Combined ratings / 80% and 70%
38 CFR 4.25 Table I · checked 2026-10-20
80% and 70% VA rating combined
A 80% and a 70% rating combine to 94, which VA rounds down to 90%. The 70% is not added to the 80%: it takes 70% of the 20% efficiency the first rating leaves, which is 14 points. At 90% a veteran alone receives $2,362.30 a month and a veteran with a spouse $2,559.30.
- 1First rating 80 squares
- 270% of what is left 14 squares
- 3Efficiency left 6%
- 4Combined rating 90%
The arithmetic, step by step
- Order by severity: 80% first, then 70%.
- After the 80% rating, 20% efficiency is left. The 70% rating takes 70% of that: 70 × 20 ÷ 100 = 14.
- 80 + 14 = 94. That is the figure printed in Table I at row 80, column 70.
- Round once to the nearest 10, values ending in 5 going up: 94 becomes 90%.
Because 94 ends in 4, it rounds down. The 70% still lifts the rating 10 points above the 80% alone. One more 10% rating would lift it to 95, rated 100%.
Added together, the two ratings would make 150. VA's method gives 90, 60 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 80% alone ($2,102.15), the pair adds $260.15 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 94, not with 90: 94 and 10 give 95, rated 100%, one step up. The smallest single rating that moves this pair up a step is 10%, reaching 95 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 80% and the 70% are on the left and right leg (or both arms), 38 CFR 4.26 adds a bilateral factor: 80 and 70 combine to 94, plus 10% of that gives 103, rated 100%. Here the factor moves the rating from 90% to 100%, worth $3,938.58 a month alone instead of $2,362.30. The bilateral factor guide has the full rule.
Conditions that are rated at 80% and 70%
Diagnostic codes on this site with a 80% level include Sciatic nerve (radiculopathy) (DC 8520), Epilepsy (seizures) (DC 8910), GERD (acid reflux) (DC 7206), Scars of the head, face or neck (DC 7800). A 70% level appears in PTSD, Hip replacement, Carpal tunnel (median nerve), Upper radicular group (C5-C6 nerves).
38 CFR 4.118, diagnostic code 7800, Scars of the head, face or neck, 80%: “Visible or palpable tissue loss and either gross distortion or asymmetry of three or more features or paired sets of features, or six or more characteristics of disfigurement.”
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), 70%: “Complete paralysis: the hand inclined to the ulnar side, the index and middle fingers more extended than normally, considerable atrophy of the thenar eminence (the ape hand), inability to make a fist, and other listed signs.”
38 CFR 4.114, diagnostic code 7206, GERD (acid reflux), 80%: “Documented history of recurrent or refractory esophageal stricture(s) causing dysphagia with at least one of: aspiration, undernutrition and/or substantial weight loss; and treatment with surgical correction of the stricture(s) or a percutaneous esophago-gastrointestinal (PEG) tube.”
Criteria summarized from the rating schedule; each condition page links to the regulation.
Other pairs
- 80% and 80%: 96, rated 100%
- 80% and 60%: 92, rated 90%
- 90% and 70%: 97, rated 100%
- 70% and 70%: 91, rated 90%
11 other pairs also round to 90%: 90+40, 90+30, 90+20, 90+10, 80+60, 80+50, 80+40, 80+30 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.