The short answer
Workers' compensation replaces part of your wages while a work injury keeps you off the job. For temporary total disability (TTD) — the benefit people mean when they ask "how much does workers' comp pay" — almost every state starts from the same idea: a percentage of your average weekly wage (AWW), usually two-thirds, limited by a state maximum and minimum, and paid after a short waiting period. Current maximums run from $654.63 a week in Mississippi to $2,431.00 in Iowa.
Step 1 — Your average weekly wage
The AWW is gross pay before taxes, averaged over a look-back period that the statute fixes. The period varies more than people expect: 13 weeks in Florida, Georgia and Texas, 26 weeks in New Mexico and Vermont, the best 39 of 52 weeks in Michigan, a full 52 weeks in New York, Alabama and Virginia. Some states count overtime, tips, second jobs and employer-paid health insurance; others exclude some of them. Because the AWW drives everything after it, a disputed AWW is the most common reason a check is "wrong". Our AWW guide lists every state's rule.
Step 2 — The percentage
Two-thirds (66⅔%) of the AWW is the norm. The exceptions matter if you live in one of them: Alaska (80% of spendable weekly wages); Arizona (66⅔% of the average monthly wage); Connecticut (a share of the average weekly wage); Idaho (67% of the average weekly wage); Iowa (a share of the average weekly wage); Massachusetts (60% of the average weekly wage); Michigan (80% of after-tax average weekly wage); New Hampshire (60% of the average weekly wage); New Jersey (70% of the average weekly wage); Ohio (72% of undefined for 12 weeks, then 66⅔%); Oklahoma (70% of the average weekly wage); Rhode Island (62% of the average weekly wage); Texas (70% of the average weekly wage (75% for under $10/hour, first 26 weeks)); Washington (60–75% of monthly wages, depending on marital status and children); Wyoming (two-thirds of monthly earnings).
After-tax states take an extra step: they subtract income tax and FICA "that would be withheld" from the gross wage before applying their percentage, which is why their calculators ask for filing status and dependents. Each of those agencies publishes an official table or calculator, and ours uses them.
Step 3 — The maximum and the minimum
Most states tie the maximum to the statewide average weekly wage — 100% of it in many, 75% in Louisiana, 85% in Arkansas, 105% in Missouri, 110% in Kentucky and Tennessee, 133% in Oregon — and reset it once a year. The cap that applies is almost always the one in force on your date of injury, and it stays with the claim. Minimums are smaller and less uniform: some are flat dollar amounts, some a percentage of the state average, and in many states a worker who earned less than the minimum receives their full wage instead.
Step 4 — The waiting period
No state pays for the first few days off: 3 to 7 days depending on the state. If you are out long enough — anywhere from 5 days to 6 weeks — those waiting days are paid back. Hawaii, Oklahoma and Rhode Island never pay them back. See the waiting period table.
Step 5 — How long it lasts
TTD normally runs until you return to work or reach maximum medical improvement. 17 states also cap it in weeks, for example California (104), Florida (104), Georgia (400), Indiana (500), Massachusetts (156), Minnesota (130). After TTD ends, permanent disability benefits — calculated differently and usually at a lower maximum — may follow.
What changes the check later
- Returning to light duty at lower pay usually switches you to temporary partial disability, typically two-thirds of the wage difference (the calculator's "now earning" field).
- Offsets against unemployment, Social Security or employer disability plans exist in many states.
- Cost-of-living increases apply to long-term total disability in a few states, such as Oregon and Rhode Island.