Easy VA ClaimsVA Disability Ratings: How They Work and How to Maximize Yours
The VA rates each service-connected condition on a scale from 0% to 100%. Most veterans are rated too low. Here is why — and what to do about it.
Check My Estimated Rating — Free →What Each Rating Pays (2025 Rates)
VA disability compensation is tax-free and paid monthly. The amount depends on your combined disability rating and the number of dependents you have. These figures are for a single veteran with no dependents.
| RATING | MONTHLY (NO DEPS) | NOTE |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $175/mo | Minimum compensable rating |
| 30% | $524/mo | Threshold for dependent benefits |
| 50% | $1,075/mo | Significant monthly benefit |
| 70% | $1,663/mo | Mental health TDIU threshold |
| 100% | $3,737/mo | Maximum schedular rating |
The “Whole Person” Combined Ratings Formula
The VA does not simply add your ratings together. Instead, it uses the “whole person” method. If you have a 50% rating, the VA considers you 50% disabled and 50% “whole.” A second 30% rating is applied to the remaining 50%, adding 15 percentage points — bringing your combined rating to 65%, which rounds to 70%.
This is why veterans with multiple conditions often feel like they are being shortchanged. The math is not intuitive — but it is exploitable. The key is identifying the right combination of conditions and secondary conditions to push your combined rating over key thresholds (30%, 50%, 70%, 100%).
The EasyVAClaims Wizard Does This Math For You
Enter your conditions and our free tool calculates your combined rating, shows your estimated monthly benefit, and identifies secondary conditions you may be missing.
Try the Free Rating Calculator →Secondary Conditions: The Key to Unlocking a Higher Rating
Many veterans are stuck at a low combined rating because they only claimed their primary conditions — a wrist injury, a bad knee, tinnitus. The VA does not rate these particularly high on their own. But what most veterans do not realize is that those nagging injuries often cause secondary conditions that the VA is legally obligated to compensate.
The most overlooked secondary claims are mental health conditions. Back pain that prevents you from playing with your grandchildren, ringing in the ears that disrupts your sleep, chronic pain that steals the active lifestyle you once had — these have real mental health consequences. And the VA recognizes that.
Jordan Anderson
Founder, EasyVAClaims · 100% P&T Veteran
“There's one called somatic symptom disorder and there's another called chronic pain syndrome. These are two mental conditions which acknowledge that your symptoms from your service-connected conditions absolutely have a mental impact — and that mental impact is also compensable. The VA is lawfully on the hook for that. We've seen mental conditions awarded on average a 70% rating just on their own. That can often be the difference of a house payment per month.”
The key to winning a secondary claim is a quality nexus letter that establishes the medical connection between your primary condition and the secondary one. This is where a professionally written nexus letter becomes one of the highest-leverage investments a veteran can make.
Watch: Why Tinnitus Is a Rating Gold Mine
377,000+ veterans have watched this. Tinnitus is the single most claimed VA condition — and for good reason.
More on VA Disability Ratings
Find Out What Your Rating Should Be
Most veterans are rated too low. The free EasyVAClaims wizard identifies missing conditions and calculates your true combined rating in minutes.
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