The VA does not simply add your individual disability percentages together. Instead, it uses the Combined Ratings Table found in 38 CFR 4.25, which is based on the idea that you start at 100 percent of "whole person" efficiency, and each disability reduces what remains of that efficiency rather than reducing the original 100 percent directly.
Here is how it generally works. The VA lists your ratings from highest to lowest. The highest rating is applied first. Then, for the next rating, the VA does not simply add that percentage on top; it applies that percentage to the efficiency remaining after the first disability, not to the original 100. So if your highest rating is 70 percent, you have 30 percent of "efficiency" left. A second rating of 10 percent is applied to that remaining 30, which comes out to 3 (10 percent of 30), giving a combined value of 73. Ratings are then rounded to the nearest 10, so 73 would round down to 70.
Official 2026 VA monthly compensation, including the 2.8% COLA increase.
Dependent add-ons start at a 30% rating. Child-only and dependent-parent rates: see the full 2026 pay chart.
| Rating | Monthly (2026, incl. 2.8% COLA) |
|---|---|
| 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 |
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Analyze my claim free →This is why adding a small secondary rating on top of a large primary rating sometimes does not change your combined percentage at all after rounding, which surprises many veterans. The math becomes more favorable when disabilities are closer in percentage or when there are several mid-range ratings, because each additional rating still contributes something even though it is not a straight addition.
There are some added wrinkles. Bilateral conditions, meaning the same type of disability affecting both arms or both legs, get an extra bilateral factor under 38 CFR 4.26, which adds a small percentage before the final rounding. Also, VA rounds only at the very end of the combined calculation, not after each individual step, so doing the math out of order can produce an incorrect result if you round too early.
Your intuition that having your worst condition rated as high as possible matters is correct, since it sets the baseline that everything else is calculated against, but it is not simply a matter of "70 plus a fraction of 30" without the rounding step, and it is not something you can fully control since each condition is rated on its own medical evidence.
If you want to see your own combined rating calculated, look up the official VA Combined Ratings Table (38 CFR 4.25) or use the combined ratings calculator on VA.gov, and enter your individual ratings in descending order to check the math yourself.
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