Workers' comp · SC
South Carolina workers' comp calculator
South Carolina caps total disability at a number of weeks and keeps a flat minimum written in dollars into the statute.
Rules read on official South Carolina pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 66.67%
- Gross average weekly wage before taxes
- Weekly maximum
- $1,189.94
- from January 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- $75
- floor
- Waiting period
- 7 days
- paid back past 14 days
The South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission pays total disability at 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage, capped at the average weekly wage in the state for the preceding fiscal year. For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, its rates page gives a maximum of $1,189.94 a week, reached at a wage of about $1,785. The minimum is $75 a week, but a worker who earned less than that receives his full average weekly salary instead. Total disability compensation cannot be paid for more than 500 weeks, except for some permanently and totally disabled workers. No compensation is allowed for the first 7 calendar days; if the disability lasts more than 14 days, it is paid from the first day. A worker earning $1,050 a week receives $700. One caution: the Commission's December 2025 advisory notice announced $1,178.30 before the rates page settled on the higher figure.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in South Carolina
$733
$3,178 a month · 66.67% of the wage, tax-free
| 66.67% of $1,100 | $733 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $1,189.94 / $75 |
| 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 South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
Two published maximums for the same year
On December 19, 2025, the Commission issued an advisory notice approving a 2026 maximum of $1,178.30, computed from a state average wage for April 2024 through March 2025. The Commission’s compensation rates page now shows $1,189.94 for accidents from January 1, 2026, based on the wage certified for the fiscal year July 2024 through June 2025, which is the period the statute names. We use the later figure. If your claim was set up in early 2026 at the lower rate, the difference is $11.64 a week for workers at the cap, worth asking the adjuster about.
A floor in dollars, not a percentage
Section 42-9-10 still guarantees $75 a week, a figure that has not moved with wages. It works only if that amount does not exceed what the employee earned: a part-time worker at $90 a week receives $75, and one at $60 receives his whole $75. The calculator applies the dollar floor; for wages under it, read the result as your full wage.
The fifteenth day and the 500-week limit
A tire plant worker in Greenville earning $1,050 who misses twelve days receives $500, for five days. At seventeen days, section 42-9-200 reaches back to the first day and the total becomes $1,700. At the top of the scale, a port crane operator in Charleston earning $2,000 receives $1,190. However long the disability, total disability benefits stop at 500 weeks, unless the worker qualifies for the lifetime exception in subsection (C).
Scheduled members and partial disability
Scheduled injuries are paid at 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage for a fixed number of weeks (e.g. thumb 65 weeks, index finger 40 weeks) under § 42-9-30; partial loss is paid in proportion. Partial disability not on the schedule is paid at 66 2/3% of the wage difference, up to 340 weeks from the date of injury (§ 42-9-20). The loss of both hands, arms, shoulders, feet, legs, hips, or vision in both eyes, or any two of these, is by statute total and permanent disability (§ 42-9-10(B)). For settlements, see how much workers’ comp pays; for comp income in a support case, the South Carolina child support calculator.
The South Carolina rules this calculator applies
| Rule | South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 66.67% of gross average weekly wage before taxes |
| Weekly maximum | $1,189.94 |
| Weekly minimum | $75 |
| Applies to | accidents on or after January 1, 2026 (SAWW certified by the Department of Employment and Workforce for July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025) |
| Waiting period | 7 days, paid back when the disability lasts more than 14 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | 500 weeks |
Rate. Sixty-six and two-thirds percent of average weekly wages, not more than the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year (S.C. Code § 42-9-10(A)). source
Waiting period. No compensation for the first seven calendar days of disability (except medical benefits); if the injury results in disability of more than fourteen days, compensation is allowed from the date of disability (S.C. Code § 42-9-200). source
Duration. In no case may the period covered by total disability compensation exceed 500 weeks, except as provided in § 42-9-10(C) for certain permanently and totally disabled workers (S.C. Code § 42-9-10(A)). source
Permanent disability. Scheduled injuries are paid at 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage for a fixed number of weeks (e.g. thumb 65 weeks, index finger 40 weeks) under § 42-9-30; partial loss is paid in proportion. Partial disability not on the schedule is paid at 66 2/3% of the wage difference, up to 340 weeks from the date of injury (§ 42-9-20). source
Worth knowing in South Carolina
- The loss of both hands, arms, shoulders, feet, legs, hips, or vision in both eyes, or any two of these, is by statute total and permanent disability (§ 42-9-10(B)). source
- South Carolina's statutory minimum weekly benefit is a fixed $75, not a percentage of the state average wage (§ 42-9-10(A)). source
- The maximum changes every January 1; it was $1,134.43 for 2025 and $1,189.94 for 2026. source