Workers' comp · TX
Texas workers' comp calculator
In Texas, a private employer may choose not to carry workers’ compensation at all, so the first question is whether yours did.
Rules read on official Texas pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 70%
- Gross average weekly wage before taxes
- Weekly maximum
- $1,314
- from October 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- $197
- floor
- Waiting period
- 7 days
- paid back past 13 days
In Texas, temporary income benefits (TIBs) equal 70% of the difference between your average weekly wage and what you can earn after the injury, or 75% for the first 26 weeks if you earned less than $10 an hour. The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation, sets the limits by state fiscal year: for injuries from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, TIBs range from $197 to $1,314 a week, the maximum being the state average weekly wage rounded to the dollar. A worker who earned $1,150 a week and earns nothing now receives $805. Nothing is paid for a disability shorter than a week; benefits accrue from the eighth day, and the first week is added back if the disability lasts 14 days or more. TIBs end at maximum medical improvement, which the law presumes at 104 weeks. All of this applies only if your employer elected coverage: Texas lets private employers opt out.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in Texas
$770
$3,337 a month · 70% of the wage, tax-free
| 70% of $1,100 | $770 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $1,314 / $197 |
| Days paid / unpaid waiting days | 30 / 0 |
| Total for the time off | $3,300 |
Estimate of wage-loss benefits for a total disability, from the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation (TDI-DWC) rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
First question: is your employer a subscriber?
Under Labor Code section 406.002, coverage is elective for private employers. Companies that buy a policy or self-insure are "subscribers"; those that do not are "non-subscribers," and their injured employees are outside the state system described on this page. Public employers have no such choice. Before using the calculator, ask your employer whether it subscribes; the figures below, set by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation, assume it does.
Seventy percent of what you lost, not of what you earned
TIBs are computed on the wage loss: 70% of your pre-injury average weekly wage minus your post-injury earnings. With no earnings at all, a Dallas framer who made $1,150 receives $805 a week; if he goes back part-time, subtract the new pay first. Low-wage workers get a better rate for half a year. A dishwasher in San Antonio paid $9 an hour for forty hours, $360 a week, receives $270 for the first 26 weeks instead of $252, as long as that does not exceed her actual earnings of the previous year. The calculator applies the 70% rate only.
A ceiling that moves in October
The DWC table of maximum and minimum weekly benefits changes on October 1, with the state fiscal year. Injuries on or after October 1, 2026 use $1,314; injuries in the year before used the fiscal 2026 figure. A Houston refinery operator earning $2,200 receives $1,314; the ceiling binds at about $1,877 a week. The minimum in effect on the injury date applies for as long as income benefits are paid.
The eighth day and the 104th week
The framer off ten days receives $345 for the days from the eighth on; at fifteen days, $1,725, the first week included. If his recovery drags on, maximum medical improvement is reached by law 104 weeks after benefits begin to accrue, which ends TIBs: the calculator stops at $83,720. Impairment income benefits follow, three weeks per percentage point of impairment at 70% of the wage with a lower cap. Eligibility for temporary, impairment and supplemental income benefits ends 401 weeks after the date of injury (§ 408.083).
For settlements and impairment ratings, see how much workers’ comp pays; for TIBs in a support order, the Texas child support calculator.
The Texas rules this calculator applies
| Rule | Texas |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 70% of gross average weekly wage before taxes |
| Weekly maximum | $1,314 |
| Weekly minimum | $197 |
| Applies to | Texas fiscal year 2027: injuries from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 (SAWW $1,314.32). For FY2026 (10/01/25-09/30/26): max $1,271.00, min $191.00. |
| Waiting period | 7 days, paid back when the disability lasts more than 13 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | 104 weeks |
Rate. Temporary income benefits (TIBs) equal 70% of the difference between the average weekly wage and post-injury weekly earnings; 75% for the first 26 weeks if the employee earns less than $10 an hour (Tex. Labor Code § 408.103). source
Waiting period. Income benefits are not paid for an injury that does not cause disability for at least one week; benefits accrue on the eighth day of disability, and if disability lasts two weeks or longer, compensation is computed from the date disability begins (Tex. Labor Code § 408.082). source
Duration. TIBs continue until maximum medical improvement (§ 408.102); MMI is reached at the latest on the expiration of 104 weeks from the date income benefits begin to accrue (§ 401.011(30)), unless extended for spinal surgery under § 408.104. source
Permanent disability. Impairment income benefits (IIBs) start the day after MMI and are paid 3 weeks for each percentage point of impairment (§ 408.121) at 70% of the AWW (§ 408.126), capped at 70% of the SAWW (§ 408.061(b)): $920.00 a week in FY2027. Workers with a 15% or higher impairment rating who have not returned to work at 80% of their AWW may then receive supplemental income benefits (§ 408.142). source
Worth knowing in Texas
- Workers' compensation coverage is elective for private employers in Texas: except for public employers, an employer may elect to obtain coverage (Tex. Labor Code § 406.002), so employees of non-subscribers are not covered by the system. source
- Eligibility for temporary, impairment and supplemental income benefits ends 401 weeks after the date of injury (§ 408.083). source
- Texas maximums and minimums change on October 1 each year (state fiscal year), not on January 1; for FY2027 the state average weekly wage is $1,314.32. source
- Low-wage workers earning less than $10 an hour receive 75% instead of 70% of lost wages for the first 26 weeks of TIBs (§ 408.103(a)(2)). source