Combined ratings / 70% and 70%
38 CFR 4.25 Table I · checked 2026-10-20
70% and 70% VA rating combined
A 70% and a 70% rating combine to 91, which VA rounds down to 90%. Two equal ratings never double: it takes 70% of the 30% efficiency the first rating leaves, which is 21 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
- 270% of what is left 21 squares
- 3Efficiency left 9%
- 4Combined rating 90%
The arithmetic, step by step
- Order by severity: 70% first (both are the same, so either goes first), then 70%.
- After the 70% rating, 30% efficiency is left. The 70% rating takes 70% of that: 70 × 30 ÷ 100 = 21.
- 70 + 21 = 91. That is the figure printed in Table I at row 70, column 70.
- Round once to the nearest 10, values ending in 5 going up: 91 becomes 90%.
Because 91 ends in 1, it rounds down. The 70% still lifts the rating 20 points above the 70% alone. One more 40% rating would lift it to 95, rated 100%.
Added together, the two ratings would make 140. VA's method gives 90, 50 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 91, not with 90: 91 and 10 give 92, rated 90%, no change in the rating. The smallest single rating that moves this pair up a step is 40%, 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 70% and the 70% are on the left and right leg (or both arms), 38 CFR 4.26 adds a bilateral factor: 70 and 70 combine to 91, plus 10% of that gives 100, 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 70%
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).
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 4.124a, 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.”
38 CFR 4.71a, diagnostic code 5054, Hip replacement, 70%: “Markedly severe residual weakness, pain or limitation of motion following implantation.”
Criteria summarized from the rating schedule; each condition page links to the regulation.
Other pairs
- 70% and 60%: 88, rated 90%
- 80% and 70%: 94, rated 90%
- 80% and 80%: 96, rated 100%
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.