VA Disability Calculator (2026 Rates)

VA does not add ratings together. Under 38 CFR 4.25 it uses the whole-person method: start at 100% efficiency and apply each rating to the efficiency that remains, from highest to lowest. Example: 50%, 30%, 10%. First 50% leaves 50% efficiency. Then 30% of the remaining 50% is 15, so 50 + 15 = 65%. Then 10% of the remaining 35% is 3.5, so 65 + 3.5 = 68.5, recorded as 69%. Finally round once to the nearest 10% (5’s up): 70% combined. In 2026 a 70% rating pays $1,808.45 per month for a veteran alone.

Under 38 CFR 4.26, when you have compensable disabilities on both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles, VA combines the pair, then adds a bilateral factor equal to 10% of that combined value (added, not combined) before combining with anything else. Example straight from the regulation: ratings of 60%, 20%, and two bilateral 10% ratings. The two 10s combine to 19; the bilateral factor is 1.9, giving 20.9, treated as 21%. Then 60 + 21 = 68%, and 68 + 20 = 74%, which converts to a 70% combined rating. If the factor would give a less favorable result, 38 CFR 4.26(d) says VA uses the more favorable combination — this calculator does the same.

Take 60% for a back condition plus 20% for the left arm and 20% for the right arm. The two arm ratings combine to 36%; the bilateral factor adds 10% of 36 (3.6), giving 39.6%, treated as 40%. Then 60 + 40 combines to 76%, which converts to 80%. Without the bilateral factor, 60 + 36 would combine to 74%, converting to only 70%. In 2026, 80% pays $2,102.15 per month for a veteran alone versus $1,808.45 at 70% — a $293.70 monthly difference from the bilateral factor alone.

Only if the new rating pushes your combined value across the next rounding line. Example: 50% + 30% combines to 65%, which converts to 70% and pays $1,808.45 per month (veteran alone, 2026). Add a new 20% claim: 20% of the remaining 35% is 7, so 65 + 7 = 72%, which still converts to 70% — your pay does not change. But add a new 40% claim instead: 40% of 35% is 14, so 65 + 14 = 79%, which converts to 80% and pays $2,102.15 per month, $293.70 more. Use the What-If Planner tab to test 10% through 70% additions against your own ratings.

Because VA never adds ratings — each new rating applies to what is left of you, not to 100%. Two 50% ratings do not make 100%: the first 50% leaves 50% efficiency, and the second 50% applies to that remainder (25%), giving 75%, which converts to 80%. The only way to reach 100% is a single 100% rating or a combination whose combined value rounds to 100 (95% or higher). This is the whole-person theory in 38 CFR 4.25, and it is why veterans with many small ratings often feel their combined rating is “stuck.”

In 2026 (rates effective December 1, 2025, with the 2.8% COLA), an 80% combined rating pays $2,102.15 per month for a veteran alone, $2,277.15 with a spouse, $2,406.15 with a spouse and one child, and $2,219.15 with one child only. Each additional child under 18 adds $87.00, each additional schoolchild over 18 adds $281.00, and a spouse receiving Aid and Attendance adds $161.00. All VA disability pay is tax-free. The full 2026 chart for every rating from 10% to 100% is in the Rate Tables tab.

No. VA pays a flat rate for 10% and 20% ratings regardless of dependents: $180.42 per month at 10% and $356.66 per month at 20% in 2026. Dependent add-ons — spouse, children, dependent parents, and Aid and Attendance — only apply at 30% and above.

SMC is extra VA pay for especially severe situations, decided during adjudication — this calculator cannot determine it for you. The common ones: SMC-K is an add-on paid on top of your regular compensation (for example, loss or loss of use of a creative organ, hand, foot, or eye); SMC-S (housebound) replaces your base rate with a higher one and generally requires a single 100% disability plus 60% more, or being substantially confined to your home. SMC rates change every year with COLA, so enter your own SMC amount in the Monthly Pay tab rather than trusting a third-party number, and confirm the current tables on VA.gov.

No. This tool estimates your combined rating and monthly pay using the published rules (38 CFR 4.25, 38 CFR 4.26) and the 2026 VA rate tables, but only VA can decide your rating and pay during adjudication. These are estimates; not a VA decision; verify with VA.gov. Rates change every December with the cost-of-living adjustment, and individual circumstances (SMC, apportionments, offsets) can change the actual payment.