How Much Does Workers' Comp Pay? A State-by-State Guide

What a Workers' Comp TTD Calculator Actually Estimates

When people search "workers comp calculator," they're usually looking for one of two very different numbers: (1) their ongoing Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefit -- the weekly or monthly wage-replacement payment made while they're completely unable to work -- or (2) a lump-sum settlement value, which also folds in permanent impairment ratings, future medical costs, vocational factors, and case-specific negotiation.

This site's Workers' Comp Calculator cluster models only the first number, because it's the one figure that's directly and verifiably derived from statute text -- a percentage of your wage, applied consistently by the state agency administering your claim. A settlement estimate depends on facts a formula can't see (how your specific injury was rated, your treating physician's opinion, your insurer's litigation posture), so every state page on this site says explicitly that it does not attempt one.

The Baseline: Two-Thirds of Your Wage -- and the States That Do It Differently

Most states pay 66 2/3% (two-thirds) of your average weekly wage while you're temporarily and totally disabled -- that's the rule in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Florida, New York, Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, among others on this site. But seven jurisdictions use a genuinely different formula, not just a different cap:

- Washington (RCW 51.32.060) scales the percentage by family status: 60% for an unmarried worker with no dependents, up to 75% for a married worker with four or more dependent children.
- Texas (Tex. Labor Code Ch. 408) pays 70% -- higher than the two-thirds baseline -- of the difference between your pre- and post-injury average weekly wage, and calls the benefit a "Temporary Income Benefit" (TIB) rather than TTD.
- New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 34:15-12(a)) also pays 70% of your weekly wage, capped at 75% of the statewide average weekly wage and floored at 20% of the same figure.
- Michigan (MCL 418.351) is the only state here that bases the benefit on your net, after-tax average weekly wage rather than gross wages, at an 80% rate.
- Ohio (ORC §4123.56) pays a boosted 72% rate for the first 12 weeks of disability, then drops to the standard 66 2/3% after that.
- Massachusetts (M.G.L. c. 152, §34) pays a lower-than-average 60% rate, and caps total TTD compensation at 156 weeks regardless of ongoing disability.
- Arizona (A.R.S. §23-1045) calculates the standard 66 2/3% rate on your average monthly wage rather than a weekly one -- as does federal FECA (5 U.S.C. §8105), which pays 66 2/3% of monthly pay (75% with one or more dependents).

Run your specific numbers against your state's actual formula with the Workers' Comp Calculator hub, which covers California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Washington, Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Missouri, Oregon, and federal employees under FECA.

Why This Site Doesn't Show Today's Exact Dollar Cap for Most States

Nearly every state caps the weekly benefit as a percentage of that state's own State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) -- a figure republished annually (often each July 1, September 1, or October 1) by a state labor or workers' comp agency, not written as a fixed dollar amount into the statute itself. Ohio's cap is 100% of its SAWW, Missouri's is 105%, North Carolina's and Minnesota's roughly 108-110%, New Jersey's and Massachusetts's are set the same way, Colorado's an unusually low 91%, and so on -- but the actual current-year dollar value of each state's SAWW lives on an agency web page, and those pages have proven unreliably fetchable across repeated research passes (DNS errors, 403s, or JavaScript-only shells with no server-rendered figures).

Rather than publish a stale or guessed dollar cap next to a live calculator, every state page states the cap rule in words (e.g., "100% of Ohio's state average weekly wage") and links straight to the governing statute, so you can look up this year's actual published number. Two states are the exception: Oregon's minimum ("the lesser of 90% of your own wages or a flat $50/week") and Georgia's entire $50-$725/week range are literal dollar figures the legislature wrote directly into statute (not agency-republished figures), so those two calculators apply the exact cap and floor directly.

Is Your Workers' Comp Benefit Taxable?

No. Workers' compensation benefits paid under a state or federal workers' comp act are fully exempt from federal (and almost always state) income tax, under IRC §104(a)(1). That's a meaningful contrast with a personal injury lawsuit settlement, where the tax treatment depends on what the payment is compensating for -- physical injury damages are also tax-free, but lost-wage, punitive, and emotional-distress-only damages generally are not. If you're dealing with a separate lawsuit rather than a standard workers' comp claim, the Legal Settlement Tax Calculator walks through that distinction, and the Structured Settlement Present Value Calculator helps if your settlement pays out over time rather than as a lump sum.

Covering the Gap: Disability Insurance and Your Emergency Fund

Because most states' TTD formulas replace only 60-80% of your wages -- and many states also cap that amount well below your actual paycheck if you're a higher earner -- workers' comp alone often leaves a real income gap while you're unable to work. A private short- or long-term disability insurance policy can close that gap; use the Disability Insurance Calculator to estimate how much coverage you'd need to replace the income workers' comp doesn't. It's also worth stress-testing your emergency fund against a workers' comp claim specifically, since payments can take weeks to start after a claim is filed and disputed claims can drag on far longer -- our Emergency Fund Guide walks through sizing a fund for exactly this kind of income interruption.