How Much Does Workers' Comp Cost? Official Figures and How to Read Them

Note on the Washington figures: L&I's notes to the 2026 table say base premiums are calculated assuming all firms have an experience factor of 1.0000, that Standard Premiums are calculated assuming an average experience factor of 0.91, and that the "All Classifications" row assumes all firms have an experience factor of 0.91 (Washington L&I).

BLS says it will remove workers' compensation costs from this series starting with its December 2026 data, so the June 2026 figure may be among the last of its kind (BLS).

To turn a rate into a figure for your business, enter your own payroll, rate and experience mod in the workers' comp and EMR calculator.

Per $100 of payroll or per hour worked

Washington L&I notes that most states charge workers' comp as a percentage of payroll, while Washington charges an amount per hour worked, so a raise does not change the premium for the same hours (Washington L&I, rate notice). Payroll-based rates are expressed per $100 of payroll in NCCI's and California's rating explanations (NCCI, Exhibit F, WCIRB). Check the unit before you multiply. A per-$100 rate applied to hours, or an hourly rate applied to payroll, gives a meaningless number.

Pure premium, manual rate and what you pay

These figures sit at different points on the way to your bill:

• Pure premium covers only expected claim costs and the cost of adjusting claims. The WCIRB says insurer rates add commissions, acquisition and general expenses, taxes, dividends and profit, so an insurer's rates are typically higher. In California each insurer files its own rates (WCIRB, pure premium and insurer rates). California's $1.65 is a pure premium figure.
• Manual rates add insurer administrative costs, taxes and assessments to expected claim costs. Oregon's study uses them, and notes that discounts, experience mods, deductibles, retrospective rating and dividends also affect what employers pay but cannot all be accounted for (Oregon DCBS, workers' comp across states). Oregon also says its index is not intended to be any state's actual average premium (Oregon DCBS, about the study).
• Employer cost is what BLS measures: what employers spent on workers' compensation, averaged across hours worked by private-industry employees (BLS).

Averages hide the spread between classes

A statewide or national average blends low-risk office payroll with high-risk trade payroll. In Washington's 2026 table, the roofing rate is about 26 times the clerical rate. L&I defines a full-time employee as 1,920 hours a year. At the 2026 base rates, that works out to about $427 a year for a full-time clerical employee and about $11,123 for a full-time roofer, before any experience factor (Washington L&I). In Washington, workers pay on average about 24% of the premium (Washington L&I, rate notice).

That is why your class code matters more than any average. Our guide to a wrong workers' comp class code explains how codes are assigned.

Rates change every year

California's average approved pure premium rose 6.6% for September 1, 2026 policies (WCIRB). Washington's 2026 composite base rate was 4.9% above 2025 (L&I), and L&I has proposed a further 4.9% average increase for 2027 (L&I, rate notice). Note the effective date of any rate you use.

The basic arithmetic is payroll in each class, divided by 100, times the rate for that class. Then multiply by your experience modification, and add the insurer's other credits, charges and minimums. NCCI's own illustration multiplies each class's payroll per $100 by its rate, adds the classes together and then applies the mod (NCCI, ABCs of Experience Rating, Exhibit F).

As a labeled illustration only: applying California's average pure premium of $1.65 per $100 to $50,000 of payroll gives $825 (WCIRB). That figure leaves out the insurer's expenses, your class's actual rate and your mod, so treat it as an illustration of the arithmetic, not a price.

For a real estimate you need four inputs from your own records and your insurer:

The premium on a new policy is an estimate. California's Department of Insurance explains that the final premium is calculated after the policy term ends and payroll is audited (California Department of Insurance).

If you want help with the coverage questions behind a workers' comp proposal, you can request coverage help from PolicyBenchmark.