40 and 30% VA Disability = 60%
A 40 and 30% VA disability combination equals a 60% combined rating - not 70%. It pays $1,435/month in 2026 for a veteran alone ($1,566 with a spouse). Here is exactly how the VA gets there.
| Rating | Healthy before | Adds | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40% | 100% | +40 | 40% |
| 30% | 60% | +18 | 58% |
| Combined (58%, rounded to nearest 10%) | 60% | ||
How 40 and 30 becomes 60%
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 40 and 30: the 40% rating is taken in full, leaving 60% of the whole person; the 30% rating applies only to the 60% still healthy, adding 18 points for a running 58%. The exact combined value is 58%, which the VA rounds to the nearest 10 to get 60%. Adding the numbers the ordinary way would give 70%, and that gap of 10 points is the single most common misunderstanding in a rating decision letter.
At 58% exact, this combination sits 7.0 points below the line where rounding would produce 70%. One additional service-connected condition rated at 20% or more would move the combined rating to 70%. Going the other way, if the 30% rating were reduced to zero the combined rating would be 40%.
Money-wise, 60% pays $1,435 a month in 2026 for a veteran with no dependents ($17,220 a year, tax-free). With a spouse it is $1,566, and with a spouse and one child $1,663; 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 40 and 30% VA disability combined?
- 40 and 30% combines to a 60% VA disability rating (58% before rounding to the nearest 10%), not 70%. The VA uses whole-person math: each rating only applies to the portion still healthy after the previous one. A 60% rating pays $1,435/month in 2026 for a veteran alone.
- Why isn't 40 and 30 equal to 70%?
- Because the VA never adds ratings. After a 40% rating, only 60% 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/40-and-30.