30 and 20 and 10% VA Disability = 50%
A 30 and 20 and 10% VA disability combination equals a 50% combined rating - not 60%. It pays $1,133/month in 2026 for a veteran alone ($1,242 with a spouse). Here is exactly how the VA gets there.
| Rating | Healthy before | Adds | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% | 100% | +30 | 30% |
| 20% | 70% | +14 | 44% |
| 10% | 56% | +5.6 | 49.6% |
| Combined (50%, rounded to nearest 10%) | 50% | ||
How 30 and 20 and 10 becomes 50%
The VA orders the ratings from highest to lowest and applies each one to whatever part of the person the earlier ratings left untouched. For 30 and 20 and 10: the 30% rating is taken in full, leaving 70% of the whole person; the 20% rating applies only to the 70% still healthy, adding 14 points for a running 44%; the 10% rating applies only to the 56% still healthy, adding 5.6 points for a running 49.6%. The exact combined value is 49.6%, which the VA rounds to the nearest 10 to get 50%. Adding the numbers the ordinary way would give 60%, and that gap of 10 points is the single most common misunderstanding in a rating decision letter.
At 49.6% exact, this combination sits 5.4 points below the line where rounding would produce 60%. One additional service-connected condition rated at 20% or more would move the combined rating to 60%. Going the other way, if the 10% rating were reduced to zero the combined rating would be 40%.
Money-wise, 50% pays $1,133 a month in 2026 for a veteran with no dependents ($13,595 a year, tax-free). With a spouse it is $1,242, and with a spouse and one child $1,323; dependents only count from 30% upward, which is why a 20% rating pays the same whether or not you are married. The next milestones are 30% (dependent add-ons begin) and 70% (the TDIU threshold, paid at the 100% rate for veterans who cannot work).
Two things this page cannot see: the bilateral factor (paired arms or legs get an extra 10% of their combined value before the next step) and conditions rated at 0%. Enter your actual decision-letter ratings in the combined rating calculator for an exact figure, and read the combined ratings guide for the rounding and bilateral rules in full.
Frequently asked
- What is 30 and 20 and 10% VA disability combined?
- 30 and 20 and 10% combines to a 50% VA disability rating (50% before rounding to the nearest 10%), not 60%. The VA uses whole-person math: each rating only applies to the portion still healthy after the previous one. A 50% rating pays $1,133/month in 2026 for a veteran alone.
- Why isn't 30 and 20 and 10 equal to 60%?
- Because the VA never adds ratings. After a 30% rating, only 70% of the "whole person" is left, so the next rating applies to that smaller amount. This always yields less than the simple sum, capped at 100%.
- Does the order of the ratings matter?
- Not to the result: multiplying the remaining healthy percentages gives the same exact value in any order. The VA lists highest first by convention, and this page follows it so the steps match a rating decision. The shareable link for this set is /disability/combined/30-and-20-and-10.