VA, About VA disability ratings (permanent and total ratings and future examinations)

About Disability Ratings | Veterans Affairs Skip to Content An official website of the United States government Here’s how you know The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you&#x27;re on a federal government site. The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you&#x27;re connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and sent securely. Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now Disability benefits Get benefits Eligibility Exposure to hazardous materials Specific environmental hazards Agent Orange Asbestos Mustard gas or lewisite Camp Lejeune water contamination Radiation exposure Project 112/SHAD Gulf War Illnesses SW Asia Gulf War Illnesses Afghanistan Former POWs PTSD Illnesses within 1 year after discharge Special claims Auto allowance and adaptive equipment Birth defects Clothing allowance Dental care Temporary disability rating after surgery or cast Increase for time in hospital Prestabilization rating Title 38 U.S.C. 1151 claims Individual unemployability Elegibilidad Exposure to hazardous materials Former POWs PTSD Illnesses within 1 year after discharge Special claims How to file a claim When to file Pre-discharge claim Evidence needed Fully Developed Claims program Standard claims File additional forms for your disability claim Cómo presentar una reclamación When to file Evidence needed File additional forms for your disability claim File a claim online After you file your claim Después de presentar su reclamación Manage benefits Check claim, decision review, or appeal status View your disability ratings File for increased disability Request a decision review Add or remove a dependent Upload evidence to support your disability claim Verify individual unemployability status Change your address File additional forms for your disability claim Change your VA direct deposit information Review medical records online Download VA benefit letters View disability payment history More resources Disability compensation rates Veterans disability compensation rates Past rates: 2025 Past rates: 2024 Past rates: 2023 Special monthly compensation rates Past rates: 2025 Past rates: 2024 Past rates: 2023 Special benefit allowances rates Past rates: 2025 Past rates: 2024 Past rates: 2023 Birth defect compensation rates Past rates: 2025 Past rates: 2024 Past rates: 2023 About disability ratings After you get a rating Get help from an accredited representative VA claim exam (C&P exam) Effective dates Fiduciary help In this section 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. Loading the disability rating calculator Sorry, this is taking longer than expected. <strong>We’re sorry. Something went wrong when we tried to load the disability rating calculator.</strong><br>Please try refreshing your browser in a few minutes. 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. Last updated: November 5, 2024