Combined ratings / 90% and 80%
38 CFR 4.25 Table I · checked 2026-10-20
90% and 80% VA rating combined
A 90% and a 80% rating combine to 98, which VA rounds up to 100%. The 80% is not added to the 90%: it takes 80% of the 10% efficiency the first rating leaves, which is 8 points. At 100% a veteran alone receives $3,938.58 a month and a veteran with a spouse $4,158.17.
- 1First rating 90 squares
- 280% of what is left 8 squares
- 3Efficiency left 2%
- 4Combined rating 100%
The arithmetic, step by step
- Order by severity: 90% first, then 80%.
- After the 90% rating, 10% efficiency is left. The 80% rating takes 80% of that: 80 × 10 ÷ 100 = 8.
- 90 + 8 = 98. That is the figure printed in Table I at row 90, column 80.
- Round once to the nearest 10, values ending in 5 going up: 98 becomes 100%.
Because 98 ends in 8, it rounds up, so this pair is rated 2 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 98, not with 100, because intermediate values are never rounded.
Added together, the two ratings would make 170. VA's method gives 100, 70 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 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 98, not with 100: 98 and 10 give 98, 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 80% are on the left and right leg (or both arms), 38 CFR 4.26 adds a bilateral factor: 90 and 80 combine to 98, plus 10% of that gives 108, 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 80%
Diagnostic codes on this site with a 90% level include Hip replacement (DC 5054). A 80% level appears in Sciatic nerve (radiculopathy), Epilepsy (seizures), GERD (acid reflux), Scars of the head, face or neck.
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 4.124a, diagnostic code 8910, Epilepsy (seizures), 80%: “Averaging at least 1 major seizure in 3 months over the last year; or more than 10 minor seizures weekly.”
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
- 90% and 90%: 99, rated 100%
- 90% and 70%: 97, rated 100%
- 80% and 80%: 96, rated 100%
5 other pairs also round to 100%: 90+90, 90+70, 90+60, 90+50, 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.