VA Rating Calc exists because veterans are leaving earned compensation on the table every single month. Not because they do not deserve it. Because the system is hard to understand.
The VA does not add your disability ratings together. It uses a layered formula called the whole person method. Most veterans do not know how it works. Most do not know that a second knee can trigger the bilateral factor. Most do not know that a 74% raw combined rounds to 70% while a 75% rounds to 80%. That one percentage point is worth $186 per month. Tax-free.
This site exists to close that gap.
Who Built This
My name is Daniel Terry. I am an Army veteran.
After leaving service, I spent years working in real estate and mortgage lending. I helped people understand complex financial systems for a living. Numbers, formulas, regulations. That is my background.
What I kept seeing in the veteran community was a different problem. Veterans who had real, legitimate disabilities. Veterans who had served honorably. And veterans who were consistently undercompensated because nobody had ever sat down and explained how the VA rating system actually works.
The math is not secret. The formula is published in 38 CFR Part 4. The rate tables are on VA.gov. But understanding how to apply them, how to verify your own combined rating, how to know whether the bilateral factor was applied, how to see whether a secondary condition would push you to the next threshold. That is where most veterans are lost.
I built VA Rating Calc to fix that.
Every tool on this site uses the exact statutory formula the VA uses. Every pay chart reflects the current 2026 COLA-adjusted rates pulled directly from VA.gov. Every condition guide is written against the actual diagnostic code criteria in 38 CFR Part 4.
No fluff. No guessing. Just accurate information that helps veterans understand what they may be owed.
How the Calculators Work
The combined rating calculator uses the VA's whole person method as defined in 38 CFR 4.25.
The formula works like this. Every veteran starts at 100% functional efficiency. The highest-rated condition takes its percentage from that 100%. What remains becomes the baseline for the next condition. Each subsequent condition reduces the remaining efficiency, not the original 100%.
Mathematically expressed:
Where R is the combined disability rating and D1, D2, D3 are the individual ratings expressed as decimals, applied in descending order.
The raw result is then adjusted for any applicable bilateral factor under 38 CFR 4.26 and rounded to the nearest 10% to determine the compensation tier.
Every calculator on this site has been tested against the VA's official combined rating tables. Results are updated annually to reflect COLA adjustments. If you find an error, email us. We will fix it.
What This Site Is Not
VA Rating Calc is an independent educational publisher. We are not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. We are not a law firm. We do not provide legal advice or formal claims assistance.
The tools on this site provide estimates based on current VA rate tables and 38 CFR statutes. They do not constitute a formal rating decision, legal representation, or a guarantee of benefits.
If you need official claims help, contact an accredited Veterans Service Officer through your state's Department of Veterans Affairs or through a national VSO such as the DAV, VFW, or American Legion. If your claim has been denied or you believe your rating is wrong, a VA-accredited attorney can review your case. Most work on contingency. No upfront cost.
Your Privacy
Every calculation on this site runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to our servers. Nothing is stored. We do not know your name, your rating, your conditions, or your income.
We do not require a login. We do not ask for an email address. We do not sell data because we do not collect data.
We use Google Analytics to understand general traffic patterns. That means we know that 400 people visited the knee conditions page today. We do not know who any of them are.
Your health information and disability status are yours. They stay on your device.
Is Your Rating Accurate?
The most common reason veterans are underrated is not fraud or bad intent. It is missing documentation. A C&P exam where the veteran pushed through pain instead of stopping at the threshold. A second condition that was never filed. A bilateral factor that was omitted. Secondary conditions that were never connected.
If you have never had your rating reviewed by a VA-accredited attorney, it is worth doing. The review is free. Attorneys who handle VA disability work on contingency, meaning they collect a fee only if they win your case and only from back pay the VA owes you. There is no upfront cost.