Workers Comp Settlement Calculator

How workers' comp math actually works

Unlike every other tool in this suite, there is no pain-and-suffering multiplier here — because workers' compensation does not pay for pain and suffering at all. Instead, the system prices your claim with arithmetic:

Every variable except your wage is contestable — and insurers contest all of them. The impairment rating gets sent to their examiner; the weeks out get scrutinized for light-duty availability; future medical gets discounted to present value and argued down on utilization review. The schedule is the only half-fixed number in the room.

The trade you made without knowing it

Workers' comp is the "grand bargain" of injury law: you surrendered the right to sue your employer for negligence — and with it, any general-damages recovery — in exchange for guaranteed medical care and wage replacement regardless of fault. That is why a workplace fracture that would be worth $60,000+ against a negligent driver prices on a schedule against your employer. The impairment rating is the system's substitute for pain and suffering: objective, capped, and permanently debatable.

Use your state's schedule, not a national average

There is no nationwide body-part schedule. States assign different week values, use different impairment systems, and may treat back, spine, or whole-person injuries as unscheduled claims under a different formula. Use the current maximum and schedule from the state agency linked by the U.S. Department of Labor; if the injury is unscheduled, this calculator's scheduled-member formula is not appropriate.

Stipulations vs. Compromise & Release

Most comp cases resolve one of two ways. A stipulated award pays the permanent disability over time and — critically — leaves future medical open. A Compromise & Release buys out everything, including future treatment, for one check. The C&R number is bigger precisely because it includes the insurer's estimated future medical exposure. If your condition is stable or fully resolved, cashing out can make sense. If surgery is plausible in five years, closing medical is the expensive version of the deal.

What moves the final number

• The rating fight: treating doctor says 18%, defense QME says 6% — that gap is worth tens of thousands on a back schedule. Most settlements split the difference.
• Apportionment: every prior injury, condition, or "degenerative change" the insurer can attribute elsewhere comes off your rating.
• Age and occupation multipliers: many rating systems adjust for both before the rating ever hits the schedule.
• Liens: EDD/state disability, child support, and medical-provider liens get paid out of the settlement before you see a check.
• Medicare set-asides: Medicare-eligible claimants may need to carve future medical into a protected arrangement before a C&R is approved.

Hypothetical example

A worker earning $1,200 per week with a temporary total disability benefit rate of two-thirds would receive about $800 per week in wage-loss benefits, subject to the state's maximum — before any permanent-impairment rating is negotiated into the settlement.

Change the rating to a permanent partial award under the state's schedule and the settlement value multiplies by the weeks allowed there. This is a hypothetical illustration of how state benefit math works, not a prediction of any award.

What this calculator does not account for

• Your state's specific benefit maximums, waiting periods, and impairment schedules
• Medical benefits, mileage reimbursement, and vocational rehabilitation
• Offsets for Social Security disability and other benefit programs
• Loss-of-use, disfigurement, and other special awards recognized in some states
• Post-settlement medical arrangements such as Medicare set-asides