28 April

How to Calculate Your VA Disability Rating

Disabled veteran shows guide to calculating your disability rating on smartphone to friends

Here at the Rep for Vets, we have veterans ask us all the time: How does the VA calculate my disability rating? You may have heard the term “VA math” before. The person using the term is usually expressing confusion or frustration with the weird way the VA rates disability. Here’s an example. John, who saw combat in the first Gulf War, has a 60% rating for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a 30% rating for a back injury, a 10% rating for the left knee disability, and another 10% rating for hearing loss. If you add up all these ratings you get 110%. So how is that John ends up with an 80% rating? Let’s find out.

VA Math, Explained

The first thing you need to know about VA math is that the highest disability rating you can get is 100%. The VA uses a concept called the “Whole Person Theory” to determine a veteran’s disability rating. This method ensures that a disability rating can never exceed 100, since a person can’t be more than 100% able-bodied or disabled. There’s nothing sneaky about this, but it does makes thing more complicated when you have multiple service-connected disabilities.

Using the VA Combined Rating Table to Calculate Your VA Disability Rating

For all the confusion around VA math, determining your disability rating using the Combined Rating Table (also known as CFR 4.25) is actually pretty straightforward. We’ve reproduced the VA Combined Rating Table in full at the bottom of this post for your reference. To use the rating table, you need to start with the highest disability percentage, and from there arrange them in order of severity, highest to lowest. Find the highest disability in the left column and the next highest disability in the top row. The number where the column and row meet will represent the combined value of both disabilities. So, returning to the example of John, we find the number at the intersection of John’s 60% PTSD rating and his 30% disabling back injury, which is 72%.

Using the VA's Combined Ratings Table to find disability rating — Using the VA’s Combined Ratings Table to find disability rating

Next, we use this combined value of 72% for the left column, and then find the next highest disability on the top row, which is John’s 10% left knee. The number at the intersection of 72% and 10% is 75%.

Repeating the same process once more, we use 75% for the left column and find the 10% for hearing loss in the top row, giving us 78%. The last step is to round up or down to the nearest 10. That’s how the VA arrived at that 80% rating for John’s combined disabilities. (A combined rating of 74% would be rounded down to 70%. You round down on 4 and below, up on 5 and above.)

It’s very important to make sure your disability benefits are being calculated correctly, because the higher your combined rating, the higher your monthly compensation. Combined ratings are also important in determining if you meet the requirements for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU).

Need help with a claim? Give us a call today at 1-888-573-7838, or hit the button below to schedule a free consultation.

$ 3621

Monthly

100% disability rating
Veteran alone (no dependents)
No VA Math!

Popular

Calculating Dependents

If you have a 30% to 100% disability rating and you have dependents, including children and dependent parents, your compensation rate goes up. Returning to John’s example, his 80% disability rating would get him $1,444 (effective December 1, 2020) if he was not married and did not have any dependents. But since he is married and has a dependent child, he receives $1,922. At the 80% disability rating each additional child under 18 adds an additional $69 a month. If his spouse was receiving Aid and Attendance to help out with the caretaking, they would receive an additional $129. It’s important to let the VA know of any changes to your marital status or dependents. If a child turns 18 and moves out of of the home this could impact the amount of benefits you receive. (Another caveat: if your children are over 18 and were found to be permanently unable to support themselves before they turned 18, or are in college, you may still be eligible to receive some compensation.) For up-to-date compensation rates and more details, consult the VA.gov page on 2021 Veterans disability compensation rates.

How Special Monthly Compensation Can Supplement Your VA Disability Rating

We haven’t talked about Special Monthly Compensation yet. For veterans with severe disabilities, SMC supplements or replaces your monthly disability rating altogether. So if your disability qualified you for SMC-K, you will receive an additional $111 monthly payment. If you qualify for SMC-L through SMC-S, the Special Monthly Compensation rate will replace your regular payment. Don’t worry, the new SMC amount will be a higher amount than what you were previously receiving. To learn more about eligibility, have a look at our extensive guide to Special Monthly Compensation.

Next Steps

Need a little more help understanding VA Math and your disability rating? The VA-accredited claims agents at the Rep for Vets have helped countless veterans across the United States navigate the claims process and get the benefits they deserve. To schedule a free consultation, give us a call at 1-888-573-7838, or fill out this quick form to get started. We look forward to learning about your unique situation and helping out in any way we can.

Appendix 1: VA Combined Rating Table

note: 10 combined with 10 is 19

	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	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	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	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
cont’d
	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90
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	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	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	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	97	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	87	38	99
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

Tags: