Workers' comp · WV
West Virginia workers' comp calculator
West Virginia ties its minimum to the federal minimum wage and stops temporary benefits after two years.
Rules read on official West Virginia pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 66.67%
- Gross average weekly wage before taxes
- Weekly maximum
- $1,150.91
- from July 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- $193.33
- floor
- Waiting period
- 3 days
- paid back past 7 days
The West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) publishes the benefit rates for each fiscal year. For dates of injury from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, temporary total disability is 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage earnings, wherever earned, capped at $1,150.91, 100% of the state average weekly wage. The minimum is $193.33 a week: the statute sets it at one third of the state average, but no higher than a benefit computed from the federal minimum hourly wage, which is the lower of the two. A worker earning $1,300 receives $867. The rate is locked for the life of the award, with no yearly increases. Disability of 3 days or less is not paid; beyond 7 days, the first 3 are added. The aggregate TTD award for one injury cannot exceed 104 weeks.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in West Virginia
$733
$3,178 a month · 66.67% of the wage, tax-free
| 66.67% of $1,100 | $733 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $1,150.91 / $193.33 |
| 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 West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC), Workers' Compensation rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
A minimum indexed to the federal wage, not the state's
One third of the state average weekly wage would be $384 for 2026-27. The OIC does not pay that. Section 23-4-6(b) adds that the minimum may never exceed the benefit determined by the federal minimum hourly wage, and the OIC benefit rate sheet for fiscal year 2027 computes it as $7.25 times 8 hours times 5 days, divided by 7 days, times two thirds: $27.62 a day, or $193.33 a week. The sheet applies that federal computation to injuries from July 24, 2009 onward. A home care aide in Morgantown earning $260 receives $193, the floor.
Locked in at the date of the award
West Virginia stopped escalating awards in 2003. A temporary total, permanent total or death award made since then keeps the same weekly rate for its whole span, whether that rate is the maximum, the minimum or anything between. A chemical plant operator in Charleston earning $1,300 receives $867 a week, and that is what he will still receive a year later; the cap of $1,150.91 is reached from about $1,726 of weekly earnings.
Three days and a seventh
Section 23-4-5 refuses any award when the disability lasts three days or less from the day the employee leaves work; if it lasts longer than seven days, the first three are paid. The operator off six days receives $371; off nine days, $1,114.
104 weeks, then a rating
Section 23-4-6(c) caps the aggregate TTD award for a single injury at 104 weeks. A coal mine electrician earning $2,100 who is off two and a half years receives $119,695 in TTD, the calculator stopping at the cap. Permanent partial disability then pays four weeks for each percent of disability at two thirds of the wage, capped at 70% of the state average weekly wage, $806 a week. A permanent disability of 85% or more creates a rebuttable presumption of permanent total disability if the claimant is also at least 50% medically impaired on a whole-body basis or has a 35% statutory disability (§ 23-4-6(d)).
For settlements, see how much workers’ comp pays; for comp income in a support case, the West Virginia child support calculator.
The West Virginia rules this calculator applies
| Rule | West Virginia |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 66.67% of gross average weekly wage before taxes |
| Weekly maximum | $1,150.91 |
| Weekly minimum | $193.33 |
| Applies to | West Virginia fiscal year 2027: dates of injury / last exposure July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 (SAWW $1,150.91) |
| Waiting period | 3 days, paid back when the disability lasts more than 7 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | 104 weeks |
Rate. 66 and two-thirds percent of the average weekly wage earnings, wherever earned, at the date of injury, not to exceed 100% of the average weekly wage in West Virginia (W. Va. Code § 23-4-6(b)). Awards are not adjusted annually after they are made. source
Waiting period. No award if disability does not last longer than three days from the day the employee leaves work; if it lasts longer than seven days, the first three days are paid (W. Va. Code § 23-4-5). source
Duration. The aggregate TTD award for a single injury may not exceed 104 weeks for awards made since the 2003 amendment (W. Va. Code § 23-4-6(c)). source
Permanent disability. Permanent partial disability is paid at four weeks of compensation for each percent of disability, at 66 2/3% of the AWW, not to exceed 70% of the state average weekly wage (W. Va. Code § 23-4-6(e)(1)): FY2027 PPD weekly maximum as stored in the OIC spreadsheet: 805.637 (70% of $1,150.91). source
Worth knowing in West Virginia
- A worker's benefit rate is fixed for the entire span of all benefits, whether at the maximum, the minimum or an odd rate; TTD, PTD and fatal awards made on or after July 1, 2003 receive no annual escalation (OIC; § 23-4-6(b)). source
- The minimum weekly benefit is tied to the federal minimum wage ($193.33 a week) rather than to 33 1/3% of the state average weekly wage (383.6328303 in the OIC FY2027 spreadsheet), because the statute caps the minimum at the federal-minimum-wage level. source
- A permanent disability of 85% or more creates a rebuttable presumption of permanent total disability if the claimant is also at least 50% medically impaired on a whole-body basis or has a 35% statutory disability (§ 23-4-6(d)). source
- Permanent total disability benefits are payable until the claimant reaches the age for Social Security old-age retirement benefits (§ 23-4-6(d)). source