VA Disability Rating Calculator
Estimate your combined VA disability rating and approximate monthly compensation using official 2026 VA rates (effective Dec 1, 2025) — with the math shown step by step.
Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates only based on 2026 VA compensation tables. Actual ratings, entitlements, and compensation may differ. This does not constitute legal or medical advice. Contact Oakridge Claims for a personalized claims review.
Oakridge Claims is a private business and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. No specific outcome, rating, or approval can be guaranteed — results depend on the individual facts of each case and applicable law.
How to use this calculator
- Enter each service-connected condition once, using the individual rating from your rating decision or award letter.
- Both sides rated separately? Enter two conditions and tag each with its side — for example, left knee 10% as "Left lower extremity" and right knee 10% as "Right lower extremity." The calculator detects the pair and applies the 38 CFR § 4.26 bilateral factor automatically.
- One rating already covers both sides? Conditions like bilateral pes planus (flat feet, rated once under DC 5276) are a single evaluation — enter it once and leave the side as "Not a paired-extremity rating." The bilateral factor is already built into that evaluation; applying it again would double-count.
- 0% ratings establish service connection but add nothing to the combined rating — the calculator tracks them and leaves them out of the math, exactly as VA does.
- Open "Show the math" in the results panel to see every step: combining from highest to lowest, whole-number rounding at each step (as VA's Combined Ratings Table does), and the final conversion to the nearest 10 — a value ending in 5 rounds up.
Add a Condition
The bilateral factor (38 CFR § 4.26) applies only when a compensable rating exists on BOTH sides of the same pair — for example, one rating on the left leg and another on the right leg. Tag each condition with its own side.
Dependents
Dependent additions apply at 30% combined rating or higher.
Special Monthly Compensation (SMC)
SMC provides additional compensation for specific severe disabilities. You can add multiple SMC levels — SMC-K stacks additively, while the highest non-K level is used as the base.
Your Estimated Rating
Official combined rating — the raw value 0% converts to 0% under 38 CFR § 4.25
Est. Monthly Compensation
Based on 2026 VA compensation rates
Free 30-minute consultation · (760) 702-4507
How VA Math Works
The VA doesn't simply add ratings together. Each successive rating is applied to the remaining "whole person" percentage. For example, a 50% and 30% rating combine to 65% (not 80%).
Because VA's Combined Ratings Table carries whole numbers, the running value is rounded after each pairwise combination — not only at the end. The final value is then converted to the nearest 10% to determine your official rating (a value ending in 5 rounds up).
Bilateral factor (38 CFR § 4.26): when compensable ratings exist in both arms or both legs, those ratings are combined first, 10% of the group value is added on, and the group then counts as a single disability in the rest of the math. If leaving the factor out would produce a higher rating, § 4.26(d) requires the more favorable result.