral factor adds 10% of 28, which is 2.8, giving 30.8, used as 31 in the next combining step. On its own that rarely changes a payment; at a bracket edge it can be the difference between two pay rows. Tick the bilateral-pair box above the Calculate button and the tool applies the factor to the ratings you entered: it combines them, adds 10% of that combined value, and rounds as the VA does. Try the knees example: 20% and 10% combine to 28%, the factor adds 2.8, giving 30.8, used as 31, which rounds to a 30% combined rating. One limit to know: the box applies the factor to all the ratings you entered, so if only some of your ratings form a bilateral pair, run the pair on its own first and carry its adjusted value into your main combination the way the VA does. Student veterans should also know the housing side of VA pay runs on a separate table entirely: the GI Bill calculator covers the education benefit that keys off BAH rates, while this page prices disability compensation.
What competing calculators miss
- Law-firm calculators (Hill and Ponton, CCK Law): the strongest rivals. Both apply the bilateral factor with limb-by-limb entry and cover wider dependent counts. This page now applies the factor with a single checkbox instead of limb-by-limb entry. Their weakness is currency and consistency: CCK's 2026 figures match the official tables exactly, while Hill and Ponton's own example figures on its calculator page ($175.51 at 10%, $601.42 at 30% with a spouse) match no current VA table, sitting between the 2025 and 2026 rates.
- Dedicated VA math sites (VetCalc, VA Disability Calculator dot org, MyBaseGuide): full 2026 tables, bilateral handling, and in VetCalc's case a complete pay chart. What most leave thin is the reasoning: the step-by-step combining is often a bare result, and the "one more claim" bracket question, the one veterans actually file over, goes unanswered.
- Stale-table pages: at least one 2026-labelled guide still prints a 100% veteran-alone figure of $3,737.85, which is below even the 2025 rate of $3,831.30. A wrong rate in a clean table is worse than no table, because nothing about its presentation warns you.
- The gap this page fills: every combining step printed, a dependent lookup that resolves at every rating the dropdown offers (an earlier version of this tool returned "not in our verified lookup" for common cases such as 70% with a spouse), the what-if bracket test, and a plain statement of the tool's limits.
One boundary worth stating plainly: this page prices standard compensation only. Special Monthly Compensation for severe disabilities, and TDIU, which pays at the 100% rate for veterans who cannot maintain substantially gainful employment, follow their own rules and rates. And none of this touches housing: the VA-adjacent housing figure most veterans search for next is BAH, priced by the VA BAH calculator on a completely different construction.
Frequently asked questions
Not by adding: each rating applies to the remaining efficiency. For 50% + 30%: 50 + 30 - (50 x 30 / 100) = 65%, which the VA rounds to 70%.
$1,808.45 per month for a veteran with no dependents (effective Dec 1, 2025, including the 2.8% COLA). With a spouse and no other dependents, the 2026 rate at 70% is $1,961.45 per month.
Payment changes only when the combined rating crosses a 10% bracket. A small new rating can leave the rounded combined rating unchanged, as the what-if example above demonstrates.
When both arms, both legs, or paired extremities are rated, the VA adds a bilateral factor before combining with other ratings. This calculator applies it when you tick the bilateral-pair box: it adds 10% of the combined value (20% and 10% knees: 28% + 2.8 = 30.8%, used as 31%) and then rounds to the nearest 10%.
Yes, at ratings of 30% and above. For example, a 30% rating pays $552.47 alone versus $617.47 with a spouse in 2026. At 10% and 20% the rate is the same with or without dependents.
The payment is the veteran-alone rate: $180.42 a month at 10% and $356.66 a month at 20% in 2026. Dependent amounts begin only at a combined rating of 30% or higher.
Yes. The dropdown covers twelve dependent statuses at their basic 2026 rates, and the fields below it add the VA's set amounts for each additional child under 18, for each child over 18 in a qualifying school program, and for a spouse receiving Aid and Attendance. For example, at 70% the VA's own worked example is $2,074.45 + $76 + $76 + $141 = $2,367.45 a month for a veteran with a spouse, three children under 18, and a spouse receiving Aid and Attendance.
No. VA disability compensation is tax-free at the federal level, and states do not tax it either. The full monthly amount reaches you with no tax withheld, at every rating level.
VA compensation rates reset every December 1 with the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. The 2026 rates on this page took effect Dec 1, 2025 with a 2.8% COLA. The next table takes effect Dec 1, 2026.
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References
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Current Veterans Disability Compensation Rates (2026 rate tables effective December 1, 2025: basic rates at 10% to 100%, every dependent status, and the added amounts; the source every rate in this tool was checked against). Accessed October 24, 2026.
- Code of Federal Regulations. 38 CFR 4.25: Combined Ratings Table (whole-person combining in order of severity, Table I, and the final conversion to the nearest 10). Accessed October 24, 2026.
- Code of Federal Regulations. 38 CFR 4.26: Bilateral Factor (paired extremities combined first, then 10 percent of the combined value added). Accessed October 24, 2026.
- United States Code. 38 U.S. Code 1115: Additional Compensation for Dependents (dependent entitlement at ratings of not less than 30 percent). Accessed October 24, 2026.
- 119th Congress. Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2025, Public Law 119-42 (the December 1, 2025 rate increase for disability compensation and dependent amounts, tied to the Social Security percentage). Accessed October 24, 2026.
- Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet (the 2.8 percent COLA for 2026, based on CPI-W growth from the third quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025). Accessed October 24, 2026.
- Social Security Administration. Social Security Announces 2.8 Percent Benefit Increase for 2026 (announcement of October 24, 2025, covering about 75 million Americans). Accessed October 24, 2026.
- Congressional Research Service. Social Security: Cost-of-Living Adjustments (how the COLA is measured, when it takes effect, and which federal benefits it carries to). Accessed October 24, 2026.
- Code of Federal Regulations, via FindLaw. 38 CFR 4.25, Full Text with Table I (the complete combined ratings table, including the rule that conversion to the nearest 10 is done only once, as the last step). Accessed October 24, 2026.
- VA.org. VA Disability Compensation Guide: 2026 Rates and How to Apply (independent guide reproducing the VA.gov 2026 tables and the December 1, 2026 next-change date; used as a cross-check, never as the rate source). Accessed October 24, 2026.