Most workers comp settlements are built on one formula: scheduled weeks for the injured body part × your impairment rating × your weekly rate, where the weekly rate is two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to a state cap. A hand (244 weeks) at a 20% rating with a $1,000 wage: about $32,533. Then the negotiation adds back TTD, future medical, and a haircut if liability is disputed.
A settlement isn't one number, it's three or four stacked together. The core is the permanent partial disability (PPD) award, the piece the formula above produces. On top of that, settlements often price in unpaid back TTD (temporary total disability checks the insurer should have sent and didn't), a buyout of future medical care, and then a discount if the insurer has a real argument that the claim isn't compensable. A disputed case might settle for 70% of its clean-math value; an undisputed one shouldn't.
For scale: a Martindale-Nolo reader survey put the typical settlement around $22,000, with most falling between $2,000 and $40,000. Serious permanent injuries settle far higher. If someone quotes you an "average," remember it blends sprained ankles with lost limbs.
Nothing permanent gets valued until you reach maximum medical improvement, or MMI. That's the point where doctors don't expect more treatment to meaningfully help. At MMI, a physician assigns an impairment rating, a percentage of lost function, usually under the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment.
The rating multiplies straight into the award, so it's the most contested number in the case. A hand rated at 20% is worth exactly twice a hand rated at 10%. Insurers know this, which is why their examining doctor's rating often lands lower than your treating doctor's. The gap between the two ratings is frequently where the settlement negotiation actually happens.
Most states publish a chart assigning each body part a number of weeks of benefits. Lose full use, get the full weeks; lose 20% of use, get 20% of the weeks. Here's New York's schedule (WCL §15(3), which mirrors the federal LHWCA schedule; other states publish similar charts with different week counts):
| Body part | Weeks | Body part | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arm | 312 | Hearing in one ear | 60 |
| Leg | 288 | Index finger | 46 |
| Hand | 244 | Great toe | 38 |
| Foot | 205 | Second finger | 30 |
| Eye | 160 | Third finger | 25 |
| Thumb | 75 | Other toes / fourth finger | 16 / 15 |
The math is direct. A $1,000-a-week worker has a weekly rate of $666.67 (two-thirds of the wage). A hand at 20%: 244 × 20% = 48.8 weeks × $666.67 ≈ $32,533. An arm at 15% for a $1,200 earner (rate $800): about $37,440. Not sure of your average weekly wage? Pull gross pay from your stubs, or reconstruct it with a payroll calculator.
Two big states skip the schedule. Texas pays impairment income benefits: 3 weeks per rating point at 70% of your wage. Florida uses tiers: 2 weeks per point for ratings of 1-10%, 3 weeks per point for 11-15%, 4 for 16-20%, and 6 above that, paid at 75% of the TTD rate. An 18% Florida rating works out to 47 weeks.
Enter your wage, body part, and impairment rating. The calculator handles scheduled-loss, Texas, and Florida models and shows a negotiation range.
Workers Comp Settlement Calculator →This calculator is for education only and is not legal advice. Every case is different; talk to a licensed attorney in your state before making decisions.
Two-thirds of your wage only holds until you hit the state's weekly cap, and the caps vary enormously. New York's maximum is $1,281.50 for injuries from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 (two-thirds of the $1,922.25 statewide average weekly wage). Georgia caps at $800 for injuries on or after July 1, 2023. Iowa pays up to 200% of its state average weekly wage, which puts its cap above $2,000. The lowest-cap states sit around $800.
For a high earner, the cap is the whole ballgame. A worker averaging $2,500 a week has a two-thirds rate of $1,666.67 on paper, but in Georgia the check is $800, less than half. The identical injury with the identical rating is worth roughly 60% more in New York and more than double in Iowa. Caps also move annually in most states, so use the figure for your injury date, not this year's.
A lump sum (New York calls it a Section 32 settlement) trades your open claim for cash now. The appeal is obvious: certainty, no more insurer scrutiny, money you control. The cost is usually your future medical coverage, which the deal closes out, and finality, since you can't reopen it if the injury worsens. If you're on Medicare or close to it, a Medicare set-aside may be required to protect Medicare from paying for treatment the settlement covered.
Structured payments keep the weekly checks and often the medical coverage flowing. They're less exciting and far harder to spend in a weekend. Which is better depends on your health trajectory, your finances, and how much you trust the insurer to keep paying without a fight.
One last distinction worth keeping straight: everything above is the injured worker's side of the system. If you're an employer trying to budget coverage, that's a different calculation entirely, and our workers comp premium calculator handles it. For your own claim, start with the settlement calculator and bring the printout to your consult.
This guide is for education only and is not legal advice. Every case is different; talk to a licensed attorney in your state before making decisions.
A Martindale-Nolo reader survey put the typical settlement around $22,000, with most falling between $2,000 and $40,000. Serious permanent injuries settle far higher. The spread is wide because the formula is personal: your wage, your body part's scheduled weeks, and your impairment rating each multiply into the result.
MMI is the point where doctors don't expect further treatment to meaningfully improve your condition. It matters because your permanent impairment rating is assigned at MMI, usually under the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, and that rating multiplies directly into your award. Settling before MMI means settling before you know your own number.
No. Most states publish a schedule of weeks per body part, but Texas pays impairment income benefits instead: 3 weeks per rating point at 70% of your average weekly wage. Florida uses tiers, from 2 weeks per point for low ratings up to 6 weeks per point above 21%, paid at 75% of the TTD rate. Same idea, different arithmetic.
Usually, yes. Lump-sum deals (Section 32 settlements, in New York's terms) typically close out future medical care for the injury, which is why the estimated cost of that care belongs in the settlement number. If you're on Medicare or near eligibility, a Medicare set-aside may be required before the deal can close.