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About disability ratings

We assign you a disability rating based on the severity of your service-connected condition. We use your disability rating to determine how much disability compensation you’ll receive each month, as well as your eligibility for other VA benefits.

If you have multiple disability ratings, we use them to calculate your combined VA disability rating. Calculating your combined disability rating involves more than adding up your individual ratings. That’s why your combined rating may be different from the sum of your individual ratings.

View your VA disability ratings

If you’ve already filed a disability claim and have an assigned rating, you can sign in to view your individual ratings and your VA combined disability rating.

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How we assign VA disability ratings

What’s a disability rating?

We assign you a disability rating based on the severity of your disability. We express this rating as a percentage, representing how much your disability decreases your overall health and ability to function.

We then use your disability rating to determine your disability compensation rate, so we can calculate how much money you’ll receive from us each month. We also use your disability rating to help determine your eligibility for other benefits, like VA health care.

What does VA use to decide my disability rating?

We base your rating on:

  • The evidence you give us (like a doctor’s report or medical test results), and
  • The results of your VA claim exam (also called a compensation and pension, or C&P, exam), if we determine you need this exam, and
  • Other information we may get from other sources (like federal agencies)

What if I have more than one disability?

We use a method called the “whole person theory” to determine what we call your combined disability rating. We do this to make sure that your total VA disability rating doesn’t add up to more than 100%. That’s because a person can’t be more than 100% able-bodied.

Read below to find out more about how we calculate your combined disability rating. 

How do ratings work for a disability I had before entering the service that got worse because of my service?

If you get disability benefits for a preservice disability, we base your monthly compensation amount on the level of aggravation. Level of aggravation means how much worse your preservice disability got because of your military service.

For example: If you had an illness or injury (also known as a condition) that was rated as 10% disabling when you entered the military, and it became 20% disabling due to the effects of your service, then the level of aggravation would be 10%.

Is there anything else, other than my disability rating, that may affect the amount of compensation I receive?

Yes. We may increase or decrease your compensation amount in certain situations. 

Learn more about compensation rates

What happens after I get my disability rating?

Find out what to expect after you get your rating

How we determine combined VA disability ratings

If you have multiple disability ratings, we use the table below to calculate your combined VA disability rating. Calculating your combined disability rating involves more than adding up your individual ratings. That’s why your combined rating may be different from the sum of your individual ratings.

To make this table easier to use online, we’ve separated it into smaller tables, based on the percentage of the most severe, or highest rated, disability.

Note: If you have 2 disabilities, each rated at 10% disabling, your combined disability rating is 19%.

Combined ratings table (not rounded)

19% to 29% disabling

Tip: Look for your highest disability rating (or highest combined rating) in the left column, and your next lowest disability rating in the top row. Your combined rating is the number where the 2 intersect on the chart, rounded to the nearest 10%.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 19 27 35 43 51 60 68 76 84 92 20 28 36 44 52 60 68 76 84 92 21 29 37 45 53 61 68 76 84 92 22 30 38 45 53 61 69 77 84 92 23 31 38 46 54 62 69 77 85 92 24 32 39 47 54 62 70 77 85 92 25 33 40 48 55 63 70 78 85 93 26 33 41 48 56 63 70 78 85 93 27 34 42 49 56 64 71 78 85 93 28 35 42 50 57 64 71 78 86 93 29 36 43 50 57 65 72 79 86 93

30% to 39% disabling

Tip: Look for your highest disability rating (or highest combined rating) in the left column, and your next lowest disability rating in the top row. Your combined rating is the number where the 2 intersect on the chart, rounded to the nearest 10%.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 30 37 44 51 58 65 72 79 86 93 31 38 45 52 59 66 72 79 86 93 32 39 46 52 59 66 73 80 86 93 33 40 46 53 60 67 73 80 87 93 34 41 47 54 60 67 74 80 87 93 35 42 48 55 61 68 74 81 87 94 36 42 49 55 62 68 74 81 87 94 37 43 50 56 62 69 75 81 87 94 38 44 50 57 63 69 75 81 88 94 39 45 51 57 63 70 76 82 88 94

40% to 49% disabling

Tip: Look for your highest disability rating (or highest combined rating) in the left column, and your next lowest disability rating in the top row. Your combined rating is the number where the 2 intersect on the chart, rounded to the nearest 10%.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 40 46 52 58 64 70 76 82 88 94 41 47 53 59 65 71 76 82 88 94 42 48 54 59 65 71 77 83 88 94 43 49 54 60 66 72 77 83 89 94 44 50 55 61 66 72 78 83 89 94 45 51 56 62 67 73 78 84 89 95 46 51 57 62 68 73 78 84 89 95 47 52 58 63 68 74 79 84 89 95 48 53 58 64 69 74 79 84 90 95 49 54 59 64 69 75 80 85 90 95

50% to 59% disabling

Tip: Look for your highest disability rating (or highest combined rating) in the left column, and your next lowest disability rating in the top row. Your combined rating is the number where the 2 intersect on the chart, rounded to the nearest 10%.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 51 56 61 66 71 76 80 85 90 95 52 57 62 66 71 76 81 86 90 95 53 58 62 67 72 77 81 86 91 95 54 59 63 68 72 77 82 86 91 95 55 60 64 69 73 78 82 87 91 96 56 60 65 69 74 78 82 87 91 96 57 61 66 70 74 79 83 87 91 96 58 62 66 71 75 79 83 87 92 96 59 63 67 71 75 80 84 88 92 96

60% to 69% disabling

Tip: Look for your highest disability rating (or highest combined rating) in the left column, and your next lowest disability rating in the top row. Your combined rating is the number where the 2 intersect on the chart, rounded to the nearest 10%.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 61 65 69 73 77 81 84 88 92 96 62 66 70 73 77 81 85 89 92 96 63 67 70 74 78 82 85 89 93 96 64 68 71 75 78 82 86 89 93 96 65 69 72 76 79 83 86 90 93 97 66 69 73 76 80 83 86 90 93 97 67 70 74 77 80 84 87 90 93 97 68 71 74 78 81 84 87 90 94 97 69 72 75 78 81 85 88 91 94 97

70% to 79% disabling

Tip: Look for your highest disability rating (or highest combined rating) in the left column, and your next lowest disability rating in the top row. Your combined rating is the number where the 2 intersect on the chart, rounded to the nearest 10%.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 70 73 76 79 82 85 88 91 94 97 71 74 77 80 83 86 88 91 94 97 72 75 78 80 83 86 89 92 94 97 73 76 78 81 84 87 89 92 95 97 74 77 79 82 84 87 90 92 95 97 75 78 80 83 85 88 90 93 95 98 76 78 81 83 86 88 90 93 95 98 77 79 82 84 86 89 91 93 95 98 78 80 82 85 87 89 91 93 96 98 79 81 83 85 87 90 92 94 96 98

80% to 89% disabling

Tip: Look for your highest disability rating (or highest combined rating) in the left column, and your next lowest disability rating in the top row. Your combined rating is the number where the 2 intersect on the chart, rounded to the nearest 10%.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 81 83 85 87 89 91 92 94 96 98 82 84 86 87 89 91 93 95 96 98 83 85 86 88 90 92 93 95 97 98 84 86 87 89 90 92 94 95 97 98 85 87 88 90 91 93 94 96 97 99 86 87 89 90 92 93 94 96 91 99 87 88 90 91 92 94 95 96 97 99 88 89 90 92 93 94 95 96 98 99 89 90 91 92 93 95 96 97 98 99

90% to 94% disabling

Tip: Look for your highest disability rating (or highest combined rating) in the left column, and your next lowest disability rating in the top row. Your combined rating is the number where the 2 intersect on the chart, rounded to the nearest 10%.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 91 92 93 94 95 96 96 97 98 99 92 93 94 94 95 96 97 98 98 99 93 94 94 95 96 97 97 98 99 99 94 95 95 96 96 97 98 98 99 99

 

How we use the combined ratings table

We follow these steps to calculate your combined rating.

Step 1

We start by putting your disability ratings in order, from highest to lowest percentage. 

For example: If you had 2 disabilities rated as 50% disabling and 30% disabling, we’d rank them in this order: 50%, then 30%.

Step 2

Next, we look for your highest rating in the left column of the combined ratings table, and the next highest rating in the top row of the combined ratings table.

In our example: We’d look for 50 in the left column and 30 in the top row.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95

Step 3

Then, we look across from the 50 in the left column and down from the 30 in the top row to find the number that appears where the left column and top row meet. This is the combined value of the 2 ratings.

In our example: This would be 65.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95

Step 4


If you have 2 disabilities
We round that combined value to the nearest 10% to find your combined disability rating. We round combined values ending in 1 to 4 down, and those ending in 5 to 9 up.

In our example: Your combined disability rating would be 70%.

Step 5

If you have more than 2 disabilities

We repeat the process for each additional disability. This means we take the combined value (before rounding) of the first 2 disability ratings and then combine that with the third highest rating, and so on until we’ve added all disability ratings. We then round the final value to the nearest 10% to get your combined disability rating.

For example: If we added a third disability rated at 10% disabling to our original example, we would take your combined value of 65 and look for that number in the left column of the combined ratings table. We would then look for 10 in the top row—and find the number where the left column and top row meet. In this example, that number would be 69.

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 61 65 69 73 77 81 84 88 92 96 62 66 70 73 77 81 85 89 92 96 63 67 70 74 78 82 85 89 93 96 64 68 71 75 78 82 86 89 93 96 65 69 72 76 79 83 86 90 93 97

We would then round this number up to 70%, and this would be your combined disability rating.

Get more information

Play our videos to learn more about how VA disability ratings and compensation work: 
Compensation 101: How did I get this rating? (YouTube)
Compensation 101: What is disability compensation? (YouTube)
Compensation 101: What is service connection? (YouTube)

If you need help understanding your benefits or accessing services, please call us at 800-827-1000. We’re here Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET.

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