Reference Tool
Workers' Compensation Rating Bureaus by State
Every U.S. state delegates workers' compensation rate-making and class-code administration to a designated rating bureau. Hover any state for its bureau, click for full details and direct links — the authoritative source for loss costs, class codes, and experience modification factors in that jurisdiction. Use this map when you need to know who governs WC filings in any state, or to reach a state's workers' comp department directly.
Interactive Map
Loading map…
Tip: hover any state for a quick view, or click a state to see full details and links in the panel to the right.
Complete Reference Table
All 50 states plus the District of Columbia, with rating bureau, state workers' compensation department, and direct links to both. Sortable, searchable.
| State | Code | Rating Bureau | State WC Dept. | Type |
|---|
No states match your search.
Workers' Comp Rates by State
How expensive is workers' compensation in each state? The most widely cited apples-to-apples answer is Oregon's Workers' Compensation Premium Rate Ranking, a study published every two years by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. It prices the same set of job classes in all 50 states and DC, so the numbers can be compared directly.
The table below is from the latest edition (calendar year 2024 rates, published June 2025). The national median was $1.09 per $100 of payroll, the lowest median since the study began in 1986.
| Rank | State | Index rate per $100 payroll |
% of median | 2022 rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $2.52 | 231% | 2 | ▲ 1 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $2.16 | 198% | 1 | ▼ 1 |
| 3 | New York | $1.98 | 182% | 4 | ▲ 1 |
| 4 | California | $1.86 | 170% | 3 | ▼ 1 |
| 5 | Vermont | $1.60 | 147% | 6 | ▲ 1 |
| 6 | Connecticut | $1.48 | 135% | 10 | ▲ 4 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | $1.42 | 130% | 8 | ▲ 1 |
| 8 | Wyoming (state fund) | $1.41 | 130% | 7 | ▼ 1 |
| 9 | Louisiana | $1.41 | 129% | 5 | ▼ 4 |
| 10 | Rhode Island | $1.38 | 127% | 11 | ▲ 1 |
| 11 | Maine | $1.37 | 125% | 9 | ▼ 2 |
| 12 | Washington (state fund) | $1.35 | 123% | 24 | ▲ 12 |
| 13 | Illinois | $1.34 | 123% | 19 | ▲ 6 |
| 14 | Montana | $1.34 | 122% | 15 | ▲ 1 |
| 15 | Oklahoma | $1.33 | 122% | 17 | ▲ 2 |
| 16 | Missouri | $1.31 | 120% | 13 | ▼ 3 |
| 17 | Minnesota | $1.25 | 114% | 12 | ▼ 5 |
| 18 | New Hampshire | $1.22 | 112% | 18 | — |
| 19 | Iowa | $1.21 | 110% | 14 | ▼ 5 |
| 20 | Alaska | $1.16 | 106% | 21 | ▲ 1 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | $1.14 | 105% | 26 | ▲ 5 |
| 22 | South Dakota | $1.13 | 103% | 25 | ▲ 3 |
| 23 | Nebraska | $1.12 | 103% | 29 | ▲ 6 |
| 24 | Alabama | $1.11 | 101% | 20 | ▼ 4 |
| 25 | Idaho | $1.10 | 101% | 16 | ▼ 9 |
| 26 | Georgia | $1.09 | 100% | 31 | ▲ 5 |
| 27 | New Mexico | $1.05 | 96% | 27 | — |
| 28 | Colorado | $1.05 | 96% | 41 | ▲ 13 |
| 29 | South Carolina | $1.03 | 94% | 22 | ▼ 7 |
| 30 | Florida | $1.00 | 92% | 28 | ▼ 2 |
| 31 | Massachusetts | $0.97 | 89% | 32 | ▲ 1 |
| 32 | Delaware | $0.97 | 89% | 23 | ▼ 9 |
| 33 | North Carolina | $0.95 | 87% | 30 | ▼ 3 |
| 34 | Mississippi | $0.94 | 86% | 39 | ▲ 5 |
| 35 | Kansas | $0.91 | 83% | 35 | — |
| 36 | Michigan | $0.90 | 82% | 38 | ▲ 2 |
| 37 | Maryland | $0.89 | 82% | 33 | ▼ 4 |
| 38 | Oregon | $0.89 | 82% | 42 | ▲ 4 |
| 39 | Tennessee | $0.80 | 73% | 34 | ▼ 5 |
| 40 | Texas | $0.78 | 72% | 43 | ▲ 3 |
| 41 | Kentucky | $0.76 | 70% | 46 | ▲ 5 |
| 42 | Nevada | $0.73 | 67% | 37 | ▼ 5 |
| 43 | District of Columbia | $0.73 | 67% | 40 | ▼ 3 |
| 44 | Virginia | $0.73 | 67% | 36 | ▼ 8 |
| 45 | Indiana | $0.71 | 65% | 48 | ▲ 3 |
| 46 | Arizona | $0.70 | 64% | 44 | ▼ 2 |
| 47 | Ohio (state fund) | $0.68 | 63% | 47 | — |
| 48 | Utah | $0.63 | 57% | 45 | ▼ 3 |
| 49 | West Virginia | $0.54 | 49% | 50 | ▲ 1 |
| 50 | Arkansas | $0.53 | 48% | 49 | ▼ 1 |
| 51 | North Dakota (state fund) | $0.50 | 45% | 51 | — |
Rank 1 = most expensive. ▲ = moved toward more expensive since the 2022 study; ▼ = moved toward cheaper. Source: Oregon DCBS, 2024 Workers' Compensation Premium Index Rates (full report, PDF).
State guides for agents: South Carolina · Georgia · all guides
How to read these numbers
- It's an index, not a quote. Each number is a blended rate across 53 common job classes, weighted the way Oregon's economy is weighted. A roofing contractor and a law office in the same state will pay very different rates.
- Real premiums move from there. Experience mods, schedule credits and debits, deductibles, and carrier pricing differences all change what a given employer actually pays.
- Monopolistic states are included. North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, and Wyoming are priced off their state funds, since no private market exists there.
- Rates were in effect around January 1, 2024. Many states have filed loss-cost changes since then — check the state's rating bureau in the reference table above for the current filing.
About Workers' Compensation Rating Bureaus
A workers' compensation rating bureau is a state-licensed statistical agency that collects exposure (payroll) and loss data from every WC insurance carrier writing business in that state, then publishes the actuarial foundation the market is built on: loss costs (the pure-premium component before carrier expense/profit), classification codes (the 600+ industry categories that determine base rates), experience rating values (the inputs to each employer's experience modification factor), and approved policy forms and endorsements.
Bureau structure varies. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is the largest, serving 36 states plus the District of Columbia. NCCI publishes the standard nationwide class code system most agents are familiar with, along with each state's loss cost filings. NCCI is privately owned by member carriers but operates as a regulated rate-service organization.
Eleven states operate independent state bureaus with their own class codes (often overlapping NCCI codes but with state-specific additions), filing schedules, and experience rating methodologies. California's WCIRB is the most prominent independent bureau, governing the largest WC market in the country. New York's NYCIRB, Pennsylvania's PCRB, North Carolina's NCRB, and New Jersey's NJCRIB are also independent. Agents and brokers placing risks in independent bureau states should verify class codes and rating values against the state bureau's published values rather than assuming NCCI conventions apply.
The four monopolistic states
Four states do not permit private-market workers' compensation insurance at all. Employers in these states must purchase coverage from the state-administered fund:
- blockNorth Dakota — Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI)
- blockOhio — Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC)
- blockWashington — Department of Labor & Industries (L&I)
- blockWyoming — Workers' Compensation Division
Private carriers can still write Employers Liability (Stop-Gap) coverage in monopolistic states to fill the gap left by the state fund (which typically does not include Employers Liability). For multi-state employers, this means coordinating state-fund WC + private Stop-Gap + traditional WC for the remaining states — exactly the kind of complexity Justin specializes in unwinding for retail brokers.
Why this matters for placement
Bureau identity dictates the operational mechanics of every submission: which class code dictionary you reference, which loss cost filing is in effect on a given effective date, what experience rating data you'll see, and what state-specific endorsements you'll need to attach. A submission packaged with the wrong assumptions (NCCI defaults applied to a Pennsylvania risk, for example) will at best create rework, and at worst result in a binding error.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which state has the highest workers' comp rates?expand_more
Hawaii, at $2.52 per $100 of payroll (231% of the national median) in Oregon's latest Premium Rate Ranking. New Jersey ($2.16), New York ($1.98), California ($1.86), and Vermont ($1.60) round out the top five.
Which state has the lowest workers' comp rates?expand_more
North Dakota, at $0.50 per $100 of payroll (45% of the national median), followed by Arkansas ($0.53), West Virginia ($0.54), Utah ($0.63), and Ohio ($0.68), per Oregon's latest Premium Rate Ranking.
What is the average workers' comp rate per $100 of payroll?expand_more
The national median in Oregon's latest study (calendar year 2024 rates) was $1.09 per $100 of payroll — the lowest since the study began in 1986. Actual rates vary widely by job class, experience mod, and carrier.
What is a workers' compensation rating bureau?expand_more
A state-licensed organization that collects loss and exposure data from insurance carriers and publishes loss costs, class codes, experience modification factors, and policy forms used by insurers in that state. NCCI serves 36 states + DC; the other 11 states use independent bureaus.
What are the monopolistic workers' compensation states?expand_more
North Dakota (WSI), Ohio (BWC), Washington (L&I), and Wyoming (DWC). Employers in these four states must buy WC from the state fund — no private market. Employers Liability "Stop-Gap" coverage is still available from private carriers.
How many states use NCCI for workers' compensation?expand_more
36 states plus the District of Columbia. Independent bureau states are CA, DE, IN, MA, MI, MN, NJ, NY, NC, PA, TX, and WI. The four monopolistic state funds (ND, OH, WA, WY) operate outside the traditional bureau structure.
How do I look up workers' comp class codes for my state?expand_more
Use the bureau link above for your state. For NCCI states, ncci.com has a free Class Look-Up tool plus subscription access to the full manual. Independent bureau states may use a mix of NCCI codes and state-specific codes — always defer to that state's bureau as authoritative.
Who regulates workers' compensation insurance in each state?expand_more
Two bodies: the rating bureau publishes loss costs and class codes (actuarial), and the state's WC department or industrial commission enforces compliance, handles disputes, and oversees claims (regulatory). Both are linked for every state in the table above.