Combined ratings / 70% and 50%
38 CFR 4.25 Table I · checked 2026-10-20
70% and 50% VA rating combined
A 70% and a 50% rating combine to 85, which VA rounds up to 90%. The 50% is not added to the 70%: it takes 50% of the 30% efficiency the first rating leaves, which is 15 points. At 90% a veteran alone receives $2,362.30 a month and a veteran with a spouse $2,559.30.
- 1First rating 70 squares
- 250% of what is left 15 squares
- 3Efficiency left 15%
- 4Combined rating 90%
The arithmetic, step by step
- Order by severity: 70% first, then 50%.
- After the 70% rating, 30% efficiency is left. The 50% rating takes 50% of that: 50 × 30 ÷ 100 = 15.
- 70 + 15 = 85. That is the figure printed in Table I at row 70, column 50.
- Round once to the nearest 10, values ending in 5 going up: 85 becomes 90%.
Because 85 ends in 5, it rounds up, so this pair is rated 5 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 85, not with 90, because intermediate values are never rounded.
Added together, the two ratings would make 120. VA's method gives 90, 30 points less. The gap grows with the size of the ratings, because each later rating works on a smaller remainder.
What 90% pays
At 90%, VA's table effective December 1, 2025 pays $2,362.30 a month to a veteran alone, $2,559.30 with a spouse, and $2,704.30 with a spouse and one child under 18. Compared with 70% alone ($1,808.45), the pair adds $553.85 a month for a veteran with no dependents. The 90% pay page lists every dependent row.
If a third rating is added
A third 10% rating would combine with 85, not with 90: 85 and 10 give 87, rated 90%, no change in the rating. The smallest single rating that moves this pair up a step is 70%, reaching 96 and 100% ($3,938.58 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 70% and the 50% are on the left and right leg (or both arms), 38 CFR 4.26 adds a bilateral factor: 70 and 50 combine to 85, plus 10% of that gives 94, rated 90%. Here the factor raises the exact value but not the rounded rating, which stays at 90%; it can still matter once more ratings are combined. The bilateral factor guide has the full rule.
Conditions that are rated at 70% and 50%
Diagnostic codes on this site with a 70% level include PTSD (DC 9411), Hip replacement (DC 5054), Carpal tunnel (median nerve) (DC 8515), Upper radicular group (C5-C6 nerves) (DC 8510). A 50% level appears in PTSD, Hip replacement, Elbow (forearm) limitation of flexion, Back strain (lumbosacral or cervical strain), Knee limitation of extension, Flat feet (pes planus), Migraines, Carpal tunnel (median nerve), Upper radicular group (C5-C6 nerves), Sleep apnea, Chronic sinusitis, GERD (acid reflux), Scars of the head, face or neck, TMJ (temporomandibular disorder).
38 CFR 4.130, diagnostic code 9411, PTSD, 70%: “Occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking or mood, due to symptoms such as suicidal ideation, obsessional rituals, near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, impaired impulse control, spatial disorientation, neglect of personal appearance and hygiene, difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances, and inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.”
38 CFR 4.124a, diagnostic code 8515, Carpal tunnel (median nerve), 50%: “Incomplete paralysis, severe.”
38 CFR 4.97, diagnostic code 6847, Sleep apnea, 50%: “Requires use of a breathing assistance device such as a continuous airway pressure (CPAP) machine.”
38 CFR 4.124a, diagnostic code 8510, Upper radicular group (C5-C6 nerves), 70%: “Complete paralysis: all shoulder and elbow movements lost or severely affected, hand and wrist movements not affected.”
Criteria summarized from the rating schedule; each condition page links to the regulation.
Other pairs
- 70% and 60%: 88, rated 90%
- 70% and 40%: 82, rated 80%
- 80% and 50%: 90, rated 90%
- 60% and 50%: 80, rated 80%
11 other pairs also round to 90%: 90+40, 90+30, 90+20, 90+10, 80+70, 80+60, 80+50, 80+40 and more in the table.
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.