Rating Ledger

Combined ratings / 90% and 50%

38 CFR 4.25 Table I · checked 2026-10-20

90% and 50% VA rating combined

A 90% and a 50% rating combine to 95, which VA rounds up to 100%. The 50% is not added to the 90%: it takes 50% of the 10% efficiency the first rating leaves, which is 5 points. At 100% a veteran alone receives $3,938.58 a month and a veteran with a spouse $4,158.17.

Table I value95%Rounded once100%90 + 50 → 951234
  1. 1First rating 90 squares
  2. 250% of what is left 5 squares
  3. 3Efficiency left 5%
  4. 4Combined rating 100%
Table I value
95%
VA rating
100%
Monthly, alone
$3,938.58
Efficiency left
5%

The arithmetic, step by step

  1. Order by severity: 90% first, then 50%.
  2. After the 90% rating, 10% efficiency is left. The 50% rating takes 50% of that: 50 × 10 ÷ 100 = 5.
  3. 90 + 5 = 95. That is the figure printed in Table I at row 90, column 50.
  4. Round once to the nearest 10, values ending in 5 going up: 95 becomes 100%.

Because 95 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 95, not with 100, because intermediate values are never rounded.

Added together, the two ratings would make 140. VA's method gives 100, 40 points less. The gap grows with the size of the ratings, because each later rating works on a smaller remainder.

What 100% pays

90% alone$2,362.3090% + 50% (100%)$3,938.58
Monthly compensation, veteran with no dependents, VA rates effective December 1, 2025. Bars to scale from zero.

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 90% alone ($2,362.30), the pair adds $1,576.28 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 95, not with 100: 95 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 90% and the 50% are on the left and right leg (or both arms), 38 CFR 4.26 adds a bilateral factor: 90 and 50 combine to 95, plus 10% of that gives 105, 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 90% and 50%

Diagnostic codes on this site with a 90% level include Hip replacement (DC 5054). 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 4.71a, diagnostic code 5054, Hip replacement, 90%: “Following implantation of the prosthesis, with painful motion or weakness such as to require the use of crutches.”

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 4.114, diagnostic code 7206, GERD (acid reflux), 50%: “Documented history of recurrent or refractory esophageal stricture(s) causing dysphagia which requires dilatation 3 or more times per year, dilatation using steroids at least one time per year, or esophageal stent placement.”

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

Other pairs

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

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.