Workers' comp · MT
Montana workers' comp calculator
Montana sets its ceiling to the state’s average weekly wage each July and halves it for permanent partial disability.
Rules read on official Montana pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 66.67%
- Gross average weekly wage before taxes
- Weekly maximum
- $1,192
- from July 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- none
- no statutory floor
- Waiting period
- 4 days
- paid back past 20 days
Montana pays temporary total disability at 66.67% of the wages received at the time of injury, never more than the state's average weekly wage (MCA 39-71-701). For injuries from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, the Department of Labor & Industry adopted $1,192 as the weekly maximum, reached at a gross wage of about $1,788; permanent partial disability is capped at half that, $596. There is no minimum TTD rate. Compensation is not paid for the first 32 hours or 4 days of wage loss, whichever is less, and is paid back to the first day once a worker is totally disabled 21 days or longer (MCA 39-71-736). A ranch hand earning $760 who misses three weeks receives $1,520. TTD lasts until maximum healing or release to the time-of-injury job, with no cost-of-living increase. Permanent partial disability needs both a wage loss and an AMA rating, which the statute converts into weeks out of a 400-week base.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in Montana
$733
$3,178 a month · 66.67% of the wage, tax-free
| 66.67% of $1,100 | $733 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $1,192 / none |
| Days paid / unpaid waiting days | 30 / 0 |
| Total for the time off | $3,143 |
Estimate of wage-loss benefits for a total disability, from the Montana Department of Labor & Industry, Employment Relations Division (ERD), Workers' Compensation rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
Hours, not days, for the waiting period
Montana measures its waiting period in hours as well as days. Under MCA 39-71-736, nothing is paid for the first 32 hours or 4 days of lost wages, whichever is less, so a worker on ten-hour shifts clears it after three and a fraction shifts. Benefits start with the 33rd hour or the fifth day. A ranch hand earning $760 who returns after fifteen days receives $796; at 21 days of total disability, the waiting period is repaid and the claim totals $1,520. Each day of sick leave a worker chooses to take counts toward the waiting period, and the worker can later repay the sick leave or waive the matching retroactive benefits.
A ceiling equal to the state wage
The department’s fiscal year 2027 memo certified a state average weekly wage just above the adopted figure and rounded down to $1,192, which applies to TTD, permanent total, temporary partial, rehabilitation and death benefits. An oilfield hand earning $2,100 a week is held to $1,192. Permanent total disability uses the same rate, is adjusted for cost of living, and runs until the worker qualifies for Social Security retirement; temporary total disability is never adjusted.
Building a permanent partial rating
MCA 39-71-703 builds a PPD percentage by adding points to the whole-person impairment rating from the AMA Guides, sixth edition: 1% for a worker over 40 at injury, 1% for less than twelve years of school, 10% or 20% for an actual wage loss (up to or over two dollars an hour), and up to 5% when the worker drops from heavy to lighter labor. Take a 52-year-old without a diploma who has an 8% impairment and now earns more than two dollars an hour less: 30% times 400 weeks gives 120 weeks, paid at 66.67% of the wage but no more than $596 a week. Without a wage loss, only workers with a Class 2 or higher impairment receive an impairment-only award.
TTD is not adjusted for cost of living, but permanent total disability benefits are, and PTD is paid until the worker is eligible for Social Security retirement benefits (MCA 39-71-701(3); 2026 Benefits Summary). Rehabilitation benefits are available for workers who cannot return to their job and have a wage loss, or a 15% rating without one. For what all this adds up to, see how much workers’ comp pays.
The Montana rules this calculator applies
| Rule | Montana |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 66.67% of gross average weekly wage before taxes |
| Weekly maximum | $1,192 |
| Weekly minimum | none |
| Applies to | injuries July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 (fiscal year 2027; FY2026 injuries July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026: $1,137.00) |
| Waiting period | 4 days, paid back when the disability lasts more than 20 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | no fixed number of weeks |
Rate. 66 2/3% of the wages received at the time of injury, not more than the state's average weekly wage at the time of injury (MCA 39-71-701(3)). source
Waiting period. No compensation for the first 32 hours or 4 days of wage loss, whichever is less; benefits start on the 5th day. If the worker is totally disabled and unable to work for 21 days or longer, compensation is paid retroactively to the first day of total wage loss (MCA 39-71-736(1)). source
Duration. TTD is paid for the duration of the temporary disability, until maximum healing or release to the time-of-injury job or one with similar physical requirements; no fixed week cap (MCA 39-71-701(1), (3)). source
Permanent disability. PPD requires an actual wage loss and an AMA Guides 6th edition impairment rating (or Class 2+ impairment without wage loss for an impairment-only award). The whole-person rating plus statutory add-ons for age (1% if over 40), education (1% if under 12 years), wage loss (10% or 20%) and reduced labor capacity (up to 5%) is multiplied by 400 weeks (MCA 39-71-703); the weekly PPD rate is capped at $596.00 for FY2027 injuries. source
Worth knowing in Montana
- For FY2027 the state's average weekly wage was established at $1,192.06 and the Department adopted $1,192.00 as the maximum weekly rate for TTD, PTD, TPD, rehabilitation and death benefits (DLI memo, June 2026). source
- The PPD maximum is half the TTD maximum: $596.00 per week for injuries July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027, over a 400-week schedule (ERD compensation rates chart). source
- Each day a worker elects sick leave counts toward the 4-day waiting period (MCA 39-71-736(2)). source
- TTD is not adjusted for cost of living, but permanent total disability benefits are, and PTD is paid until the worker is eligible for Social Security retirement benefits (MCA 39-71-701(3); 2026 Benefits Summary). source
- Montana State Fund operates the fraud hotline for claims it insures; other claims are reported to DLI (2026 Benefits Summary). source