70 and 50 and 30% VA Disability = 90%
A 70 and 50 and 30% VA disability combination equals a 90% combined rating - not 150%. It pays $2,362/month in 2026 for a veteran alone ($2,559 with a spouse). Here is exactly how the VA gets there.
| Rating | Healthy before | Adds | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70% | 100% | +70 | 70% |
| 50% | 30% | +15 | 85% |
| 30% | 15% | +4.5 | 89.5% |
| Combined (90%, rounded to nearest 10%) | 90% | ||
How 70 and 50 and 30 becomes 90%
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 70 and 50 and 30: the 70% rating is taken in full, leaving 30% of the whole person; the 50% rating applies only to the 30% still healthy, adding 15 points for a running 85%; the 30% rating applies only to the 15% still healthy, adding 4.5 points for a running 89.5%. The exact combined value is 89.5%, which the VA rounds to the nearest 10 to get 90%. Adding the numbers the ordinary way would give 150%, and that gap of 60 points is the single most common misunderstanding in a rating decision letter.
At 89.5% exact, this combination sits 5.5 points below the line where rounding would produce 100%. One additional service-connected condition rated at 60% or more would move the combined rating to 100%. Going the other way, if the 30% rating were reduced to zero the combined rating would be 90%, so that condition currently adds no money at all.
Money-wise, 90% pays $2,362 a month in 2026 for a veteran with no dependents ($28,348 a year, tax-free). With a spouse it is $2,559, and with a spouse and one child $2,704; dependents only count from 30% upward, which is why a 20% rating pays the same whether or not you are married. At 70% or higher with at least one condition rated 40% or more, a veteran unable to keep substantially gainful work can apply for TDIU, which pays at the 100% rate without a 100% schedular rating.
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 70 and 50 and 30% VA disability combined?
- 70 and 50 and 30% combines to a 90% VA disability rating (90% before rounding to the nearest 10%), not 150%. The VA uses whole-person math: each rating only applies to the portion still healthy after the previous one. A 90% rating pays $2,362/month in 2026 for a veteran alone.
- Why isn't 70 and 50 and 30 equal to 150%?
- Because the VA never adds ratings. After a 70% rating, only 30% 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/70-and-50-and-30.