80% and 80% VA rating combined

The arithmetic, step by step

1. Order by severity: 80% first (both are the same, so either goes first), then 80%.
2. After the 80% rating, 20% efficiency is left. The 80% rating takes 80% of that: 80 × 20 ÷ 100 = 16.
3. 80 + 16 = 96. That is the figure printed in Table I at row 80, column 80.
4. Round once to the nearest 10, values ending in 5 going up: 96 becomes 100%.

Because 96 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 96, not with 100, because intermediate values are never rounded.

Added together, the two ratings would make 160. VA's method gives 100, 60 points less. The gap grows with the size of the ratings, because each later rating works on a smaller remainder.

What 100% pays

At 100%, VA's table effective December 1, 2025 pays $3,938.58 a month to a veteran alone, $4,158.17 with a spouse, and $4,318.99 with a spouse and one child under 18. Compared with 80% alone ($2,102.15), the pair adds $1,836.43 a month for a veteran with no dependents. The 100% pay page lists every dependent row.

If a third rating is added

A third 10% rating would combine with 96, not with 100: 96 and 10 give 96, rated 100%, no change in the rating. This pair is already at the top of the scale.

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 80% are on the left and right leg (or both arms), 38 CFR 4.26 adds a bilateral factor: 80 and 80 combine to 96, plus 10% of that gives 106, rated 100%. Here the factor raises the exact value but not the rounded rating, which stays at 100%; it can still matter once more ratings are combined. The bilateral factor guide has the full rule.

Conditions that are rated at 80%

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).

38 CFR 4.124a, diagnostic code 8520, Sciatic nerve (radiculopathy), 80%: “Complete paralysis: the foot dangles and drops, no active movement possible of muscles below the knee, flexion of knee weakened or (very rarely) lost.”

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.”

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.”

Criteria summarized from the rating schedule; each condition page links to the regulation.

Other pairs

• 80% and 70%: 94, rated 90%
• 90% and 80%: 98, rated 100%
• 90% and 90%: 99, rated 100%

5 other pairs also round to 100%: 90+90, 90+80, 90+70, 90+60, 90+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.