Free · neutral · no sign-up
Workers' Comp Settlement Calculator — your weekly benefit rate
Start with the one figure in workers' comp that is close to universal: your weekly benefit rate, about two-thirds of your average weekly wage. From there we show what an impairment rating adds, illustratively. No fault, no pain and suffering — and no invented state caps.
Enter your average weekly wage, your permanent impairment rating and your expected future medical costs. The tool returns your weekly benefit rate — about two-thirds of your average weekly wage, the statutory temporary-disability rate in nearly every state — plus an illustrative permanent-partial band. It applies no state maximum, because we hold no verified current figure for one.
What this estimates. Workers' comp is no-fault and does not pay for pain and suffering. The one figure that holds almost everywhere is the weekly benefit rate: about two-thirds of your average weekly wage. That is what this tool returns. A lump sum is then built from your permanent impairment rating and the number of weeks your state assigns to it, and every state also caps the weekly rate. We do not apply your state's maximum or its schedule, because we hold no verified current figures for them — so treat the weekly rate as a ceiling to check against your own state's published maximum.
Whether you call it workers' comp or workers compensation, the lump sum hinges on your PPD impairment rating and your average weekly wage.
See also: If you fell on premises another company controls, you may have a comp claim and a premises claim running at once — the second one is estimated with the slip and fall settlement calculator.
Real data
Average workers' comp settlement and claim costs
A workers' comp settlement (the lump sum that closes a claim) is not the same as a claim's total cost, and there is no single national settlement average. But the NCCI/NSC claim-cost data shows the scale: the average lost-time claim runs in the mid five figures, with cause of injury — not the body part alone — driving much of the difference. Your own figure is then shaped by your weekly wage, your impairment rating and your state's published maximum rate, which you have to look up.
Source: National Safety Council — Injury Facts (NCCI Workers Compensation Statistical Plan data, 2022–2023). These are claim costs, not settlement medians, and benefit rates and caps vary sharply by state — use the calculator above for your own range.
The method
How your workers' comp settlement is calculated
From your average weekly wage first, then your impairment rating and your future medical costs. Your state's maximum sits on top of all of it.
Average weekly wage (AWW)
Sets your weekly benefit rate, often about two-thirds of AWW, capped by state.
Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)
Impairment rating × the weeks set by your state schedule × your benefit rate.
Future medical
Estimated cost of ongoing treatment — often a large part of the lump sum.
Your state's weekly maximum
Every state caps the weekly rate and republishes the figure yearly. We do not apply it — look yours up.
Back, shoulder and knee injury settlements
Body part matters in workers' comp for a different reason than it does in an injury claim: it is not about how much the injury hurt, it is about which line of your state's impairment schedule you land on. Every state publishes a schedule that assigns a fixed number of weeks to each body part, and a permanent partial disability payout is your impairment percentage multiplied by those weeks multiplied by your weekly rate. That is why two workers with the same rating and the same wage receive very different sums.
The practical consequence is that where the rating is assigned changes the answer. A shoulder or knee injury is normally rated against a scheduled member — the arm or the leg — which carries a defined number of weeks. A back injury is usually unscheduled in most states and rated instead as a percentage of the whole person, which is both a larger base and a far more contested one. If your rating report describes the same injury in two ways, which description your state's schedule keys off is worth establishing before the rating is finalised, because the arithmetic afterwards is fixed.
Bring three numbers together and you have your own figure without any guesswork: the weekly rate from the calculator above, capped at your state's published maximum; the impairment percentage from your rating report at maximum medical improvement; and the weeks your state's schedule assigns to that body part. All three are published or in documents you hold.
Adjust for your state
Workers' comp varies by state
Workers' comp is no-fault, but the formula, caps and schedules differ in every state — which is why two identical injuries settle for different amounts in different places.
You can recover even if the injury was your own doing.
Your weekly rate and total are capped by your state's schedule and maximums.
Each state sets how many weeks each impairment rating is worth.
Closing future medical for a lump sum varies by state and is often negotiable.
Two state variables decide your real number and neither one is in this tool: the maximum weekly rate, republished every year by your state agency, which caps the two-thirds figure above; and the impairment schedule, the number of weeks your state assigns to each body part and each percentage of impairment. Both are published by your state workers' compensation board. Look those two figures up and the arithmetic here becomes your actual entitlement.
Questions
Workers' comp settlement FAQ
It starts from your average weekly wage: the weekly benefit rate is roughly two-thirds of it, and that is the figure this tool returns. A lump sum is then your impairment rating multiplied by the weeks your state's schedule allows, at that weekly rate, plus whatever is agreed for future medical care. There is no pain-and-suffering component at all.
A percentage your doctor assigns at maximum medical improvement (MMI) that reflects permanent loss of function — it directly scales your PPD payout.
They trade different things. A lump sum is certain and final: it closes the claim, and in most states it closes future medical along with it. Weekly benefits are uncertain in duration but leave treatment open. Which matters more depends on how settled your medical condition is, which is a question for your treating doctor rather than for a calculator.
No. Workers' comp is no-fault, so you can recover even if the accident was partly your doing.
Workers' comp settlements are generally not taxable, but interactions with other benefits can vary — confirm with a professional.
Check your weekly rate against your state's maximum
The rate above is two-thirds of the wage you entered, with no state maximum applied. Every state republishes its own maximum weekly rate each year, and if you earn well your real rate is the lower of the two. Look yours up before you rely on this figure. No contact details are asked for at any point.
Open the calculator