Combined ratings / 60% and 40%
38 CFR 4.25 Table I · checked 2026-10-20
60% and 40% VA rating combined
A 60% and a 40% rating combine to 76, which VA rounds up to 80%. The 40% is not added to the 60%: it takes 40% of the 40% efficiency the first rating leaves, which is 16 points. At 80% a veteran alone receives $2,102.15 a month and a veteran with a spouse $2,277.15.
- 1First rating 60 squares
- 240% of what is left 16 squares
- 3Efficiency left 24%
- 4Combined rating 80%
The arithmetic, step by step
- Order by severity: 60% first, then 40%.
- After the 60% rating, 40% efficiency is left. The 40% rating takes 40% of that: 40 × 40 ÷ 100 = 16.
- 60 + 16 = 76. That is the figure printed in Table I at row 60, column 40.
- Round once to the nearest 10, values ending in 5 going up: 76 becomes 80%.
Because 76 ends in 6, it rounds up, so this pair is rated 4 points above its Table I value. The extra points exist only in the rounded rating: if a third disability is added later, VA combines it with 76, not with 80, because intermediate values are never rounded.
Added together, the two ratings would make 100. VA's method gives 80, 20 points less. The gap grows with the size of the ratings, because each later rating works on a smaller remainder.
What 80% pays
At 80%, VA's table effective December 1, 2025 pays $2,102.15 a month to a veteran alone, $2,277.15 with a spouse, and $2,406.15 with a spouse and one child under 18. Compared with 60% alone ($1,435.02), the pair adds $667.13 a month for a veteran with no dependents. The 80% pay page lists every dependent row.
If a third rating is added
A third 10% rating would combine with 76, not with 80: 76 and 10 give 78, rated 80%, no change in the rating. The smallest single rating that moves this pair up a step is 40%, reaching 86 and 90% ($2,362.30 a month alone).
On the numbers alone this pair meets the schedular threshold for a total rating based on unemployability in 38 CFR 4.16(a): one disability rated at least 60%. Meeting the percentages is only the start; VA must also find that service-connected disabilities prevent substantially gainful work. See the TDIU guide.
If the two ratings are on paired limbs
When the 60% and the 40% are on the left and right leg (or both arms), 38 CFR 4.26 adds a bilateral factor: 60 and 40 combine to 76, plus 10% of that gives 84, rated 80%. Here the factor raises the exact value but not the rounded rating, which stays at 80%; it can still matter once more ratings are combined. The bilateral factor guide has the full rule.
Conditions that are rated at 60% and 40%
Diagnostic codes on this site with a 60% level include Meniere's disease (DC 6205), Shoulder replacement (DC 5051), Knee replacement (DC 5055), Intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) (DC 5243), Sciatic nerve (radiculopathy) (DC 8520), Epilepsy (seizures) (DC 8910), Asthma (DC 6602), COPD (DC 6604), Hypertension (high blood pressure) (DC 7101), Varicose veins (DC 7120), Hernia (inguinal, ventral, umbilical) (DC 7338), Eczema (dermatitis) (DC 7806), Diabetes mellitus (type 2) (DC 7913), Prostate conditions (voiding dysfunction) (DC 7527). A 40% level appears in Shoulder (arm) limitation of motion, Elbow (forearm) limitation of flexion, Back strain (lumbosacral or cervical strain), Intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), Knee limitation of extension, Hip (thigh) limitation of flexion, Sciatic nerve (radiculopathy), Common peroneal nerve (foot drop), Upper radicular group (C5-C6 nerves), Epilepsy (seizures), Hypertension (high blood pressure), Varicose veins, Deep scars (not head, face or neck), Diabetes mellitus (type 2), Prostate conditions (voiding dysfunction), TMJ (temporomandibular disorder).
38 CFR 4.114, diagnostic code 7338, Hernia (inguinal, ventral, umbilical), 60%: “Irreparable hernia present 12 months or more, 15 cm or more in one dimension, with pain during two of those activities.”
38 CFR 4.124a, diagnostic code 8520, Sciatic nerve (radiculopathy), 40%: “Incomplete paralysis, moderately severe.”
38 CFR 4.124a, diagnostic code 8510, Upper radicular group (C5-C6 nerves), 40%: “Incomplete paralysis, moderate.”
38 CFR 4.115b, diagnostic code 7527, Prostate conditions (voiding dysfunction), 60%: “Voiding dysfunction with continual urine leakage, post-surgical urinary diversion, urinary incontinence or stress incontinence requiring the use of an appliance or the wearing of absorbent materials which must be changed more than 4 times per day.”
Criteria summarized from the rating schedule; each condition page links to the regulation.
Other pairs
- 60% and 50%: 80, rated 80%
- 60% and 30%: 72, rated 70%
- 70% and 40%: 82, rated 80%
- 50% and 40%: 70, rated 70%
8 other pairs also round to 80%: 80+20, 80+10, 70+40, 70+30, 70+20, 60+60, 60+50, 50+50.
For three or more ratings, or to add dependents, use the calculator. Background: why 50 and 50 is not 100.
Rating Ledger is not part of VA and does not file or decide claims. Amounts are VA's published monthly rates effective December 1, 2025 for a veteran, before any deduction or special monthly compensation; ratings follow 38 CFR 4.25 and 38 CFR 4.26. Last checked 2026-10-20. Only a VA rating decision sets a rating or a payment. See the methodology.