VA Disability Calculator (2026)

What This Calculator Does

The VA Disability Calculator above takes the individual disability ratings the VA has assigned (or that you expect them to assign) for each of your conditions, combines them using the VA's "whole person" method, and looks up your estimated monthly compensation from the current pay tables. You can add dependents — a spouse, children under 18, children in school between 18 and 23, or a dependent parent — to see how each one changes your monthly payment.

Using the calculator does not file anything with the VA, does not collect or transmit your information, and does not require an account. Everything runs locally in your browser. The result is an estimate based on the published rate tables and the rating formula in 38 CFR § 4.25 — it is not a guarantee of what the VA will award.

How VA Math Works

The single most surprising thing about VA disability ratings is that they do not add up the way most people expect. A 50% rating plus a 30% rating is not 80%. Instead, the VA uses what it calls the "whole person" method, defined in 38 CFR § 4.25. The idea is that each new disability is rated against the ability you have remaining, not against your full ability — so each additional rating is worth a little less than the one before it.

A worked example: imagine a veteran with a 50% rating for PTSD and a 30% rating for a back condition.

1. Start at 100% efficient.
2. Apply the highest rating first — the 50% PTSD rating. The veteran is now considered 50% efficient.
3. Apply the next rating — 30% — to the remaining 50% efficiency: 30% × 50% = 15%. Subtract that from the remaining 50% to get 35% efficient.
4. The combined disability rating is 100% − 35% = 65%.
5. VA combined ratings always round to the nearest 10%, so 65% rounds up to 70%.

The same logic continues for additional conditions: each one is applied to whatever efficiency is left after the previous one. This is why a veteran with five 10% ratings does not end up at 50% — they end up closer to 41%, which rounds to 40%.

The Bilateral Factor

When you have disabilities affecting paired body parts — both knees, both arms, both feet, both eyes, both ears — the VA adds an extra 10% to the combined value of those paired ratings before combining them with your other conditions. This is the "bilateral factor," and it exists because losing function on both sides of the body is more disabling than losing the same function on just one side. The calculator applies the bilateral factor automatically when you mark a condition as bilateral.

For a deeper walk-through with more examples, see VA Math Explained.

How Monthly Pay Is Calculated

Once your combined rating is rounded to the nearest 10%, the VA looks up your monthly compensation from a pay table set each year by Congress through a cost-of-living adjustment. Pay depends on three things:

• Your final combined rating (10% through 100%, in 10% increments)
• Whether you have any dependents — spouse, children, or a dependent parent
• Whether your rating is at least 30% (dependents only increase your payment if your rating is 30% or higher)

You can browse the full pay tables at 2026 VA disability pay rates. Historical rates are available at 2025 pay rates.

Why This Estimate Might Differ From Your Actual Award

A few situations cause the calculator's estimate to diverge from a real VA decision:

• Special Monthly Compensation (SMC). Veterans with certain combinations of severe disabilities — loss of use, aid and attendance, housebound status — receive payments above the standard schedule. The calculator does not model SMC.
• Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU). If your service-connected conditions prevent you from maintaining substantially gainful employment, the VA may pay you at the 100% rate even if your combined schedular rating is lower.
• Pyramiding. The VA will not rate the same symptom under two different diagnostic codes. If two of your ratings overlap, one may be reduced or denied.
• Effective dates. The pay you actually receive depends on the effective date of each rating, which can be earlier than the decision date.

Where to Go Next

• Try the self-assessment quiz if you don't yet know what individual ratings to plug in.
• Read the condition guides to estimate the rating for each of your conditions.
• Check the ratings guides for what life looks like at each rating level.
• Read how to file a claim when you're ready to begin.