Workers' comp · guide
How much does workers’ comp pay?
The weekly check for time off, what happens when you go back to lighter work, and what permanent disability and settlements add.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
For a worker who earned $1,200 a week, workers' compensation pays a median of about $800 a week across the 49 states on this site while the injury keeps the worker completely off the job, tax-free, usually two thirds of the gross wage. The check is limited by a weekly maximum that every state sets for the year of the injury, so higher earners are paid less than two thirds: at $2,000 a week, the maximum already applies in 25 states. The first few days are unpaid unless the disability lasts long enough, medical bills are paid in full on top, and once you are back at a lower-paying job or left with a permanent impairment, partial and permanent disability benefits follow under separate rules. A settlement, if you reach one, trades some or all of those future payments for a lump sum.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit
Weekly benefit in Alabama
$733
| Rule applied | 66.67% of the wage |
| A month (52 weeks ÷ 12) | $3,178 |
| Share of the wage replaced | 67% |
Tax-free wage-loss benefit for a total disability; medical care is paid on top.
The weekly check while you cannot work
Temporary total disability is the benefit people mean when they ask how much workers' comp pays. It is a fixed percentage of your average weekly wage, almost always gross pay before taxes, averaged over a period before the injury that each state defines (thirteen weeks, twenty-six, fifty-two). Overtime counts in most states, and many count wages from a second job. Because the benefit is not taxed, two thirds of gross pay replaces a larger share of take-home pay than it sounds, often close to all of it for a modest income.
Three limits can change the figure. The weekly maximum, usually equal to or a percentage of the state's average weekly wage, caps the check for well-paid workers. The weekly minimum protects low earners, but most states pay no more than the actual wage when it is below the minimum. And the waiting period leaves the first days unpaid unless the disability lasts beyond the state's retroactive threshold.
Going back to lighter work
When the doctor allows light duty and the employer offers it at a lower wage, temporary partial disability usually pays two thirds of the difference between the old wage and the new one, still under the weekly maximum. Refusing suitable light duty that the employer offers can end temporary benefits in many states, so read any offer carefully and ask the insurer or the state agency what it changes.
Permanent disability
When you reach maximum medical improvement, a doctor rates any lasting impairment. States then pay permanent partial disability in one of a few ways: a schedule of weeks for the loss of use of a hand, an arm or an eye; a percentage of the whole body translated into weeks; or wage-loss benefits for the earnings the impairment costs you. The weekly rate for those weeks is often the same two thirds, sometimes with its own lower maximum. Permanent total disability, when no work is possible, can last for life or until retirement age depending on the state.
Medical care and mileage
Medical treatment for a work injury is paid by the employer's insurer without a deductible or copay, for as long as it is reasonable and necessary. Many states also reimburse mileage to medical appointments. Rules on choosing a doctor vary: some states let the employer pick the first doctor or a network, others let you choose from the start.
What a settlement covers
A settlement is a negotiated amount, not a formula, and the states do not publish one. What it buys is the claim to future benefits: the remaining weeks of permanent disability, sometimes future medical care, sometimes the right to reopen the claim. A useful check is to add up what the rules would pay you, weekly rate times remaining weeks plus expected medical costs, and compare the offer with that total. Most states require a workers' compensation judge or the state board to approve a settlement, and many publish plain-language guides for injured workers. An attorney's fee in a workers' comp case is usually capped by law and approved by the board.
Reading your first check
Compare the weekly amount with the rate notice the insurer sends. It should state the average weekly wage it used, the weeks it averaged, the rate applied and the maximum in force on your date of injury. The most common errors are an average that leaves out overtime, a second job or the value of meals and lodging when the state counts them, and a wage period that includes weeks you did not work. If the average looks low, gather your pay stubs for the period the state uses and ask the adjuster in writing to recompute it. State agencies run ombudsman or information offices that explain the calculation for free, and a rate dispute can be taken to the board without a lawyer.
Two examples
A warehouse worker earning nine hundred dollars a week in a two-thirds state receives about six hundred a week, tax-free, close to the take-home pay before the injury. A nurse earning two thousand five hundred a week in the same state is limited by the maximum, so the benefit replaces a much smaller share of the wage. Run both wages through the mini calculator above in a few states to see where the cap starts to bite.
When benefits stop
Temporary benefits end when you return to work at your old wage, when you are released to work you refuse, when you reach maximum medical improvement, or when you hit a cap on the number of weeks in states that set one. The insurer must usually give written notice before stopping payments, and you can contest the decision before the state workers' compensation board.
To estimate your own check, use the workers’ comp calculator: pick the state where the injury happened, enter your average weekly wage and the days you expect to miss.